Blackjack: Play Like the Pros PDF
Preview Blackjack: Play Like the Pros
BLACKJACK: Play Like the Pros JOHN BUKOFSKY This book is dedicated to you, the Player. According to my old man, gamblers get a bad rap. They're really a nice bunch of people. And he's right, as usual. Only, as he well knows, this book isn't about gambling. Contents Acknowledgments 1x Introduction: So You Wanna Be Rain Man? xi I. Ground Zero 2. Jellybeans, Rules Variations, and Card Counting 15 3. Casinos: Love 'Em or Leave 'Em 26 4. Basic Strategy 44 5. An Introduction to Card Counting 60 6. A Level-One Point Count 76 7. A Level-Three Point Count 87 8. Deviations from Basic Strategy 105 9. Betting Strategy 114 io. Single-Deck Blackjack 137 ii. Blackjack Team Play 156 12. Casino Countermeasures 174 13. Longevity 190 14. Maximizing Profits 208 15. Negative Swings 220 16. Perspectives 233 Epilogue 247 Appendix One: High-Low Numbers Matrix 248 Appendix Two: Uston APC Numbers Matrix 252 Glossary 256 Selected References 261 Index 263 Acknowledgments Many great minds associated with this game have influenced me over the years, directly and indirectly. To the following I extend my thanks: Edward Thorp, the late Lawrence Revere, Stanford Wong, Don Schlesinger, the late Kenneth Uston, the late Peter Griffin, Arnold Snyder, Lance Humble, Julian Braun, and Ian Andersen. Thanks are also in order to the many other players, authors, and experts who have done things like written short but valuable pieces in magazines or online, or have been involved "behind the scenes" in recent years with extensive computer simulations. It is indeed a long and growing list. You know who you are, as do advantage blackjack players everywhere. In New York, from conception to revision to completion: Richard Ember, Sheree Bykofsky, Janet Rosen, Brian Rubin, Megan Buckley, and everyone at Kensington who touched this project deserve and are given my sincerest thanks. I am indebted to Don Schlesinger for a painstaking review and commentary. Is any current blackjack book really a bona fide blackjack text if it hasn't undergone a proofread by this blackjack luminary? Special thanks to Professor Robert Cammarata and Josh Lubin for reading an earlier version of the manuscript and offering many insightful comments. Bob, you really should think about doing stand-up. My gratitude is extended to Norm Wattenberger. The computer simulations I ran to provide data for this text come right from his invaluable Casino Write software package. A big thank you goes out to my father, John Bukofsky, for lending his artistic talent to this project. Your technical illustrative skill is second to none. I owe a warm and fuzzy thank you to my wife, Kristen, for her patience and support. J.J. and Katie, thank you, too! Last but not least, thank you, Dini Bin. From Laughlin to Ledyard to London, it has been quite a ride. Introduction: So You Wanna Be Rain Man? You're watching Dustin Hoffman play blackjack, you've heard of card counters winning huge sums of money at the blackjack tables, and you say to yourself, "How amazing is it that these guys can remember every card that comes up? I could never do that." Well, guess what? Card counters aren't autistic savants, and just like everyone else they don't (or for that matter can't) remember every card that's been dealt. That's Hollywood, or that's being lucky enough to have been born with a gifted memory. And although being a successful counter at times does lend itself to a little glamour and sophistication, playing blackjack at the professional level is no walk down Hollywood Boulevard. But it can be very rewarding, and at the same time lots of fun. The pages that follow assume you're a mere mortal. You have trouble remembering directions. No matter how many times you dial the local Chinese takeout, you still aren't sure if the first three digits are 254 or 245. And in the long run you're behind in the casinos, even though your wife's friend and her husband never seem to have a losing trip to Vegas-and they've been doing Sin City West for as long as you can remember. (A little inside information: They're lying.) Everyone loses in the end, with the exception of a small group comprising professional card counters and expert poker players, and that rare breed of gambler who wins big on a slot machine and then stops gambling altogether. That's because it's impossible to overcome the mathematics of playing at a disadvantage. Make no mistake about it, beating the casinos at their own game isn't easy, which is why profes sional card counters and expert poker players, even with an advantage, lose a little more often than you might think. I'd be lying to you if I said that in all the years I've been playing blackjack, I never fantasized about walking up to a table and remembering every card that comes out. But that's neither what card counting is nor pretends to be. Being a counter means using a point count to keep a running track of what cards have been dealt, and then doing a bunch of"re- lated calculations." The tricky part is that you have to do these other calculations simultaneously, and you have to do them quickly; things like (1) remembering the correct basic strategy, (2) converting the running count to what's called (3) a true count, (4) deviating from basic strategy, depending on the true count number just calculated, and (5) applying a correct betting strategy. Some advanced card-counting methods also involve keeping a side count of aces, because the ace is such a valuable card when it comes to betting strategy. And the entire effort should be orchestrated with the same relaxed air you used in ordering a cocktail at poolside the night before. Sounds tough, doesn't it? Well, it's really not that bad. In fact, it's a lot easier than you might think. But that's what it takes to eke out an advantage, and that's precisely what a card counter does. The pages that follow will walk you through each and every step of the process, and then some. No introduction would be complete without a few words of encouragement. If at first glance any task or procedure seems too difficult or complicated, take a short break, a deep breath, and then say, "I can do this." Say it again to yourself, and remember to remain optimistic as you begin to learn the process. Spend the necessary time in the beginning and what you will come away with is a lucrative talent that can be applied as long as blackjack games are offered. And from the look of the game's popularity, it appears blackjack will be around for a long time to come. Remember that you don't have to eat, drink, and sleep mathematics to become a proficient card counter. As with so many other things in life, all you need is some determination and the will to succeed. Stay focused and give yourself and the process a legitimate chance to succeed. Learn at your own speed. Read and reread if necessary, and move onto the next task only when you have mastered the preceding one. Oh, and one more thing: Have fun. Enjoy the challenge, and revel some in your accomplishment as the winnings start to accumulate, knowing that millions of people around the world gamble in casinos every day-some with surprising regularity-and you're one of only a select few who will actually end up ahead in the end.
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