Table Of ContentTHE
WORLD'S
GREATEST
BLACKJACK
BOO K
RevisedEdition
Lance Humble, Ph.D.
Carl Cooper, Ph.D.
II
MAIN
S1REET
BOOKS
Doubleday
New York London Toronto Sydney Auckland
A MAIN STREET BOOK
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
adivisionofBantamDoubledayDellPublishingGroup,Inc.
1540Broadway,NewYork,NewYork10036
MAINSTREETBOOKS,DOUBLEDAY,andtheportrayalofa
buildingwithatreearetrademarksofDoubleday,adivision
ofBantamDoubledayDellPublishingGroup,Inc.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Humble,Lance.
Theworld'sgreatestblackjackbook.
Includesindex.
1.Blackjack(Game) I.Cooper,Ken. II.Title.
GV1295.B55H86 1987 795.4'2 86-24387
ISBN0-385-15382-1 (pbk.)
Copyright©1980byDoubleday,
adivisionofBantamDoubledayDellPublishingGroup, Inc.
ALLRIGHTSRESERVED
PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
13
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to thank all the gaming professionals who have partici
pated in the evolution ofthe game of Blackjack, and who have so
graciously allowed us to include their work in this book. We feel
that the people and organizations mentioned here represent the
finest body ofexperts onBlackjack in the world. In particular, we
wish to thank Edward O. Thorp and Julian H. Braun for their
originalwork andcontinuingcontributions.
To the players, especiallyNan and Bob.
Play by the book and you}Villrealize your dreams.
FOREWORD
This is a fascinating, informative, and surprisingly extensive
book.
During the past eighteen years, as a direct consequence of the
work of Dr. Edward O. Thorp, myself, and others, numerous
methods of winning at Blackjack by means of count systems have
developed. For the serious player who will take the trouble prop
erly to learn and use one of the better systems, the player can and
should win over a period of time. Yet, many such players have
failed to come anywhere near the mathematically proven reason
able expectations. There is more to playing the game than just
knowingwhatis themathematicallycorrectplay-muchmore.
Dr. Humble and Dr. Cooper have woven both factors into a
fascinating and remarkably thorough account of just how really
to succeed at casino Blackjack. This account includes a discus
sion of casino countermeasures, with recommendations on how to
succeed in spite of such measures. There is much to learn in this
book for both the novice and the experienced player.
JULIAN H. BRAUN
Chicago, Illinois
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
ONE CASHING IN ON BLACKJACK GOLD I
Who Pays for the Glitter? 1
Why Play Blackjack? 3
TheEvolution ofBlackjack Systems 4
The Losing Frame of Mind 7
Ten Requirementsfor Winning at Blackjack 10
The Road to Winning 20
The Road to Losing 21
TWO THE GAME OF BLACKJACK 23
The Object 24
The Equipment 24
The People 27
Basic Play 29
The Blackjack 31
PlayerOptions 31
Standing 32
Hitting 32
Special Two-card Plays 32
DoublingDown 33
PairSplitting 33
Insurance 34
Surrender 35
Common Playing Mistakes by Rookies 35
BettingErrors 36
Card-care Errors 37
ValueMiscounting 37
PlayingErrors 38
General Table Etiquette 39
The Casino Environment 41
Casino Credit 41
PlayerBenefits 43
x CONTENTS
Thievery 43
Prostitution 45
MythsofBlackjack 47
THREE CHOOSING A PLACE TO PLAY 52
International BlackjackClub S3
Choosinga Casino S4
AnalyzingTable Options 63
NumberofDecks 63
MethodofDealing 64
Type ofCards 6S
TheBestDealer 66
ChoosingaSeat 68
WhereY<illCanPlay 69
United States 70
Canada 73
Nearby ForeignCasinos 74
AroundtheWorld 78 .
TypicalTrips and Playing Records 82
BlackjackintheSun:Aruba 82
BlackjackontheBoardwalk:AtlanticCity 88
BlackjackinParadise:ParadiseIsland 93
FOUR DEALING WITH THE DEALER 98
Why Becomea Dealer? 98
TheDealer's Job 99
CheatingintheCasinos 102
OrganizedCrimeandCasino Gambling 102
CheatingandBlackjack 108
WarningSignsofaCheating Dealer 113
Empty Table 113
$25-and$lOO-minimumTables 114
Tough-lookingDealers 114
Jewelry liS
Time-watching 115
Dealer/BigWinnerCombination 116
No-bustDealer 116
1000theTop 117
BlackjackingDealer 117
LoseDoubleDowns 118
Methods ofCheating' 118
DealingSeconds, etc. 118
StackingtheCards 119
NoShuffle 120
CONTENTS ~
HoldoutShoe 121
Card-hiding 121
Help 122
My Position on Dealer Cheating 122
Indicators ofa Safe Game 123
Establishing Rapport withthe Dealer 124
Get Personal 125
Tipping theDealer 127
FIVE HOW TO PLAY SMART (WITHOUT A
SYSTEM) 130
Managing Yourself 130
ControlofEmotions 131
Stop-lossLimit 132
Never Quit When Winning 132
StayingAhead of the Dealer 134
"Is He Hot?" 134
Talk tothePitBoss 135
Get Change for Tipping 135
HitandRun 135
ReadingtheDealer 136
Choosing a ReadableDealer 137
ClumsyRepeek 137
FriendlyDealer 138
InvolvedDealer 138
IndividualSignals 139
ReadingBentCards 141
~eeping Clear ofthe Casino 143
Casino Countermeasures 143
Shufile-up 144
Cut-offDealer 146
Card-hiding 147
SbJUs 148
Heat 149
BarringPlayers 149
What You Can Do 150
Hide Your Winnings 150
Bea Woman 151
Psychological Pitfalls in Gambling 151
SIX HAVING FUN ON VACATION:
BASIC STRATEGY 158
ThreeLosing "Strategies" 160
Developmentofan Accurate BasicStrategy 163
xii CONTENTS
Organizationofthe BasicStrategy 167
TheCorrectBasicStrategies 171
StandingandHitting 172
HardDoubling 173
Insurance 174
PairSplitting 176
SoftDoubling 177
PairSplitting (WhenDoublingIsA.llowedAfterSplit) 178
Su"ender 179
EarlySurrender 179
ModificationstoaFour-deck BasicStrategy 180
Calculatingthe House Advantage 182
How-toLearnBasicStrategy 184
Puttingthe BasicStrategyinto Practice 191
SEVEN WINNING IN OCCASIONAL CASINO PLAYI
m·OPT I CARD COUNTING 194
PoorAlternatives to Counting 195
DoubleUpandCatch Up 196
ReversalofTrend 199
JumpinginandoutoftheGame 200
Pick Your"Boldness" 201
Kelly Criterionand Counting 203
DevelopmentofBlackjackCounting Systems 203
ChoosingaSystem 208
FactorsInSelectingaBlackjackCountingSystem 209
Whythem-opt11 213
CardCountingwith the Hi-QptI 214
Plus-count Wagering 215
Running-countWagering 217
True-countWagering 218
SizingYourBets 221
TheInsuranceBet 223
TheAce SideCount' 224
Howto Learn andImplementtheHi-OptI Count 226
CountingAids 235
Chip Count 236
PositionCount 236
ClockCount 237
A Word ofWarning to theInexperienced 238
