Play Blackjack Like the Pros

Kevin Blackwood

Harper Collins, Oct 6, 2009 - Games & Activities - 288 pages

Professional blackjack player Kevin Blackwood shares his million-dollar winning strategies for mastering the odds and consistently beating the house at their own game.

Play Blackjack Like the Pros is the requisite introduction to the modern game of blackjack, including high and low stakes casino, shoe games (several decks shuffled together), online, and tournaments. Blackwood begins with the basic rules of play and then moves on to teach his proven card-counting method, broken-down into three levels: novice, recreational, and professional. He also covers camouflaging techniques (it's perfectly legal to count cards, but if the house catches you they will kick you out), money management, and team play. Blackwood includes many stories of his and other professionals' triumphs at the tables and keeps the highly technical language that bogs down most gaming books to an absolute minimum.

Play Blackjack Like the Pros is written in the style of Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros using easy-to-understand lessons that all levels of players can quickly benefit from.

• Blackwood is one of the world's top card counters. He began with only a few hundred dollars and has won over a million playing blackjack. In Play Blackjack Like the Pros he demonstrates how to earn over $10,000 a month from just a few days work.
• Blackjack is set to balloon in popularity. Ben Mezrich's book on the MIT card counting team Bringing Down the House was on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks and is being made into a movie staring Kevin Spacey. Blackjack Tournaments are growing in popularity with many of the top casinos offering large prize pools. Online Blackjack is currently a multi-million dollar industry. Blackwood keeps the highly technical language that bogs down most gaming books to an absolute minimum.
• Foreword by Stanford Wong, author of Professional Blackjack and the master of modern card counting.

Contents

• Chapter Two Beating the House: 10
• Chapter Four Basic Strategy: 25
• Chapter Five The Intermediate Player: 41
• Chapter Seven The Professional Player: 71
• Chapter Eight Finding the Best Games: 87
• Chapter Ten Camouflage: 122
• Chapter Twelve Team Play: 143
• Chapter Thirteen Tournament Blackjack: 161
• Chapter Fourteen The Dark Side: 180
• Chapter Fifteen International Blackjack Opportunities: 193
• Chapter Sixteen Promotions: 208
• Chapter Seventeen Internet Gambling: 214
• Chapter Eighteen The Final Hand: 228
• A Sample Log: 233
• HiOpt II Matrix: 237
• Legal Issues: 239
• Glossary: 245
• Resources: 251
• Acknowledgments: 253

Popular passages

Page 26 - I read a statement once where a man said, don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up.

Page 4 - I have come to understand that there are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth.

Page 135 - As the old saying goes, you attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.

Page 47 - That may not sound like much, but it really adds up over time.

About the author

Kevin Blackwood has been a professional blackjack player for more than twenty years. He is the author of The Counter, a behind-the-scenes novel based on his life of playing high-stakes blackjack, and he has contributed to countless games magazines and online sites.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Play Blackjack Like the Pros
• Author: Kevin Blackwood
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2009
• ISBN: 0061974889, 9780061974885
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Drama / Women Authors; Games & Activities / Activity Books; Games & Activities / Card Games / Blackjack; Games & Activities / Card Games / Bridge; Games & Activities / Card Games / Poker; Games & Activities / Gambling / Sports; Games & Activities / Gambling / Table; Games & Activities / Quizzes; Games & Activities / Reference; Games & Activities / Trivia