Blackbelt in Blackjack - new edition being published

I was checking for Blackbelt in Blackjack on www.amazon.com today and found a posting for a new edition of "Blackbelt in Blackjack: Playing Blackjack as a Martial Art". According to the posting, this edition, from Cardoza Publishing, will have a publishing date of November 1, 2004.

The amazon.com posting included the following data -

"List Price: $14.95
Availability: This item has not yet been released. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives.
Edition: Paperback

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Cardoza; (November 1, 2004)
ISBN: 1580421431"

The printing on an enlarged view of the cover was fuzzy, but I was able to read the following, in addition to the title:

"Featuring

Shuffle Tracking
Team Play
[followed by 4 lines I could not decypher]
[followed by]
and so much more...

Arnold Snyder
Author of Blackjack Wisdom and The Blackjack Formula"

I am calling Cardoza Publishing Monday morning, 03/22/04, for more details and will update this thread when I have that information. Since amazon.com is taking pre-orders, I think Cardoza Publishing will use those figures to help set the number of copies in their first print run.

If you cannot wait until November for a $14.95 copy, there are four copies currently listed for sale on amazon.com -

1 - "like new" for $63.77 (easily, the best buy of the four)
1 - "acceptable" for $68.82
1 - "new never used" for $176.03
1 - "new still in shrink wrap" for $194.99

I talked with a representative of Cardoza Publishing in New York at 10:20 AM EST on Monday, 03/22/04. The representative confirmed Cardoza Publishing will be releasing a new edition of Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder with release of the edition scheduled for November 2004. The representative did not have details of changes included in the new edition.

The 1998 edition of Blackbelt in Blackjack is listed as 186 pages with the last, index-page numbered 185, but the Cardoza Publishing edition is listed at 256 pages. I do not think Cardoza Publishing would expand the 186 pages into 256 pages, so the text/tables constituting the additional 70 pages should be new to the work. Hopefully, Arnold Snyder or Cardoza will provide pre-release data on the expansions/revisions.

For those who wish to check on Cardoza Publishing, I included a link to their web-site below. The company has been around since the 1980's publishing mainly gaming-related books. Some of the poker writers they publish/republish for are Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro, so I do not think they are a fly-by-night operation.

Until Cardoza Publishing (CP) and/or Arnold Snyder (AS) issue a press-release about the new edition of Blackbelt in Blackjack (BiB), we will not know how/if the book has been revised/expanded (Hint, hint - AS/CP).

The text for the 1998 BiB could easily have been loaded to CP's editing DB, the page-sizes and fonts revised, multiple generations be created and edited, and an initial production run and distribution be executed before the end of April, in time for marketing for the summer gaming peak (the decision for CP to publish a new edition was not just made, since the new edition is already posted on www.amazon.com with a different cover design than the 1998-edition).

I theorized one of two reasons for the release being delayed until November-2004 -

1. To pass the end-date of a pre-existing, publishing-rights contract for the book

2. To allow generation and editing of additional text/tables for the new edition.

Since I just talked to another representative at CP and was told the revised manuscript has not been received by CP yet, I hope my second theory is the correct one.

I guess the old adage "No good deed goes unpunished" is true. As I previously posted, the new edition is not scheduled for release until November-2004, so please do CP a favor - do not waste their time by trying to call and order a copy from them now. CP has been swamped with calls today by people trying to order the book today. If you want to pre-order, go to your favorite book-dealer and pre-order there - CP is not taking orders from individuals at this time.

We are not taking any pre-orders, though, since the release date is subject to revision.

for taking my link down Al, you............nice person ;>

I will be giving the book away for free. How do you like that?