The best blackjack system?

I'm a beginner at blackjack and I'm looking for some solid information.

I searched on google.com and I found
http://www.blackjack2win.com/adtrackz/st.php?s=Optin

It gives an e-mail minicourse and then you get redirected to a page where Jack (the owner of the site) is selling 'blackjack secrets'. He advertise this system as the best system ever.

My question is: has anyone heard about it? Is it good? Should I try it?

Or should I try perhaps another book.

Thanks,

Ken

I suspect you know the answer. :)

If you are starting, try the blackjack school that is available most everywhere for free, I think "www.gamemasteronline.com" and click on "blackjack school". That will teach you BS, how to count Hi-Lo and practice, how to bet, how to play BS departures based on the count, etc.

All for free. And it all works. Follow the lessons, practice as directed, and you will learn to beat the house without paying a penny for a "system".

Ken: Start with Beat the Dealer by Ed Thorpe. You can get it on-line or from most large public library systems.

Also, the Gamblers Book Club, www.gamblersbook.com, has an on-line catalog. They will assist you either by e-mail, 800#, or if you live in Vegas, in person.

Good Luck and Good Reading.

Just go to the home page here, and click on the words "Blackjack School."

The material you find there may be dated, but the basics of counting systems remain unchanged. In my city I found early editions of Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder, Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere, and Blackjack Your Way to Riches by Canfield.

As for best system, that depends on you and the games you choose to play. But I believe the performance differences between the various systems are too small for me to worry about, so I went for Hi-Lo as it the most commonly used and there is more material available on that system than any other. Indeed, just about all researchers will use Hi-Lo when describing applications, particularly for bet spreading. Hi-Lo is also the usual choice of shuffle trackers, so I you choose to grow into that you will already know the preferred system.

For a book on Hi-Lo I don't think you can beat "Professional Blackjack" by Sanford Wong. You can buy it at most chain bookstores right off the shelf.

Also, Blackbelt in Blackjack, 3rd edition, is in the bookstores now also. It has Hi-Lo Lite, and also offers Red7, a very simple yet powerful unbalanced counting system. That book is worth buying as well.

Finally, the last recommended book is Blackjack Attack 3rd Edition, which does not teach a system, but imparts knowledge on betting strategy.

Each book is available for under $20.

"beat the dealer" is not really the best place to start. It doesn't hit HiLo (at least my version of BTD does not, it just mentions his "tens count" or whatever it was that is not very easy to use, particularly for shoes which did not exist much back then).

I'd suggest a newer book. Since I am a hi-lo person, either Wong's book (the classic book for Hi-Lo) or Snyder's book (which covers hi-lo lite) would be good choices, unless he chooses to go the unbalanced route and try KO... I think a hi-lo player really must own PBJ of course, no matter how he gets started.

The gamemaster's "blackjack school" is really a good starting point as well as it lays out a pretty good plan to beat blackjack.

The "Best" Card Counting System:
A Comparison of the Red Seven, KO, and Hi-Lo Counts
(With An Explanation of How Blackjack Systems Are Best Compared)

The master writer on blackjack explains it in great detail.

Perhaps this will help you choose amongst the simple systems. If you want the best performing one, reguardless of complexity, try Hi Opt II, which noses out AOII slightly.

the more likely it's complete and utter bullcrap.

SSR: You are right that a 40 year-old book won't have the latest systems, but I strongly disagree that BTD is NOT a good place to start. I wasn't suggesting BTD as a counting system, but as BJ history lesson and an interesting read.

Remember that Ken7979 posted "I'm a beginner at blackjack and I'm looking for some solid information." Why overwhelm him, at the beginning, with detailed counting info? Let him get through the basics and then get to counting systems.

KennilworthKid: Those books were good suggestions.

The second edition of Beat The Dealer has the hi-lo count. Some of the indices are outdated (eg. hard 16 v. 7), but the system as a whole will still get the money. We've really progressed in inches since that first mile-long shot from a cannon.

I think BTD is great place to start. There's something about a first hand account from the original trailblazer that's very inspiring.

ETF

My point was the BTD doesn't include a "workable system" by today's standards. That is, beginners are typically starting with KO, or Hi-Lo, or something similar. Thorpe's "ten count" isn't really workable for shoes. And it is not nearly as easy to use as the usual level-1 counting systems everyone is aware of.

Note that it is a "must read" as some of the stories in it are entertaining and informative. But to learn to count, I'd start elsewhere and come back to that book later for a historical perspective of "how BJ used to be in the early 60's". Other books like "Million Dollar Blackjack" or "The Big Player" are also must reads, but they won't teach you how to play as a beginner.

Stanford's book, on the other hand (or Fuch's book) teaches you a workable counting system in addition to the usual basic strategy stuff and so forth...

I wasn't saying BTD was bad, or should not be read, I'm just not sure it is where I'd suggest that someone "starts out"

The old version I had did not include hi-lo or even any mention of a balanced/unbalanced +/- counting system... If a more recent version included those, then it would obviously be a reasonable starting point... I'd suspect that the "indices problems" would not hinder a beginner to start with anyway...

Yes, we haven't progressed much in 40+ years; we didn't have that far to go because Thorp pretty much nailed it on his first try.

It's not just reading the Professor's first hand account, but also how easily he writes, so that you can understand the method, behind the math, that, for me, makes this a much read for someone just starting out.

His fives method still works today in SD, if you can find a 3:2 game and have the patience and time to wait for the opportunity.

Ken: Don't keep us in suspense much longer. Where are you on your journey to BJ enlightenment?