Try and catch Derren Brown on UK TV, tonight 11:35 Ch 4..... (nt)

...one of a few genuine professionals who go public with their skills.
Brown is capable of literally winning at will at blackjack or any almost any form of advantage play, though his talent and his motivation is clearly beyond gambling.

"Brown is capable of literally winning at will at blackjack"

You probably meant to write "almost" instead of "literally". The man remembers every card literally but this does not and cannot make him win at will. Winning at will without sleight of hand or complete information about the cards' sequence is simply impossible. You know better than that.

Here's how the feat is described at the Channel 4 website, still erroneously:

..Taking his place alongside three other gamblers in a prestigious London casino, Derren wins at blackjack continuously, beating not only his fellow players but outwitting an increasingly suspicious croupier, who is forced to admit that Derren is almost breaking the bank at her table. 'I've never seen this happen before,' she says. 'That's just far too lucky.' One of Derren's fellow players observes astutely: 'If he had been taking risks, he would have lost as well as won � but he just won.'

This is the key: Derren was not taking risks. In fact, he knew exactly what he was doing, predicting every card before it touched the table. 'If you can keep track of the cards which are being dealt, you have the advantage of knowing whether the remaining cards are of a useful value,' says Derren. 'As the game progresses, I am following each player's hands and keeping track of the cards being dealt.' But while Derren is off cashing in his chips, the other players must have been wondering how on earth he does it.

And the website has a video link where we can watch Derren Brown in the casino, doubling down on 11 and receiving a face card. "No risk"?! He knows there are excess faces but he can never be 100% sure a face card is next.

I don't think it'd provide an advantage in multideck, unless penetration is EXTREME.

However, it'd probally be very beneficial to SD and DD games.

Like C said thought, there's always risk. In everything.

I said he was capable of winning at will at any form of advantage play. I wasn't referring to that episode or the techniques described on the website. Naturally counting, however complex the method, doesn't yield certain payoffs. You are confusing TV with what I actually know about his abilities.

You obviously didn't see the episode where he fleeced Walthamstow dog track with a collection of losing tickets. That is over a 100% riskless advantage. You can use the same trick at blackjack (though inadviseable because it causes problems with the eye, and may land you in the dock under collusion charges).
Brown has demonstrated half a dozen other techniques which can be appropriated for advantage play without a moment's thought. Naturally he focused on card counting because its more accessible to the public.

John May > "Brown is capable of literally winning at will at blackjack."

C > "Winning at will without sleight of hand or complete information about the cards' sequence is simply impossible."

I believe that my statement is precise. Your description of Derren Brown's capabilities, on the other hand, can be a wee bit misleading, even if not intended so. The reason is that Derren Brown can indeed win at will at blackjack or other games through his powers of suggestion and mental persuasion. Not because he is "tracking every card in the pack", as he tried to convince us.

If I can persuade the cashier at the Walthamstow dog track that my losing ticket should be paid off or the blackjack dealer that I have a natural instead of ten four, well, you will excuse me if I file the technique under "sleight of hand".

The reason is that Derren Brown can indeed win at will at blackjack or other games through his powers of suggestion and mental persuasion. Not because he is "tracking every card in the pack", as he tried to convince us.

The Walthamstow example was one of many methods Brown is capable of using. I used it because inducing payoff errors is common to virtually all forms of gambling. But, its plain Brown would have no difficulty sequencing or tracking-the power of these methods is instantly apparent to somebody with the photographic memory Brown possesses. Combining that with perfect visual memory of the shuffling procedure you are getting pretty close to perfect card prediction. Maybe that was what was meant by tracking, or maybe not, it is TV after all, but either way I have no doubt at all what Brown is capable of.
I wrote an article on perfect memory blackjack about Dominic O'Brien, much of which applies to Brown:

http://64.71.133.211/free_pages/misc_bj/index.cgi?read=93796

You claim that Derren Brown possess capabilities that enable him to "know instinctively where the cards are", meaning each and every card as it is coming out of the shoe, while also"adjusting his map for dealer-driven randomness", which you say "would be simple". Alright, this can be done theoretically, but I have not witnessed it first hand, and I haven't had a reliable testimony from someone who witnessed such a thing first hand, so I cannot but reserve judgement until such time as I have some evidence beyond simple claims. In the meantime, I remain highly sceptical as to the ability of someone to "win at will", even when he knows every card coming out -- remember that Brown was not heads up!

Once more, I point out the wholly different explanation provided by Derren Brown himself, about his winning technique in blackjack, Brown who is not selling voodoo and is usually quite forthcoming about what he can and what he cannot do.

Once more, I point out the wholly different explanation provided by Derren Brown himself, about his winning technique in blackjack, Brown who is not selling voodoo and is usually quite forthcoming about what he can and what he cannot do.

This argument can be reduced to the discrepancy between telelvision and reallity. If someone asked me to explain what I do on TV at the blackjack table doubtless I'd come up with a simplified explanation like Brown. I certainly wouldn't tell the truth. Aside from the fact I wouldn't want to reveal all my secrets TV editing demands a certain amount of brevity.

was shown on TV counting, but that didn't do anyone learning any good simply because it was just counting the hi low without any betting or TC conversion etc. I think this helps prove your point John.

John,
I'm curious where one could find a copy of O'Brien's book. It sounds interesting. Does it relate to bj or is it just about memory. I have a very good memory already, but have no clue on earth how to go about applying it to enhancing my bj skills beyond simple counting and ace tracking (not simple- but the premise does not seem too difficult). Any recommendations on how to pursue any of this more advanced bj info? Thanks for any assistance. I'm intrigued by your book by the way- I will need to go back and read more thoroughly the section on advanced techniques.

He has several memory books, but they are not bj-related. Advanced memory books are rather like blackjack books in that they rehash existing techniques with each new one adding little of merit. One is good as another.

You are fortunate to have a good memory, I really had to work it (I drink too much coffee).
Basically you will be concentrating on sequencing. Concentrate on the early/late anchor techniques in GTEAB as well as ace-sequencing. All the information is there for the disciplined mind. You may also want to look at Ted Forrester's work on boundary segments posted on GC and at the CCCafe. Finally, Don Goren's work on neural networking blackjack in the bjrnet reestricted area is worth a look.