Reading List for Blackjack Players (Part I)
It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or a professional, in the world of blackjack there is always room for improvement.
If you want to learn basic blackjack techniques or just perfect your existing knowledge you have many books to choose from. To help the decision, we collected the most useful how-to guides which will transform all players into winners. There are many books out there so it’s hard to choose the right one, but based on these reviews all 21 enthusiasts will find that “One”.
In the age of e-readers and tablets, you can get all these books for a reasonable price. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t understand something immediately. The art of blackjack is perfected through practice and revision. As time goes by, you’ll become a proficient player and your gaming experience will become more enjoyable than ever. The more blackjack tricks and techniques you know, the better your gameplay will be.
Meeting the expectations
With a title like ‘The World Greatest Blackjack Book’ , the guide of Lance Humble and Carl Cooper is a pretty ambitious one. Many experts agree that this is the go-to book for beginners, since it provides an exceptional introduction to the famous card game. This book offers everything a novice needs to know about blackjack. Even though it was published in 1987, the system within is still relevant today. The manner is really enjoyable, therefore it can easily gather the reader’s attention. For more encouragement, there are plenty of players reporting about their improvements and high profits after reading this guide.
The book begins with the universal description of the game and clarifies the benefits of card counting. The authors offer recommendations on such important topics as interaction with the dealers, the perfect casino destinations and when to finish the game. After these important areas, the reader gets introduced to the Hi-Opt 1 blackjack card counting system, which is a renowned technique for single deck games. Following the discussion of basic and advanced Hi-Opt 1 levels, the authors move on to private blackjack. This part of the book is a matchless and clever analysis of blackjack gameplay outside casinos.
Blackjack as a lifebelt
Lance Humble, the author of the ‘The World Greatest Blackjack Book’ is a professional blackjack player. His acquaintance with the game was incidental, but he became mesmerized after learning about it. Humble was a professor at York University in Toronto, teaching a course about the Aspects of Gambling. He was specialized in horseracing, but after the countless demands from students, he decided to research casino games.
While exploring the exploring the best best blackjack card counting books to beat the house, it turned out that he was a natural. His next destination was Las Vegas, where his profits were persuading enough to turn him into a blackjack expert.
As all good students, Humble decided to collect the knowledge of various famous professionals. Stanford Wong, Lawrence Revere, Arnold Snyder and Ian Anderson were just some of the instructors helping him. After years of polishing his skills, Humble developed his own systems, namely the Hi-Opt I and Hi-Opt II. He was assisted by Julian Braun, one of the most influential blackjack strategists of all time. Hi-Opt I was intended for players on basic level, while Hi-Opt II is the enhanced version for the more proficient. However, Humble promises that Hi-Opt I covers everything to convert a beginner into a winner.
The movie and the truth
Julian Braun contributed to Humble’s guide, but he has a legacy on his own. Even though Braun was never a professional player, his influence on blackjack is unimpeachable. He was computer programmer with blackjack strategies as his hobby. Now, he is a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame with several blackjack innovations connected to his name. His interest stated after reading Edward O. Thorp’s ‘Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One’.
Braun utilized his IBM programming skills to improve the strategies discusses in Thorp’s book. This resulted in highly effective basic and Hi-Lo blackjack strategies. He then continued to develop new card counting systems and assisted to such books as ‘The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book’. Thanks to the authors cooperation this became a must-have for all blackjack enthusiasts, providing a complete coverage on the game and basic techniques. Stay tuned for our review of Thorp’s prominent book.
The series includes:
Reading List for Blackjack Players (Part II)
Reading List for Blackjack Players (Part III)