Blackjack’s Best – 5 Blackjack Books Every Serious Player Should Own
The one thing that makes blackjack the best game in any casino is the simple fact that it’s beatable. But beating blackjack isn’t something most people can do without some serious studying and practice. There are thousands of books out there that teach you blackjack strategies, from introductory texts for beginners to pro tips for more advanced players. Here is our list of the five best blackjack books that we think every serious player should have in their library.
5. The Pro’s Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon, by Katarina Walker
You might not know this, but statistically speaking, Spanish 21 and its Australian counterpart, Pontoon, are the most beatable forms of blackjack. But there’s a catch – they have some unusual rule variations, so basic strategy is very different for these games. Check out this book if you want to master these two profitable blackjack variations.
4. Professional Blackjack, by Stanford Wong
This book is definitely not for beginners. It’s about two particular card counting systems (Hi-Lo and Halves). If you are serious about learning to count, then you need this book. It does cover some basic game strategy too, but it mostly deals with more advanced topics.
3. Beat the Dealer, by Edward Thorp
This is a true classic. First published in 1966, it was one of the first serious books about counting cards. Thorp was serious about strategy – he studied the game intensely, even running computer simulations to figure out the best ways to win. Today, more than 40 years later, this is still one of the best blackjack books around.
2. How to Detect Casino Cheating at Blackjack, by Bill Zender
While it’s not as big of a problem today as it was in years past, casinos are still known to cheat when it comes to blackjack. This book is especially useful if you make rounds in countries where gambling regulations are not so strict. Zender was Casino Manager at the Aladdin in Vegas, and knows all the nasty tricks, from switching hole cards to using short decks.
1. Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich
This is not a strategy book, but it’s still our favorite blackjack book ever. It’s the true story of 6 MIT students who took down Las Vegas in the early 1990s. The recent movie 21 with Kevin Spacey is based on this story. If you’ve seen the film, this is your chance to read what really happened in Vegas!
