Blackjack Essays [Paperback]

Mason Malmuth (Author), Arnold Snyder (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

Blackjack is not an easy game to beat in today’s modern casino environment. The days when you could master a count and expect to be a winner just do not exist anymore. As a result, winning at blackjack requires not only numerous skills, but also a lot of thinking about the game.

This manual is designed to help today’s modern blackjack player succeed in today’s moderm casino environment. Unlike most blackjack books, this text assumes that the reader already knows how to count cards and introduces techniques and concepts that should be useful to the successful player. The topics covered are card domination, theoretical concepts, blackjack biases, current blackjack, mistaken ideas, supplemental strategies, playing in a casino, obsolete techniques, and front loading. In addition, advice is offered on gambler's ruin, the one-deck game, back counting, betting strategies, head-up play, becoming a professional, casino preparation, first basing, and much more.

The book is designed to make the reader do a great deal of thinking about the game. In fact, very few readers will agree with everything the text offers, but the information provided should help most people become better players.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mason Malmuth was born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1973 he received his BS in Mathematics from Virginia Tech, and completed their Masters’ program in 1975. While working for the United States Census Bureau in 1978, Mason stopped overnight in Las Vegas while driving to his new assignment in California. He was immediately fascinated by the games, and gambling became his major interest.

After arriving in California, he discovered that poker was legal and began playing in some of the public cardrooms, as well as taking periodic trips to Las Vegas where he would play both poker and blackjack. In 1981 he went to work for the Northrop Corporation as a mathematician and moved to Los Angeles where he could conveniently pursue his interest in poker in the large public cardrooms in Gardena, Bell Gardens, and Commerce.

In 1983 his first article, "Card Domination — The Ultimate Blackjack Weapon," was published in Gambling Times magazine. In 1987 he left his job with the Northrop Corporation to begin a career as both a full-time gambler and a gambling writer. He has had over 500 articles published in various magazines and has authored or co-authored 14 books. These include Gambling Theory and Other Topics, where he tries to demonstrate why only a small number of people are highly successful at gambling. In this book he introduces the reader to the concept of "non-self weighting strategies" and explains why successful gambling is actually a balance of luck and skill. Other books he has co-authored are Hold ’em Poker For Advanced Players, written with David Sklansky, and Seven-Card Stud For Advanced Players written with David Sklansky and Ray Zee. All the "advanced" books are considered the definitive works on these games.

His company, Two Plus Two Publishing, has sold over 400,000 books and currently has 26 titles to its credit. These books are recognized as the best in their field and are thoroughly studied by those who take gambling seriously.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Two Plus Two Pub.; 4 edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880685051
• ISBN-13: 978-1880685051
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,392,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)