Customer Reviews

John Patrick's Blackjack: So You Wanna Be a Gambler'

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The money management is always his main thrust and needs to be taken to heart;but his regression system has changed my gambling from consistently losing to consistently breaking even or making small wins.I highly recommend this book for the beginner,even the old hands might pick up a thing or two.

Hard to tell where to start...

The correct way to play each hand without counting cards (called Basic Strategy) has now been known for over 40 years. Amazingly, this book dismisses these facts and recommends well over a dozen mistakes in their place. To put into perspective how bad this book is, John Patrick actually recommends splitting a pair of fives against a dealer's six.

His book is replete with coupons and offers to play in different casinos in Atlantic City and Nevada. This fact alone, that fact being casinos are BEGGING you to come play at their tables and play blackjack the John Patrick way, should tell you everything you need to know about a John Patrick gambling system.

There are many good books in the Amazon listing. This book is definitely among the very worst of the WORST of them, rivaled only by John Patrick's other gambling writings as to which one comes in last place.

Follow Patrick's advice if you're willing to accept small, consistent returns. If you want someone to tell you that once you win to keep playing and be greedy, go somewhere else. Yes, he admits his basic strategy is slightly different from the time worn model, but his is geared toward conservative players. He recommends socking it to the dealer when he is weak, and not doubling down against power cards. If you follow Mr. Patricks advice of the Big 4, you WILL win. Not every trip to the casino, but overall. To all the detractors that wrote bad reviews of the book: If his methods did not work, how has he stayed one of the most respected and well known professional gamblers?

Anyone who has read this book and not placed himself as one who Patrick is talking directly to at sometime or other is not being honest. Personally I know that I would have been better off with his win-loss goals and money management techniques as they would have many times made me either less of a loser, or maximized the times when I was winning. I have started trying his techniques and although I don't win big bucks, I don't get
killed either. His conservative deviations from basic strategy I can definitely live with such as not splitting 8's against dealer's upcard of 9, 10, ace. I feel I have gotten a lot of sound, valuable info. from his first book "You wanna be a gambler" and plan on reading his advanced blackjack book.

This book has taught me how to be a consistent winner at blackjack. with loss limits it has kept me from getting killed at a hot table.Hit your loss limit and move on to another table. This book has made me a big winner. I have made a lot of believers in this way to play in that we go out to vegas and play as a team on a table and we have yet to lose. thank you John Patrick.

This book must be taken with a grain of salt. Patrick differs from basic stategy based on short term results. The majority disagree with this practice.

The best thing about this book is its' money management system. Patrick teaches a conservative money management system that helps gain small but consistent profits.

My sugesstion is get a different book if you want to learn basic strategy, but get this book for its' money management system.

That should be the title of this book. John Patrick writes from his experience and seeing and playing millions of hands of blackjack, not sitting behind a computer. His Big 4 approach is right on and can be applied to anything you gamble on. This book is fun to read, simple, and easy to apply. Anyone who has played blackjack and sat at a real table with real money will quickly appreciate his methods. I have played, watched and tested many of his theories advising against the "book" and he is right on. For 95% of blackjack players, following the advice of this book religiously will save you from losing a ton of money and will actually give you a chance to win. His Basic Craps book is excellent as well.

No one said this book is for the expert. "Blackjack" is for the guys and dolls that go to a casino 2-3 times a year, 2-5 days a trip. For us, the short term is the only thing that matters. The "expert play" in the other books absolutely does cover the long term, but I'll never reach those stats in my life and therefore need to do what I can to help myself in the short term.

John Patrick uses a distinctive style of humor to teach the basics of Blackjack (and craps, pai-gow, sports betting, etc) in a manner that will stay with you. He'll let you know why you should always hit your hard 16 against a dealer 7.

Yes, if you go to a casino daily or weekly or even monthly, maybe you should consider a more mathematical book to cover your long term play but for most of us Patrick's book will cover us very nicely.

Ok, see a couple of reviews, so you wanna be a loser. These are probably people that went to Vegas and expected to win their fortune in the sky. There is no magic bullet for any casino game and if you go to Vegas expecting to win, don't go. I play by John's systems and diciplines taught and have a great time in Vegas only "donating" a very small amount for 5 days of play, food, drink and entertainment. I have seen very very few people at tables in Vegas use even a fraction of the dicipline taught by John. Great work, John!

Clearly this book is ridiculously flawed when it comes to basic strategy. BS reduces the house edge to around 0.5%, but JP admits his method reduces it to 1.5%. Hmmm...

But his (repeated) messages about discipline and walking away a winner are very good. And the betting schemes he outlines, though not original, are good for a beginner to follow. Certainly they've helped me stay more organized at the table, with less "hunch" betting. Obviously nothing short of counting will eliminate the house edge, but I utilize his money management to this day to help limit my losses and keep my win goals realistic. Worth a read, if you skip the basic strategy section.