Play Blackjack Like the Pros [Paperback]

Kevin Blackwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2005

Professional blackjack player Kevin Blackwood shares his million-dollar winning strategies for mastering the odds and consistently beating the house at their own game.

Play Blackjack Like the Pros is the requisite introduction to the modern game of blackjack, including high and low stakes casino, shoe games (several decks shuffled together), online, and tournaments. Blackwood begins with the basic rules of play and then moves on to teach his proven card-counting method, broken-down into three levels: novice, recreational, and professional. He also covers camouflaging techniques (it's perfectly legal to count cards, but if the house catches you they will kick you out), money management, and team play. Blackwood includes many stories of his and other professionals' triumphs at the tables and keeps the highly technical language that bogs down most gaming books to an absolute minimum.

Play Blackjack Like the Pros is written in the style of Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros using easy-to-understand lessons that all levels of players can quickly benefit from.

• Blackwood is one of the world's top card counters. He began with only a few hundred dollars and has won over a million playing blackjack. In Play Blackjack Like the Pros he demonstrates how to earn over $10,000 a month from just a few days work.
• Blackjack is set to balloon in popularity. Ben Mezrich's book on the MIT card counting team Bringing Down the House was on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks and is being made into a movie staring Kevin Spacey. Blackjack Tournaments are growing in popularity with many of the top casinos offering large prize pools. Online Blackjack is currently a multi-million dollar industry. Blackwood keeps the highly technical language that bogs down most gaming books to an absolute minimum.
• Foreword by Stanford Wong, author of Professional Blackjack and the master of modern card counting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is the most comprehensive book on card counting that I have ever read.” (MIT Mike, 2004 World Series of Blackjack Champion )

“Play Blackjack Like the Pros is the perfect name for a book written by the consummate blackjack professional.” (Anthony Curtis, publisher Las Vegas Advisor )

“This has everything you need to become a long term winner. Don’t play another hand until you read Blackwood’s book.” (Henry Tamburin, author of Take The Money & Run and publisher of Blackjack Insider Newsletter.Henry Tamburin, author of Take The Money & Run and publisher of Blackjack Insider Newsletter )

About the Author

Kevin Blackwood has been a professional blackjack player for more than twenty years. He is the author of The Counter, a behind-the-scenes novel based on his life of playing high-stakes blackjack, and he has contributed to countless games magazines and online sites.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 edition (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060731125
• ISBN-13: 978-0060731120
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Blackjack

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High Opt. 2 made easy to learn, May 12, 2007

By 

Natalie (Queens, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Play Blackjack Like the Pros (Paperback)

This book focuses on the card counting system called High Opt 2. High Opt 2 is considered the Rolls Royce of all blackjack card counts because it outperforms all of the other systems, however, it contains alot of matrix numbers that make it difficult to learn for some people. The book includes a simplified version of High Opt.2 that makes it easier to learn.
Since High Opt.2 is mostly used in single and double deck games, the author makes recomendations as to which counts to use for shoe games.
The book also teaches complete Basic Strategy and an abbreviated version. Some of the other topics include how to win at tournament blackjack, internet blackjack, team play, camouflage, money management, and his experiences playing blackjack internationally including being harrassed by US customs upon re-entering the US with $40,000 in cash. It turns out Congress gives customs the authority to strip search anyone, including US citizens, entering the country with alot of money. They didn't do that to him, but it's scary to know that's what the law is. The author also sprinkles in personal anecdotes about his own experiences playing blackjack all over the country.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book with caveats, April 19, 2008

By 

Blueman "Blueman" (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Play Blackjack Like the Pros (Paperback)

Very good on basic strategy, money management, non-card counting tactics, the internet, promotions, and almost everything else you would want to know about playing backjack seriously or professionally. Blackwood also writes very well and has a number of interesting stories to tell. The book is enjoyable to read for his personal history and general observations. But the book loses one star for advanced strategies. The matrix charts he puts in the book are not adequately explained. He pivots between Hi-Lo and Hi-Opt strategies and between single/double and six decks, which is confusing. He talks about single and double handed blackjack a lot, but he also says that these games are harder and harder to find, especially in the northeast corridor. I doubt it would be inaccurate to say that very few people will master all the "million-dollars strategies" required for winning big at blackjack that Blackwood used. But overall, it's an interesting and worthwhile book.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, December 18, 2007

By 

P. Kahn (San Deigo, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Play Blackjack Like the Pros (Paperback)

I have read 6 blackjack books now over the past few months and I was disappointed with this one. The information in the book is not presented in a logical, easy to follow manner. I found it to be scattered and fragmented. The information that Blackwood gives is correct, yet he does not go into enough details during several sections and the novice reader will not have enough information to be successful. Instead of buying this book, purchase Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder. The information is much better organized with much more detail which makes learning what you need to know much easier.