Customer Reviews

Powerful Profits: Winning Strategies for Casino Games

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

 

 

First of all, any book that suggests that a casino game with a house advantage can be beaten with any system must be regarded with suspicion. This book makes such claims, and in addition argues that the math performed by countless statisticians does not apply using his strategy.

The author's recommended strategies are poorly worded, and make little sense even after he explains them. My favorite example is after he describes his blackjack system where you raise bets when you lose a hand and decrease bets when you win. He then argues that this system works because you lose less during a losing streak and win more during a winning streak.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly how that one works....maybe if I turn the book upside down it will make more sense.

Whenever you play any casino game, using any playing method, there are usually three cardinal "sins" to avoid:

1. Don't consider any one event, or one experience, as the defining result.

2. Don't play undercapitalized.

3. Master the method before trying it.

Anyone who has played casinos games with any profitable methods always knows this. A little knowledge, but without understanding of it, is dangerous. People who don't "get it" often make big mistakes, and then blame their losses on the method, instead on their own inexperience, and often misunderstanding. This is kind of like the carpenter blaming the hammer when he hits his thumb with it. In fact, the author of this book, and the many others he has written, says so plainly, and clearly, in all his books. The example of the carpenter is also used by him to make precisely this point.

Sadly, some people will always have a problem with the "hammer", instead of the person using it. This is the case with the nice young man who has posted a review of the Craps methods here, for this book, and for the other books dealing with these methods. He seems like a very fine young man, who perhaps thought these methods were something like a "get rich quick" scheme. They are not. They are hard to master, especially the hardways methods used by the author in the section on Craps in this book. It takes many years to gain a successful mastery of some of these advanced concepts.

The author makes this point many times, and plainly. He clearly states this, in no uncertain language. Playing any of these methods once, and with insufficient capital, and then blaming the method for any failure is simply wrong. It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the very principles that the author so clearly states, and warms against. This book, and the other books by this author that mention any such playing methods -- however derived and no matter from which source -- require the player to understand at the very least the three fundamentals of successful method-gaming, those that are listed here, and understood by smart gamblers everywhere.

The books are clear on all these subjects, and there are ample warnings by the author, who states repeatedly that these methods are advanced means of playing, and that they therefore require a great deal of expertise and understanding before they can be used successfully. The author makes it abundantly plain that this is essential to the success of these methods, and indeed any methods, even those from other authors or sources. Success in method-gambling is predicated on such expertise. If you don't have the dedication to learn it well, and practice it even more, before you try it, the fault lies with you, and not the book.

The good news is that the author offers many other methods, those that are easier to master, and can be played even by casual players. But no matter how well they are described, the ultimate success always lies with the player himself or herself. The makers of the hammer can't possibly know how good the people using it will be. Sore thumbs the world over testify to the folly of blaming the instrument for the failure of the person using it. So, don't blame the book. Use this as a learning experience, and become better for it.

I read this book and the author doesn't take the time to verify his stats. On the system of roulette the quarters method he states you need a bankroll of 5200 min this is a lie you need at least 6200 min. He states that on the 11 12 13 spin if you win you recoup your money plus about a grand. Not so. Also on the 14th and 15th spin your risking 1250 and 1500 to supposedly win your money back --not so still at a loss. Also on the sections on thirds strategy he includes 26 in the 1st third but it should be 29. What a piss poor way of giving a strategy and of course I had to lose some money before I realized because you would think at least the math would be correct.

This is a good book on gambling that makes sense, with good chances to turn on a profit. The first 80 pages are kind of an introduction that is to long and boring. However once you get to the methods it is quite interesting. The implementation of each method goes against the usual advice from other books that is to "hit" and "run" and quit after 2 or 3 losses in a row. The methods in the book require a huge bankroll and no emotions when losing hand after hand with the firm believe that one win only will make you a winner. I found a flaw in the book, on my opinion, with the explanation of betting on dozens on the Roulette. This seems the simplest method but unfortunately the explaining Table "Value by Event" is wrong under the columns "Gross Win" and "Net Win". I am wondering if there is a correction from the author on "Win Value by Event" table, dealing with betting on dozens method of the Roulette. Also I am wondering if perhaps other readers found the same "flaw".

And promptly burned through my 2 thousand bucks while the pit bosses stood around and smiled. I was not too happy. I kept thinking, hey this method never fails, and watching my negative balance keep growing. Seems like I kept seeing hardways throws when the hardways werent working on the comeouts, and people kept sevening out over and over and over again. I got up to 30 something dollar bets and I had to keep pressing to get my money back. It was either take a 1,300 punch to the gut or keep going with the whole 2,000 to try to get my money back. Well, the whole 2,000 is somewhere in the casino vault and Im just another sucker who donated cash to vegas and bought this book.

The author of this wonderful new book has done what none have before. As he so succinctly puts it in the Postscript: " ....I have here offered something new. I have gone out on a limb, so to speak ... " (page 263). Both are pretty gutsy positions by this Author of so many great books on casino games and casino gaming.

Something new. Well, that is certainly what he has done. The author has here provided a series of new methods for several casinos games. His position on these new methods is pretty clear. As he writes in the Preface: "What I am offering you in this book are not "systems". They are "methods", and there is a difference. In the past few decades, the word "system" has come to mean something "bogus", or something which "assures a win if done that way." Neither description is what applies here, to what I am offering. What I have devised are "methods", and this simply means that these are vested in a thorough understanding and application of not only the games, the game rules, the mathematics and statistics, but also the realities of the actual casino games as they are really played, as opposed to merely the theory behind them." (Page XVII).

His position throughout this book -- as well as all of his other books -- has always been that the mathematics of the games are an excellent guideline, and are an important part of your playing expertise. But he has also stated that in the Casinos of the 21st Century, players who wish to become profitably successful should, and must, use a new variety of means to accomplish those goals. The author also makes it clear that this won't be easy. As he again writes in the Preface:

"I don't know you, and I can't possibly know how skillful you are, or can become, what your levels of knowledge may be, how experienced you are in the casino games and casino lifestyle, how emotionally stable you are, how financial stable you are, and a whole slew of other existential and personality traits I can't possibly know, or anticipate, but all of which will have a direct impact on your ability to make money with these methods. To be successful using these methods will require you to reach a level of expertise, knowledge, ability, skills, physical strength, mental agility, financial stability, emotional levity, good acting, and a great amount of personality, and all of it pleasant, gregarious, and friendly at all times when "on the job." "

Out on a limb. Well, that's true. The author himself admits that, as I have already stated earlier in this review. Nothing that is so new is ever offered without risk. It is always open to a slew of criticisms, primarily from people so mired in the "old was of thinking" that they simply cannot understand the paradigm and perspective shifts that allow such new methods to function as designed. Some become -- shall we say -- "not nice" about their limitations and tend to try and destroy the good works done by such far-thinking innovators as the author of this book. Once such person appears to be M. McGinnis, who posted that review just below.

I cannot disagree more, Mr/Ms M. McGinnis. You are obviously one of those persons who, as the author writes, is not able to be " .... successful using these methods ..." because that " ..... will require you to reach a level of expertise, knowledge, ability, skills, physical strength, mental agility, financial stability, emotional levity, good acting, and a great amount of personality, and all of it pleasant, gregarious, and friendly at all times... ". While I respect your right to be so negative, perhaps you could at least try to understand the enormity of the effort that the author undertook to even publish these methods, knowing full-well as he did that persons such as you will slam his work so hard.

"Can't please everyone, so you gotta please yourself. " This is from the song "Garden Party" by Ricky Nelson. It sums up both the great work by this author, as well as the unfortunate dilemma he faces when trying to showcase something new. We all should respect him for the efforts, regardless of whether we are able to understand what we was trying to tell us. If we fail to understand it, then the fault is in us -- not in him, or his book. His visionary writing is making those tired, old, strategies for casino games shine in a new light, and gives new hope to those players who are able to "get it."

This is a great book, full of the author's own life, struggle, and insight. Even if you don't want to play in the way that he recommends, do yourself a big favor and read this book. It will at the very least open your eyes to the possibility of looking at the same old things in a new way.

This book contains advanced methodologies for the most popular casino games, including blackjack, craps and slots. These advanced methods are usually not traditional. But they are based upon logical ways at looking at each of the games, as well as the author's many years of professional experience. I found the book to be a great addition to the existing literature. The methods were explained very well and made alot of sense to me. Experience gamblers should definitely study what's in this book. Those who don't have basic knowledge of the games such as blackjack and craps should read the author's other books that focus on those games (Powerful Profits From Blackjack, Powerful Profits From Craps, Powerful Profits From Slots, Powerful Profits From Video Poker, etc.). I found the information in this and the other books by the author refreshing in originality and usefullness. Serious gamblers should examine what the author has to say because there might be something useful that can be added to your own strategies or methods.

I strongly advise you NOT to buy this book: his keys to winning are very blurry, but what is worse is the fact that he denies fundamental laws of statistics without really understanding the core of statistics and a negative expectation game. If he really played 9 million hands with his blackjack strategy, the law of large numbers would have proved my point (that's what negative expectation is all about). Furthermore his strategies to winning are really confusing and inconsistent, especially his blackjack strategy. Therefore, once more, do NOT buy this book (I threw it away after reading it). This book is dangerous: promising you postive long-term winnings while the opposite is true.