Blackjack Blueprint: How to Play Like a Pro... Part-Time (Paperback)

by Rick Blaine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
From the first turn of the card to getting out of a foreign country with a suitcase full of cash, BLACKJACK BLUEPRINT is the most comprehensive book ever written on learning to play blackjack for profit. This book covers everything from basic strategy to counting cards, from maximizing potential going solo to playing on a blackjack team. Casino comps, tournaments, location play, shuffle tracking, playing in disguise, outwitting the eye in the sky, and other advantage-play techniques--it's all here. Best of all, the techniques you learn in BLACKJACK BLUEPRINT can be used part-time as a money-making hobby, just as author Rick Blaine has used them for years while pursuing a career in finance.

About the Author
Rick "Night Train" Blaine is a career executive with a Fortune 500 company whose "hobby" for the past 25 years has been beating the casinos at blackjack. Well-versed in all aspects of winning blackjack play, Blaine has excelled both as a solo player and a blackjack team leader. Blaine has earned a significant (read mid-seven figures) second income and traveled the world playing blackjack. He is particularly well-known in blackjack circles for his ability to teach new players how to beat the game.

Product Details

• Paperback: 357 pages
• Publisher: Huntington Press (January 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929712161
• ISBN-13: 978-0929712161
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,250 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a former casino supervisor, February 4, 2006

By	D. Jabier (tri-state area) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not only is this book full of valuable information, it is presented in a way that is easy to learn the right way to make money playing Blackjack. Blaine is meticulous. His insight and those of his contributors are what casinos fear most. Great reference for those serious about making money playing Blackjack.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Factual and complete - great for all levels, February 4, 2006

By	MikeL (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Although Rick Blaine has had a "square" job most of his life, he writes with the full knowledge of someone who has spent his life "in the trenches" of playing advantage blackjack around the world.

His step-by-step course in learning basic strategy and card-counting blackjack is excellent and utilizes drills and quizzes to solidify the material in the readers' mind before proceeding to the next level. Basic strategy and counting are concepts that are taught in other books, but are very well-presented here.

Blaine pays attention to concepts such as bankroll sizing, dealing with all the different people in the casino chain of command, and how and when the casino is observing you that you might not be aware of. The thing that sets this book apart is that Blaine leaves no stone unturned, whether it is discussing casino cheating, tournament play, comp-garnering strategies, shuffle-tracking, ace-location play or the several chapters on team play.

In my mind, his most useful sections are on casino comportment and camouflage, and his discussions of the patience and discipline required to become a long-term winner.

This book has a wealth of information for beginners, intermediate players, and even those who have been playing with an advantage for many years.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well rounded, September 20, 2006

By	gregory dwyer (houston, tx) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are a million card counting books out there, most of which offer a more thorough examination of card counting than this one does. But then again, for most of us, 300 pages about the minutae of card counting may be a bit much.

What this book offers is a quick but sufficient introduction to basic strategy and card counting based on Stanford Wong's Hi-Lo system, which is pretty easy to learn. Blaine spends a chapter on teaching the reader how to count, and then another one on how to adjust to a true count. Subsequently, he shows how to tailor your play (and betting, of course) to the count.

The card counting portion takes up less than half of the book. Some of the rest of the book may or may not be interesting to some readers. The sub-title of the book is "How to Play Like a Pro...Part-Time", but much of the remainder of the book is more "professional" in nature. There is a section on zone tracking as well as a LOT of stuff on team play.

I am not a professional card counter. In fact, I read the book based mostly on curiosity and the desire to perhaps play at a slight advantage at low stakes on Vegas trips. However, I still found the section on team play interesting on its own merits. Blaine kept a diary of a team and its successes (or in this case, failures). It was nice to see that Blaine didn't sugar coat things and included a section on how even at an advantage, negative swings are inevitable at times.

If you're planning a trip to Vegas, the book is definitely worth a read. Pick it up a few weeks beforehand and give the card counting tips some practice and I think it'll be more than worth the twenty bucks you shell out for it.