Best Blackjack (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Frank Scoblete shows you the insider tricks the professionals use that can give players even greater edges. Learn how to take advantage of the sloppy dealers. Learn how to cut the cards to give you the better hands. Learn how to get the casinos to pay you extra money to play blackjack!

Product Details

• Paperback: 283 pages
• Publisher: Bonus Books; 4th printing edition (April 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566250579
• ISBN-13: 978-1566250573
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #204,733 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for Blackjack players of any skill level, February 26, 1999

By A Customer

Frank Scoblete is the expert-in-residence of a weekly radio show on gaming in Memphis, TN. So when I was looking for a book to learn more about Blackjack, I decided to buy Frank's book. I have not been disappointed. He breaks down the instruction portion of the book into three logical sections; the basic rules, basic strategy and card counting. In this format, you can start reading at the level you are at.

But even if you already know how to play the game perfectly, the book is still a fun read. Especially for the sections on obtaining comps, the not-so-well-known ways to gain an advantage on the casinos and all the people you find playing across the table. If you have ever heard about the million dollar bum that walked into the casino with his social security check, wound up winning over a million dollars at the blackjack tables, then turned around and lost most of it back, you will want to read the whole story from the people that waited on this guy. This chapter is worth the price of the book alone.

The main reason I did not give a five star rating to this book is because he gives the basic strategy in verbal form, rather than in chart form, which would be easier for a novice player to copy and take to the casino. But these charts are available on the internet at http://www.blackjackinfo.com. I highly recommend this site for getting the basic strategy charts for any set of rules you run up against.

But overall, the book is an easy read and gives every blackjack player information that he/she can use the next time you go to the casino.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Blackjack is Comprehensive and Enjoyable, December 16, 1999

By	Samuel R. Cohen (Florida) - See all my reviews

Frank Scoblete's book "Best Blackjack" has several outstanding virtues. It is extremely well written. Most gambling books are not. Scoblete's style is flawless and he makes the game of blackjack actually fun to read about. The book contains valuable information about basic strategy and card counting. Although these things are by no means unique to Scoblete's book, he is the first to really explain in simple language which blackjack games can actually be beaten using these techniques and which can't. he is very honest about the natureof the edge that a blackjack card counter can get and how easy itis for the casino to offer inferior games that even skilled players can't beat. That was refreshing. Other blackjack books that I've read tend to overstate what you really can achieve playing this game. Scoblete has some unique sections in this book, some dealing with techniques to figure out the dealer's hole card such as "tells". He intersperses the analytical with absolutely fantastic stories about Las Vegas players and events. His blackjack diary at the end is worth the price of the book alone. This is the best book on blackjack that I've read. Ihave used Scoblete's advice on the gaming ships and I can tell you from my own personal experience, the man knows what he's talking about.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, January 7, 2000

By	Kevin O'Connor (Boston. MA) - See all my reviews

I have been playing blackjack at Foxwoods for several years using basic strategy. I was losing consistently with only an occasional win. I decided I wanted to learn how to count cards and also to get insights into the game that might help me win more often. I read three books, the last by Frank Scoblete. This book was the best. It was a thorough view of all relevant aspects of blackjack from a writer who obviously has played the game successfully for many years. Many of the experiences he wrote about in his book I had had at the tables myself. I found his approach to card counting to be the best because he cut through all the garbage I had to wade through in the other two books I read and got to the essential core of the matter. That is no easy task because many blackjack writers pride themselves on charts and graphs that explore trivia. After a while you forget what's important and what isn't. Scoblete's book wasn't like that. He stuck to the essentials which are 1. what games to play based on penetration and rules, 2. what strategies to employ based on number of decks, 3. the few variations that really matter in basic strategy based on the count, 4. which counting system is really the best to use based on ease of use and ability to use for long periods of time. He also had some really funny stories about players so that the book isn't all just strategy or dry stuff. I think most blackjack players or would be blackjack players will find this book to be excellent. Experienced players will probably find his discussion of "dealer tells" to be interesting and his stories to be amusing. This is a great book.