Talking Blackjack

Today I want to talk blackjack. Although video poker has been our core game for about 25 years, we haven’t forgotten our first 6 years when blackjack took center stage in our casino life. And we still hit the BJ tables occasionally, when we have a coupon for that game or we are on a cruise ship and want to have some social activity with friends and relatives at a gambling option better than the machines offer.

I still keep up on blackjack news and take note of new BJ resources that would especially be valuable for recreational players. Recently my friend, Henry Tamburin, who has been a BJ player and gaming writer for many years, has just finished a book rightly called the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide. It is a comprehensive introduction to the casino game of blackjack that is a step-by-step handbook for the beginner and can help more experienced players fine-tune their game. The Guide includes an Index and Glossary and is fully illustrated with graphics and color-coded charts that make it fun to read and easy to understand. It is more than just about blackjack strategy; it covers many related topics, like the history of the game, side bets and variations, tournaments, and the famous practitioners at the Blackjack Ball. Best of all, it is the ultimate frugal read since it is FREE to access online.

And if you ever wondered how big BJ players operate, you will love this story Henry discovered in his recent interview with Donald Johnson, a piece that appeared in “Casino Player” magazine. I had heard how Johnson beat several casinos for $15 million dollars betting $100,000 a hand, and I – and most everyone else – thought it was due to the lucrative rebate on losses he negotiated with the casinos. However, in this interview Henry found out that there was much more to this story, amazing details that hadn’t come out before. You can read all about it here.

For more on Don Johnson, go to this podcast at “Gambling with an Edge,” where he and Anthony Curtis and Max Rubin talk about this year’s Blackjack Ball, at which Johnson was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

 

This entry was posted in Blackjack. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Talking Blackjack

  1. Kevin Lewis says:

    I scratched out a living many moons ago betting a 1-25 spread at the Horseshoe, back when Benny Binion was running the place. The pit bosses all knew me and said that as long as my maximum bet was no more than $25, they’d welcome my play. “After all,” one of them said, “when you bet your maximum, what’s your net advantage, fifty cents?” What’s more, they always wrote me a breakfast comp.

    Nowadays, if you win, look like you’re winning, look like you might win some time in the future, or look like you might sometime in the future kinda sorta get lucky and leave with some fraction of your original stake, they’ll chase you out of the casino with sticks. And all the games at the Horseshoe are 6:5. Benny must be revolving in his grave.

Comments are closed.