What is a highly recommended book for one wanting to learn to pay Black Jack?

Question

I have played in Casinos before so I do not need a beginners guide; however, I have little skill set. I mainly want to be able to play for long periods of time without losing considerable amount of money. I am not interested in becoming a professional gambler nor playing to make financial gains (yes, I would like to win as much as possible, that is not my point : )

If anyone can recommend some good books to get a solid handle of effective Black Jack play I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

Answer 1

You ought play basic strategy - some casinos have an attractively printed strategy card that they hand out as a gift.

Play the minimum bet only - that will enable you to play for the maximum time, just as you requested. Under no circumstances play a money management scheme! None win in a negative expectancy game regardless of what that game is. Basic strategy loses about 0.5% average. The problem with blackjack is that only one quarter of hands are positive expectation while three quarters are negative. If one could win with a money management scheme why would anyone need to learn card-counting? Consider this: a card counter will walk away from a game where his count tells him that the cards still to be come are lousy. At the same time, a money management player will be increasing his bets and drawing those lousy cards. I might add, that if those cards are really bad, basic strategy may not be the best way to play them. But only a card counter would know what to do.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is the actual play of the hand. Assume you are using a money management scheme in a losing sequence and have raised your bet to, say, $50. Let's say that the hand is 77 v 5. You ought split them, that makes $100 on the table, You get a double down on both sides and make the correct plays; that makes $200 on the table. I'll leave it to you to contemplate what you will do with you money management scheme if the dealer's hand beats yours. Nothing unusual here, by the way, these are the type of things that happen in a game.

Answer 2

"Beat the Dealer" is a famous one.

Also, the movie 21 that just came out is based on a book called "Bringing Down The House". Clever name if I do say so myself :)

Answer 3

Blackjack for blood & Beat the Dealer are great books. Of course there is also the basic strategy card which is the foundation knowledge for all blackjack players...

But the key to having a long session is good bankroll management. The reason most people go broke quickly is not because of a house edge of 1% or 10% but because they keep risking so much of their money on a spin/hand/roll etc. Streaks of losses naturally happen, just as freak streaks of win are just as likely to happen, but most people don't adjust their bet sizing to be able to handle a moderate losing streak.

The general rule of thumb for blackjack is to make your big bet about 2% of your total bankroll, this is conservative enough to handle most swings.