2013 - Blackjack Apprenticeship

Archive: 2013

  1. Split Double Destroy – My Most Aggressive Backoff

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    Once and only once did someone put their hands on me in an aggressive manner in an attempt to backroom me.

    Who could have guessed as I slipped into the casino that night I would soon be in the strong black arms of a woman named Tanya?

    (more…)

  2. Split Double Destroy – The Crying Pit Boss

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    The Casinos are big.

    But they are built on the power of people, who can be much more flexible, personable, and even fragile.

    I found a small casino that offered a good double deck game. (more…)

  3. What are Blackjack Deviations?

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    We get a lot of questions about Blackjack Deviations. Deviations are, arguably, the most misunderstood part of the game. So I thought I’d bring some light to the subject, based on the most common questions we receive.

    So what are blackjack deviations?

    Deviations are simply times where you will alter your play. They are always mathematically driven, meaning they are never based off of a hunch or a pattern of wins or losses. There are 2 kinds of deviations: Playing Deviations and Betting Deviations.

    TIP: There is an comprehensive section on Blackjack Deviations in our Card Counting Training Course. To get a complete walk-through of the what, why, and how, along with memorization tips, check out the Video Training Course.

    Betting Deviations are times when you will change your bet. As the true count changes, the edge changes. When the casino has the edge, you will bet less, but as the edge moves to the player,  the player will bet more. This will always follow the strategy of your bet spread. And your bet spread should be mathematically calculated from a betting software or through Bankroll Coaching (which is included for Elite Members).

    Playing Deviations are times where you will deviate from basic strategy because the composition of the cards has changed due to the true count changing. For example, normally you will hit a 12 against a 2. However, when the true count is above 3, it is statistically better to stand a 12 against a 2. So anytime before a true 3, you will hit 12 v 2; anytime above true 3, you will stand 12 v 2.

    How Important are Playing Deviations?

    Yes. Roughly 60-80% of a card counter’s edge comes from PERFECT basic strategy, PERFECT counting, and PERFECTLY betting according to the true count. Then, Deviations account for the remaining 20-40%. I strongly recommend that people focus ALL their attention on basic strategy, counting, and true count conversion until they are always 100% accurate and getting bored. The reason for this is that you cannot beat blackjack without perfect basic strategy, counting, and betting. Those are the foundations. When your foundation is solid, you can work on adding playing deviations. But you cannot put the cart before the horse.

    “Why are playing deviations important?”

    There are a few ways that playing deviations are valuable. The main way is that they increase EV. Rather than thinking of deviations as “steering away from basic strategy”, you can think of deviations as the proper basic strategy for each true count. Take the 12 vs 2 decision for example. With a true count below 3, you will make more money in the long run if you always hit, but you will make more money above a true 3 if you always stand. It’s just that simple. But another way that playing deviations are valuable is because they lower risk and variance. By always making the correct decision, your bankroll will take fewer swings. For example, by always buying insurance at a true 3, you are protecting your bankroll and will have a lower risk game than if you avoid using that playing deviation.

    “When do you perform deviations?”

    Betting Deviations: You will need to calculate the true count between every round to perform betting deviations. Since your bet spread will likely change with every true count (at least up to a true 4 or 5), you will need to know the true count every round to calculate the true count and bet accordingly. This is why practicing calculating the true count is so important!

    Playing Deviations: Whenever you are dealt a hand with a deviation index number. Even if you just calculated the true count for your betting decision, you will need to calculate it again when it’s your playing decision because the running count has likely changed. So before you make a signal, you will need to convert from running to true count and see if it justifies deviating from basic strategy. This might sound tricky, but if you follow the training and get faster and faster at basic strategy, counting, and true count conversions, adding this step will become more natural.

    Hopefully this brings some clarity to blackjack deviations.

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  4. Blackjack Hero – Tommy Hyland

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    Biography of Tommy Hyland

    Tommy Hyland Black and WhiteThomas Hyland is a professional blackjack player and card counter. He is well known for his expertise innovative card counting techniques and also is one of the seven inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

    Hyland began his career in the late 70’s upon reading Lawrence Revere’s book Playing Blackjack as a Business. While in college, in 1979, Hyland began contemplating what he was going to do for a profession when he got thrown into the world of blackjack. After becoming very enthusiastic about the game and the idea of making it a full time job, he began recruiting his friends and put together his original team of four players with a bankroll of four-thousand dollars each. The team began their career inAtlantic City and because of their sharp counting tactics, easily built their team of to a back roll of fifty-thousand dollars. After conditions worsened for many blackjack players inAtlantic City, Hyland’s original teammates headed toAsia to continue their blackjack play; however, Hyland continued his team by recruiting other friends that he knew from golfing.

    Throughout the 80’s, Hyland and his team utilize very successful blackjack counting techniques such as shuffle tracking and ace sequencing. Among these, the latter got Hyland and his team into a difficult situation at the mid of the next decade. In 1994, some of his teammates were arrested inCanadafor ace sequencing play at Casino Windsor inOntario,Canada. Although the trial was supposed to be groundbreaking precedent as far as prosecuting ace sequencing and other advantage blackjack players, the judge ruled in favor of Hyland’s team and ruled that what his members were doing was not cheating, but rather, intelligent strategy.

     

    Colin and Tommy Hyland Censored

    Colin and Tommy Hyland hanging out at a country club.

    Hyland’s strategy as far as counting and making money at various casinos is an aggressive strategy where he advocates standing firm and leaving as fast as possible. Moreover, Hyland’s success as a team leader, and also his success at operating the longest standing blackjack team, goes back to his loyalty, integrity, and ability to engage and encourage his teammates through faithfulness and devotion. “In a crisis, the money wasn’t the most important thing,” stated Hyland, “the most important thing was somebody’s liberty.” Although many members came and went throughout Hyland’s successful decades of advantage blackjack play, the team’s philosophy always stayed tight knit and dedicated to each other no matter what the cost.

    Although Hyland doesn’t play nearly as many hours as he used to, he still plays frequently and also has branched out into other modes of advantage betting such as advantage sports betting. Hyland is well respected as one of the most famous blackjack players of all time, as he is currently in the blackjack hall of fame, and has made a successful career at being a loyal, hard-working, and responsible advantage blackjack player. “I love the fact that I’ve played blackjack for this long,” stated Hyland, “it’s very satisfying to take the money from the casinos –to me [this] is way better.”

     

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  5. Blackjack Hero – Richard Munchkin

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    Biography of Richard Munchkin

    Richard Munchkin is a prolific writer, director, producer, radio host, and professional gambler. He is known for his book Gambling Wizards, which narrates the history of some of the most well-known blackjack players of all time.

    Growing up in the town of Des Plaines, Illinois, Munchkin took a liking to strategy games at a very young age. By the age of three, he was proficient in the games of chess and gin rummy. It was by the age of twelve that Munchkin fancied the idea of playing games in order to when money. It was at this time that he began backgammon and poker seriously. His talent and skills were able to provide him with enough income to put himself through Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts. Upon completing his undergrad in the late 70’s –and not wanting to be a starving actor in the Hollywood strip –he moved to Las Vegas and began work as a card dealer, and occasionally a pit boss, at the Castaways Casino.

    It was at this time, in 1977, Munchkin learned how to count cards. He recalls playing backgammon in a bar in Chicago with a dentist when he told Munchkin about a way to beat blackjack mathematically. Intrigued by the idea, Munchkin ordered the book Playing Blackjack as a Business, and moved full time to Las Vegas. After completing dealer school, he was hired on as a dealer, as he recalls, “I would practice counting while dealing,” and began to sharpen his card counting skills full time in Vegas. Nevertheless, Munchkin eventually found it more profitable to be a blackjack player than a blackjack dealer, and began playing with a team in the later 70’s. Munchkin’s first experiences playing on a team wasn’t as profitable as he had expected, and after a failed hand, Munchkin quit the team and went back to dealing. Nevertheless, he was soon drawn back into playing. Although their original bankroll funder moved back to Australia, Munchkin and his friends began playing very seriously and soon the tides began to change as much success and profits were reaped by Munchkin and his team the next decade.

    As a theatre major, Munchkin’s idea was to make a large amount of profit in Las Vegas, and eventually sojourn to Los Angeles to get involved in the film industry. Although he endured many unforeseen circumstances, this is precisely what Munchkin did. Munchkin launched his film career in the 80’s, and between ’87 and ’99, Munchkin produced and directed over twenty movies such as Evil Obsession, Fists of Iron, Ring of Fire, L.A. Heat, Out for Blood, and Deadly Bet.

    In 2002, Munchkin authored his famous book entitled Gambling Wizards, and also frequently contributes op-ed pieces to Blackjack Magazine, All in Magazine, and Blackjack Forum. In 2004, Munchkin participated season one of the World Series of Blackjack. In 2009 Munchkin was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

    Munchkin currently hosts a weekly radio show called Gambling with an Edge, which is syndicated on KLAV in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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  6. Blackjack Hero – Kevin Blackwood

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    Biography of Kevin Blackwood

    Kevin BlackwoodKevin Blackwood is a professional blackjack player, card counter and author who is famous for his best-selling book Play Blackjack Like the Pros. He has played in the World Series of Blackjack and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour.

    Born in the state of Maine, Kevin Blackwood had humble beginnings as he was brought up in a very conservative devout-Baptist background for nearly two decades. Upon traveling off to college, and transferring a few times to different universities, Kevin was able to successfully complete his undergraduate and masters degree by the year of 1981. Kevin then enrolled in a Ph.D program to continue to work towards his doctorate degree, as he was planning on either teaching Church History as a professor or venturing off into the ministry field. It was at this time that he began reading about card counting wherein his life was changed drastically.

    While reading an article in Sports Illustrated about a “new breed of gamblers”, Kevin became fascinated with the idea of a new and innovative generation of gamblers who played by the science of gambling using mathematics, thereby breaking the old stereotype of the “good ‘ol boy” blackjack player. As someone who had a mathematical background, Kevin knew that this was something that he could seriously pursue successfully with the right amount of time and training. “They weren’t gambling in a true sense,” stated Blackwood, “They were using their aptitude in a way to turn the tables on Las Vegas.”

    In the early ‘80’s –right after marriage –Blackwood began training in Oregon and Washington in local taverns for many months insofar it was a sterile environment away from more serious places in Nevada. It was here that Kevin began to track meticulous records of his fiscal earnings and losses, and built up his bankroll before he took his newfound skills to big-time casinos in Vegas. Nevertheless, after decades of black jack as a professional card counter, Kevin decided to shift into semi-retirement and begin to convey to others some of his legacy and creativity through the power of the pen.

    Kevin’s first book, a novel, entitled The Counter was written with many autobiographical themes throughout the book including his religious upbringing. Published in 2002, it tracks the story of Raven Townsend and his desire to become a millionaire blackjack player. His second book, Play Blackjack like the Pros, was published by Harper Collins in 2005, and is a basic guide and instructional book on how to become a successful blackjack player. Kevin’s third book, Casino Gambling for Dummies, steps away from the blackjack themes and covers the basic ins and outs of the casino life and how to become victorious at various games therefrom. Kevin’s most recent book, The Legends of Blackjack, was published as an e-book, and is replete with numerous stories of many of the blackjack giants.

    Blackwood now currently resides in Oregon with his wife, two sons, and cat.

    Footnotes

    [1] Sports Illustrated, “Youth Can Age You,” May 14, 1979 https://www.si.com/vault/issue/70830/57

    [2] Kevin Blackwood, (On Blackjack), interview by Colin Jones, Blackjack Apprenticeship.com, Podcast Audio, , May 7, 2013,

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  7. Blackjack Hero – Max Rubin

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    Biography of Max Rubin

    Max Rubin Max Rubin is a professional gambler and is well known for his book Comp City: A Guide to Free Gambling Vacations. Rubin has traveled the nation with diverse speaking engagements and seminars, and now is a consultant for many casinos teaching staff how to spot card counters.

    Growing up in a family where his father was a professional cross roader, Max was exposed to the gambling life at an early age. As a young eighteen year old man, Max hitchhiked out to Las Vegas where he began working his first “job”. As someone who would get into fights outside of various casinos, Rubin would enable other players inside to swipe chips easily without being caught by security. Nevertheless, at this time, he began attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he also ran track.

    After winning a lottery draft Rubin ventured out to Lake Tahoe and began working as a dealer: “I had just met a couple guys,” recalled Rubin, “that were just talking about this notion of card counting.” It was then that Rubin began to first hear about the idea of advantage play and the benefits of doing it successfully. By the mid 70’s, Rubin was working full time as a blackjack dealer, all the while he was teaching himself how to count cards as well.

    Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, Rubin played with many card counting teams, one of which was called the Depth Chargers, which played a very successful single deck play. It was about this time that Rubin was playing in California where he began his career as a writer. It was at this time that Rubin published his book Comp City: a Guide to Free Gambling Vacations. The book fantastically outlines the secrets, tips, and tricks in order to maximize casino perks and compensations with little betting or gambling even involved. The book is replete with anecdotes and practical hilarity that enables the reader to be able to hit Vegas with comps using various techniques.

    After being an advantage player for many decades, Rubin decided to try and plant his foot down and maintain a more stable lifestyle. Because his kids were growing up and he was sick of traveling, he thought it best to become a blackjack dealer. Although he would take some time off, at this point, and be a player and a dealer, the change came when a new opportunity arose. It was at this time that his position of watching tables for advantage players was first offered to him. Rubin has now built up a very successful consulting business, because of his expertise in advantage playing, where he makes sure that all the players in the casino are playing lawfully and legally. Rubin consults with various casinos throughout the entire country. He currently works inSan Diegoat Barona Casino which is one of the most popular casinos on the west coast.

    Rubin also has held many other unique positions such as a commentator for the first couple seasons on GSN World Series of Blackjack along with Matt Vasgersian and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour with Nick GAS’ Mati Moralejo on CBS. Rubin is, at this time, one of only twelve members in the Blackjack of Hall of Fame and presently resides in California.

  8. Are Continuous Shuffle Machines Making Card Counting Obsolete?

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    Play

    I received an email recently with a fairly common question, so I thought I’d share it, along with my opinion and the opinion of a few other famous card counters…

    Dear Colin,

    I am VERY interested in card counting both as a hobby and a potential second income. I expect the training to take a good few months before I become sufficiently expert and have saved a substantial bankroll. My problem is that I suspect that more and more casinos will start to use continuous shuffle machines (CSMs), thereby making card counting obsolete and my training and saving all to no avail. What are your views ?

    -RB

    First, let’s define a few terms:

    1. The Shoe:

    blackjack six deck dealing shoe
    Any blackjack game with more than 2 decks will be dealt from a shoe. Shoe games are completely beatable by card counting. The increased number of decks DOES decrease the advantage of the game, but that is often counterbalanced by other factors like better rules and more tolerance. The card counting system we teach works for any number of decks dealt… and the majority of the nearly $4M our teams have won was at 6 and 8 deck games.

    2. Random/Automatic Shuffle Machines:

    Blackjack Automatic Shuffle Machine
    A random shuffle machine that takes all the cards (i.e. all 6 decks or 8 decks) and shuffles them together. Then the dealer takes the full stack of cards, has a player cut, and puts it into a shoe and deals. Since the game includes all of the cards, these shuffle machines are great. They speed up the game and having nothing that a player should fear.

    3. Continuous Shuffle Machines (CSM’s)

    Blackjack CSM
    If a dealer deals out a few rounds, then takes the used cards and puts them into a machine that he is continually taking cards out of, then he is using a CSM. These machines continually shuffle together 3-5 decks, making it impossible to predict what types of cards are left in the shoe. Thus, it’s impossible to count a CSM game.

    So, Are Continuous Shuffle Machines making card counting obsolete?

    No! Here’s why: players don’t like them and they are expensive for casinos to maintain. But rather than just sharing my opinion, I thought I’d ask a few other pros (and Blackjack Hall of Fame members).
    Here’s what Tommy Hyland and Richard Munchkin had to say:

    I certainly haven't seen any signs of "CSM's taking over." To me, it seems like the same old story; some casinos put them on their smaller tables, and customers don't seem to mind all that much, but when they put them on the high tables, there is significant patron resistance. I have not seen many casinos in the US that use them exclusively on their $50 minimum tables and up.

    — Tommy Hyland

    Are CSMs taking over? I don't think so. Some places seem to be adding them while others are taking them out. I have been hearing that blackjack is almost dead since I started playing in 1978. In my experience every year brings more opportunities so I wouldn't sweat the CSMs.

    — Richard Munchkin

    I’ve been a card counter for 15 years, and I side with Tommy and Richard.

    Every year things change. A great game disappears, but a new opportunity arises. CSMs come and go, but there are so many opportunities for EV in this great country (and around the globe)!

    I have more friends making upper 5-figures or 6-figures from card counting than I did 10 years ago, in large part because there are more opportunities for card counting than there were 10 years ago.

    Make sure you know everything it takes to beat the game, how every rule and option affects your edge, then start beating blackjack for yourself!

     

    If you’re interested in learning the skills necessary to beat casinos for profit, start our Card Counting mini-course now…

    Blackjack Expert Colin Jones

    Meet Colin Jones

    Colin is the founder of Blackjack Apprenticeship. Colin has been counting cards for over 15 years, and ran a multi-million dollar blackjack team. You may have seen his team featured in the documentary Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians, and has been covered by New York Times, CNN, and The Colbert Report. For more training from Colin, check out the Blackjack Apprenticeship YouTube Channel.