Wong - Professional Blackjack

copyright 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1994, 2011by Pi Yee Press

Inquiries should be addressed to Pi Yee Press, 4855 W. Nevso Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89103-3787.

ISBN 978-0-935926-35-4

Stanford Wong has made a name for himself through books, newsletters, software, and the Internet. He loves to solve puzzles.

Of course he has done his share of winning at gambling games. When he was in graduate school, playing blackjack was his major source of income, and he stayed in school long enough to earn a Ph.D. from Stanford. He published his first book, Professional Blackjack, in 1975 while a student at Stanford.

Wong is a frequent contributor to the message boards on his website, BJ21.com, which is devoted to discussion of getting an edge at casino games.

Professional Blackjack is a reference book for blackjack players. Included is advice for proper play for most of the rule variations you will encounter in blackjack games around the world. The book contains a virtually complete set of strategy numbers for the high-low counting system. The numbers in this book have been objectively derived on a computer. This material has been thoroughly tested in casinos throughout the world.

Unusual rules and casino promotions have popped up over the years; things like a casino inserting three jokers into a six-deck shoe. This book includes appropriate analyses and playing strategies.

Also important: This book explains how to win in a casino how to win without getting kicked out.

This e-book is a combination of three paper books: Professional Blackjack, Basic Blackjack, and Blackjack Secrets. The card-counting advice is from Professional Blackjack, the basic-strategy advice for unusual rules is from Basic Blackjack, and the advice on getting away with playing a winning game in casinos is from Blackjack Secrets.

Many rules variations have appeared since 1979, when I began publishing monthly newsletters. Every time I learn about a new rule for blackjack, I work out a strategy for playing against it and share the strategy with my newsletter readers. Many of the strategies in this book first appeared in Current Blackjack News.

Win rates herein are estimates based on simulations by Blackjack Count Analyzer, the predecessor of Professional Blackjack Analyzer. The win rates contained in this book are based on simulations totaling more than ten billion hands of blackjack.

Win rates in this book are estimates based on simulations. At a minimum, enough hands are simulated to bring the standard error down to 0.03%.

Some of the material in this book was first published as Winning Without Counting, which explained how to win without counting cards. The price of Winning Without Counting originally was high ($200), but its value was even higher particularly the material on warps, the raison detre for the book. Dave Douglas is the person to whom I am thankful for introducing me to warps. I made a lot of money playing the warps at Las Vegas Club in Las Vegas. That was the easiest game to beat that I have ever found, and I am grateful that it lasted as long as it did. As pit bosses at Las Vegas Club became aware that its blackjack game really was the most liberal in the world, they took a step that stopped the giveaway: They had their dealers stop peeking at hole cards under 10s.

Others of the strategies in this book first appeared in my long-out-of-print Blackjack in Asia.

Thanks to all the readers who sent emails and letters to Pi Yee Press; without them, this book would not exist.

Here is an example. A reader asks:

What do you tell people that you do? I mean, suppose you are at a party and someone asks you what you do. Do you tell them that you play blackjack?

I have a variety of answers to that question. Sometimes I tell people that I am in investments. When they follow up with What kind of investments? I say short-term. I am telling the truth my average investment lasts less than a minute. If I want to discourage further questions when someone asks me what I do, I say that I am in insurance. Again I am not telling a lie, because I do buy insurance when the count per deck is high enough.

Thanks to the people who read pre-publication copies and whose suggestions have made this a better book: Anthony Curtis, Michael Dalton, Dave Douglas, Frank Polo, John Speer, and especially Don Schlesinger. Schlesinger is Mr. Eagle Eye on errors. Speer contributed many clarifications and clever phrases, such as pacify the eye in the sky in chapter 24. Any remaining errors are of course my responsibility.

If you want to discuss blackjack with other people, the best place is BJ21.com, which is a collection of message boards. If you have any questions about the material in this book or about blackjack as it is being played in casinos around the world, or if just want to talk about blackjack, you can post your message on BJ21.com and blackjack players all over the world will respond within hours.

The best source of information on blackjack rules and playing conditions any US or Canadian casino is Current Blackjack News, a monthly newsletter published by Pi Yee Press. For ordering information, go to BJ21.com or call 702-579-7711.

Some of the tables in this book are images, and cannot be read as text. If you want to access those tables in a format that can be read as text, go to: http://BJ21.com/books/ProBJ/tables.shtml.

Gamblers around the world win and lose millions at blackjack in casinos and private clubs and homes. A handful of professionals support themselves by playing blackjack, and they call themselves investors rather than gamblers. Investing means expecting money to grow, and sometimes involves placing it in a risky situation. Gambling means placing money in a risky situation and hoping that it will grow but knowing that it will more likely shrink. The investor buys stocks and bonds and real estate, while the gambler plays craps and keno and slot machines. For most people, playing blackjack is gambling; but, for a few, it is investing.

Casino owners establish the rules of blackjack and the card counter always stays within these rules. You break no law when you win money by using a card-counting system. Blackjack is a sporting proposition. The casinos have issued the challenge; the card counter accepts on the casinos terms and generally wins. It is always satisfying to beat someone at that persons own game.

The purpose of this book is to serve as a handy reference to blackjack players. When you travel, if there is any chance you will encounter a blackjack game, take this book with you. Whatever rules you encounter at blackjack, you should be able to open this book and find basic strategy, and usually the strategy numbers that advise you when to deviate from basic strategy.

Chapter 2 presents generic basic strategy. The rest of the book discusses situations where it is appropriate to deviate from generic basic strategy. Deviations from generic basic strategy are highlighted with bold type.

Chapter 3 presents the high-low counting system for one commonly-found set of rules. Following that are chapters presenting basic strategy and indexes for insurance, double down, splitting, and surrender.

Chapter 8 is devoted to blackjack games in which the dealer does not take a hole card. Then come chapters devoted to naturals, ties, aces, and busted hands. Chapters are devoted to multiple-card bonuses, and bonuses for particular hands such as 6-7-8 of the same suit. You ought to be able to find the strategy index numbers you need for the rules you face in the casino of your choice.