The Basics of Winning Blackjack

Rating:
Summary: You don't need to be Rain-Man to win at 21
Review: A quick easy read. NO CARD COUNTING. Simple tips and strategies make the game fun for the amature, and almost completely remove the house advantage in Blackjack. You gain confidence and can relax and enjoy the game because you know you are doing it right. Using the easy techniques taught in this book, you can even the odds. Don't lose another winning hand because you are too lazy to read a few pages. A must-read for anyone who intends to visit a blackjack game, especially first-timers.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read before you hit the blackjack tables.
Review: I picked up this book in the Las Vegas airport as I was leaving Las Vegas. I wish I had got it at the beginning of my trip. Here's my story: my brother and I both went to Vegas for the first time. We played quite a bit of blackjack. Our last night there, I got wiped out early and retreated to the nickel slots. Shortly after I left the blackjack table, a Japanese guy came and sat down next to my brother. He started coaching my brother and teaching him some basic strategy, and sure enough my brother started really doing well. My brother shared the strategy with me, and it turns out it's the same strategy that's in this book.
The basic strategy is this: obviously if you have a hand of 17 or higher, you should stand. And obviously if you have a hand of 11 or less, you should hit (since you can't bust no matter what card you get). So the only question becomes, what do you do in that "gray zone" where your hand is between 12 and 16? The answer is this: if the dealer has a high card (7 or higher), then HIT. If the dealer has a low card (6 or less), then STAND. The only other thing you need to know about is money management, and basically it sums up to this: if you are ahead, especially if you've doubled your money, then WALK AWAY. Don't stay and get greedy or you'll give your winnings back; your average blackjack session shouldn't last more than an hour, usually. There are also a few other rules in the book for how to handle splitting and doubling down when you're playing multi-deck (which is pretty much everywhere), so get the book and check it out. It's a thin little book that reads quickly and is well worth checking out during your flight into Vegas. Good luck!

Rating:
Summary: A must-read before you hit the blackjack tables.
Review: I picked up this book in the Las Vegas airport as I was leaving Las Vegas. I wish I had got it at the beginning of my trip. Here's my story: my brother and I both went to Vegas for the first time. We played quite a bit of blackjack. Our last night there, I got wiped out early and retreated to the nickel slots. Shortly after I left the blackjack table, a Japanese guy came and sat down next to my brother. He started coaching my brother and teaching him some basic strategy, and sure enough my brother started really doing well. My brother shared the strategy with me, and it turns out it's the same strategy that's in this book.
The basic strategy is this: obviously if you have a hand of 17 or higher, you should stand. And obviously if you have a hand of 11 or less, you should hit (since you can't bust no matter what card you get). So the only question becomes, what do you do in that "gray zone" where your hand is between 12 and 16? The answer is this: if the dealer has a high card (7 or higher), then HIT. If the dealer has a low card (6 or less), then STAND. The only other thing you need to know about is money management, and basically it sums up to this: if you are ahead, especially if you've doubled your money, then WALK AWAY. Don't stay and get greedy or you'll give your winnings back; your average blackjack session shouldn't last more than an hour, usually. There are also a few other rules in the book for how to handle splitting and doubling down when you're playing multi-deck (which is pretty much everywhere), so get the book and check it out. It's a thin little book that reads quickly and is well worth checking out during your flight into Vegas. Good luck!