Don Schlesinger: Time to move on: Clearing the air

[Don Schlesinger]

A guy tries to take a short break to go to Las Vegas for five days and, in the interim, World War III breaks out on the site! Sheesh! I deeply regret what has transpired here and am writing as soon as possible to clear the air and to report back to you, after discussing the matter with all parties concerned.

First, some generalities. I founded Don's Domain, almost three and a half years ago, on a simple premise -- to provide the best blackjack information available, on a site that would be 100% free of any controversy, kooks, trolls, malcontents, or, let's face it, just plain troublemakers. You come to DD, you get civility and BJ information. You're looking for something different, you go elsewhere. Simple. And, that formula has worked wonderfully all this time.
Recently, the best got better, and I conceived the idea for the Masters. I'm not going to rehash their credentials or background for you here. I assume you've already read "Meet the Masters" and that you know all of the parties concerned, as well as their impeccable credentials -- each and every one.

More than two years ago, Karel Janecek customized his SBA simulator, much in the way that he did for John Auston and me, when we were preparing Chapter 10 of BJA, to study a specific question. Now, that analysis happened to be of a newly proposed game, Blackjack Switch, which, at the time, was no more than someone's idea for a potentially new casino game. It wasn't clear that it would ever even reach the public. The developer of that concept has already made a full disclosure of the circumstances surrounding Karel's participation in the venture (see the Free pages), and I won't rehash those at this time, either.

While I was not aware of Karel's participation in BJ Switch, when I eagerly solicited his collaboration in the Masters effort, I can assure you that, had he explained his prior role to me, it would not have made one iota of difference in my welcoming him with open arms onto the site. Not one iota!

Perhaps many of you are not aware that Arnold Snyder, who not only founded this site, but who conceived the notion of Don's Domain, as well as the private, Green pages, did all of the consulting for the Over/Under game that became very popular for several years, as a blackjack side bet. He worked out all of the math and collaborated with the game's inventor to provide essential analysis for the final version, right down to establishing exactly what the house edge would be. Yet, not only did no one ever dream of questioning the Bishop's loyalty to players or his fitness for running an ultra-private, secure site for advantage players, they embraced his efforts with open arms -- as well they should have!

Interestingly enough, suggestions that Karel could not serve two masters by furnishing such mathematical analyses and then by also, later on, possibly helping players beat the game, are, clearly, unfounded as well. For, this is precisely what Snyder did when he penned the "Over/Under Report," the definitive work on how to beat the very game he helped to create! After speaking with Karel, I have no doubt whatsoever that, should BJ Switch become "mainstream," he will be more than delighted to furnish to players and, especially, to members of Don's Domain, his methodologies for attacking the game. (To this extent, and by way of further clearing the air, Karel, himself, will be posting a personal statement to these pages shortly.)

Now, let me address some tangential issues. There have been a couple of remarks to the effect that this may be just the tip of the iceberg, and that other potential improprieties may already exist or may follow. Your concerns are ill-founded. There are no "skeletons in our closets," and each and every one of my colleagues asserts, unequivocally, that he has never served as a consultant for a casino. Period. This, of course, is a statement that the likes of Snyder, Stanford Wong, and the late Peter Griffin, all beloved icons of the game, could not make. As for the future, I speak for no one. My crystal ball isn't shiny enough to predict the future actions of eight or nine individuals, with varied backgrounds and interests. All I can guarantee you is that should any of them decide that casino consulting is a path they'd like to pursue, they may do so, and perhaps even with our blessing, but it will be as former members of the Masters panel!

For now, after a thorough investigation of the matter, I conclude that Karel did nothing to warrant either his exclusion from the Masters or your lack of trust in his loyalty to the blackjack-playing community, of which I consider him to be an incredibly gifted and valued member. We are all fortunate to have him with us on this site.

I will be delighted to read your comments on this matter, which, to me, is a not the serious affair that it has been purported to be, and whose importance, in my view, has been blown out of proportion. But, we are going to return to discussing blackjack and other advantage games on this site, in our customary civil manner, and this issue needs to be put to rest.

I am sorry I couldn't have made this statement sooner. Perhaps it would have allayed some fears and avoided some unpleasantness. Better late than never.

Best regards,

Don

[Cyrus]

I think it's best to have that discussion on one page and that this should be Parker's Page, so that everyone, subscriber or not, can follow it.

[Don Schlesinger]

> I think it's best to have that discussion on
> one page and that this should be Parker's
> Page, so that everyone, subscriber or not,
> can follow it.

My answer can be found there.

Don

[Mister M]

> My answer can be found there.

> Don
Thank you for that answer, informative and to the point as usual. Now PLEASE lets ALL move forward together!.

[Don Schlesinger]

> Thank you for that answer, informative and
> to the point as usual. Now PLEASE lets ALL
> move forward together!

That's precisely what we will be doing here, effective immediately. The free pages may take a little longer! ;-) But, I'm not going to participate there in any further discussion of the topic.

Don

[Parker]

> That's precisely what we will be doing here,
> effective immediately. The free pages may
> take a little longer! ;-)

Don't count on it. :-)

[Don Schlesinger]

In my own book (p. 40), I explain that Snyder did the consulting work, with Ken Perrie, for Super Sevens, and not the Over/Under, with which I confused it, below.

Of course, there is no impact on the matter at hand, but for the sake of accuracy, I wanted to make the correction.

Thanks to Jake Smallwood for pointing this out.

Don

> Perhaps many of you are not aware that

> Arnold Snyder, who not only founded this

> site, but who conceived the notion of Don's

> Domain, as well as the private, Green > pages,

> did all of the consulting for the >Over/Under

> game that became very popular for several

> years, as a blackjack side bet. He worked

> out all of the math and collaborated with

> the game's inventor to provide essential

> analysis for the final version, right down

> to establishing exactly what the house edge

> would be.