"Wild Cards": Reactions, critiques, criticisms, etc.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

Munchkin's radio interview of the author could not violate social mores and be truthful about the book.

Here are just a few reactions that I have (after buying the book at Barnes & Noble).

The author's mentor cannot be a (real) pro player as he plays like an amateur.

The author plays, coast to coast with IMPERFECT Basic Strategy and WITHOUT counting.

Here is the best example of bad advice that is repeated MANY times. Our ploppy author

takes a seat and buys-in for $300 in nearly every case, irrespective of the table minimums.

He then places 2 bets at 2 X the table minimum. That is $100 in almost all cases. He explains

that this is important to do because the game is essentially "even off the top" on the first round.

He then retreats to ½ of that amount - under ALL circumstances. "Quelle Bizarre."

His mentor, who is presented as brilliant, teaches him this fallacious nonsense;

and the "Pro" never spreads beyond $50 to about 2 X $150;

and that is at some really awful games with nastily high House Edges !

Throughout the book, if on the second hand there are a few "baby cards" the author

feverishly repeats that he MUST instantly have an advantage and increases his bets.

His spread is generally $25 to $75. When you read that the cards composing his first

two rounds are looking like he has a running count that is negative; not that it matters

that early, heads-up, with 6 or 8 decks. He even plays CSM's on occasion.

"Bill" [the Chicago "Pro"] tells our protagonist that he will teach him B J "secrets"

that "NOBODY KNOWS" Of course, he never does anything of the kind.

Throughout the book sums are added incorrectly and there are many typos.

There are boring sections of the book dealing with sight-seeing in Patagonia, religion,

family matters, the author's learning disability, and other tangential subjects.

After playing for 9 months, he (always) refers to the cards in a "pitch game" as a shoe.

He adds "the" when mentioning any count, e.g. "The Hi-Lo", "The Zen."

He calls K.O. " The Knock Out" {sic}

Believe it or not, this is merely a sampling of my criticisms.


I really want others to address this book. Of course, it is not worth purchasing.

[Romes]

Whilst I can't address that particular book, it doesn't surprise me. So long as it's cheap and says "Guaranteed winning at Blackjack!" it'll at least sell some copies. People, in general, are stupid, and they want to believe in whatever someone yells at them for the cheapest dollar amount.

I got in to it with Pete Caldwell of "Hot Streak Blackjack" in which he basically tells people to bet streaks, that card counting doesn't work, etc, etc, etc. When using simple mathematics to prove his system is a loser he simply responds with "the short term doesn't matter" as if 1,000,000 short terms don't make a long term. 99% of these people selling this BS know it's BS, but they stand to make money from unintelligent people...

"As Canada Bill Jones said... 'It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money.' " - Rounders

[Ryemo]

Romes,

Wild Cards isn't a "how to" book. It's supposedly a true story about a guy who was mentored to play blackjack by an ex MIT player, I believe. I have not read the book, but it was discussed on a recent GWAE episode. Munchkin did point out a few holes in the story, but he went pretty easy on him, assuming Flash's assessment of the book was accurate.

It was on my "list of books to buy", but I'm not so sure now. Meh, who knows... maybe I'll thumb through it just for shits and giggles.

[metronome]

Did RM etal. push a little deeper/harder on the rediculousness of this.
damn, i'm gonna have to spend(waste) 30 minutes of my life to hear this...

[Frank Galvin]

Hey folks. You don't need to pay for every book. (Slow down Norm)!

We have this book place in America in nearly every city across the land. They are called libraries, and many have or can get you copies of nearly any, let me repeat that, nearly any book ever printed.

Just a suggestion. YMMV.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

Having finished the book soon after my original post ...

I can now say that this book is far worse than I had said.

By the end of the book he still cannot count and his Basic Strategy is

still incomplete. He had a full year to learn. Well ... Hold on to your seats.

At one point they go to Foxwoods looking for the DD games, Bill claims are there.

I, for one, can assure you that they have NEVER had a pitch game in CT.

He searches the 'net and winds up paying a new-age charlatan $100 to have

him say that he is playing with scared money, (which he has mentioned a lot),

and Lo ! Behold ! Of course, this character still cannot count or spread his bets, but now,

miraculously, he cannot lose. The final chapters clearly expose Bill, "the Pro" as a figment

of the author's imagination, and no more.

The way he describes the casino action and ambience, I'd not be surprised if the entire book is simply fictitious.

[NotEnoughHeat]

It's unfortunate that you make the story itself (while ignoring all the glaringly incorrect gambling information) to be not the most interesting as well.

I'm a big sucker for a good gambling themed story.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

NotEnoughHeat,

"The story itself", as you put it, is dramatically boring.
There is not so much as an interesting segment; not
even for the sole back-off, which is somehow unworthy
of comment !! There is considerable poorly penned
gibberish about tourism in Patagonia and a lot of
religious claptrap to wade through; not to mention
self-flagellation RE: just how stupid the author is.

Contrast this with "Blackjack Autumn" by Barry Meadows

THAT is v e r y worthwhile reading indeed.

[ZenMaster_Flash]

"I'm a big sucker for a good gambling themed story."

I attempt to read any gambling-themed fiction that I stumble across.
Most aren't worth reading; though I often continue to the bitter end.

[Finrod]

This book was given to me as a gift. Zenmaster covered most of it. The disappointing thing was that all of the errors were so obvious. Anyone posting here could have been invaluable to the author prior to publishing pointing out very simple and obvious errors. It seems quite obvious that the author made no attempt to have anyone that is knowledgeable on the subject proofread his work. I was going to send the book to my son to read, but after I read it, I felt is was better not to. A Blackjack Life is a much better account of life as a counter. I have not read Barry Meadows book, but it seems I should.

[Freightman]

This book was given to me as a gift. Zenmaster covered most of it. The disappointing thing was that all of the errors were so obvious. Anyone posting here could have been invaluable to the author prior to publishing pointing out very simple and obvious errors. It seems quite obvious that the author made no attempt to have anyone that is knowledgeable on the subject proofread his work. I was going to send the book to my son to read, but after I read it, I felt is was better not to. A Blackjack Life is a much better account of life as a counter. I have not read Barry Meadows book, but it seems I should.

Though not containing theory or anything practical, as such, Barry Meadows book is an entertaining good read - worth the money.

[Fireman]

Overall, I agree with Zen's comments about the book. I was a bit disappointed because I expected to experience how an amateur took his game to the next level to become a pro. Even after a year, he could not master basic play or barely knew of the index plays. It was clear to me that he had no business being in a casino with his skill level. It was even insulting when he referred to the Zen count as a system that was super advanced (almost mystical) and was guaranteed to bring back dollars on every casino visit.
I can't complain too much because I purchased the book on my Kindle for only a few dollars. In addition, I was able to read through it in only two sittings. One of my favorites was Blackjack Life by Tilton, which I have recommended to many newbies. I even like Blackjack Life much better than Blackjack Autumn.

[Ali D]

I was considering to purchase this book 2 weeks ago on my kindle. I even read the first chapter. Then I checked some of the reviews on Amazon and there I found same incorrect information pointed out so I forgot about it.
The best memoir book that I have rad so far was "Blackjack Life"by Nathaniel Tilton
I am really interested to read more memoirs on the subject especially if the author is a KO counter. If you have any suggestions please post