See the top rated post in this thread. Click here

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 13 of 44

Thread: If a friend came to you and said "I want to learn how to count cards..."

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Western Europe
    Posts
    173


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No

    Question If a friend came to you and said "I want to learn how to count cards..."

    And you could recommend him only ONE book.
    Which would it be ?

    I'm curious what you guys would respond.

    And just by the way, I'm very new at this forum but I wanted to thank all the contributors and especially all the pro-players who give tons & tons of advices. This forum is a diamond for Blackjack players.

    See you soon

  2. #2


    2 out of 2 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Wong’s Professional Blackjack.

    Lots of good books, but as a first as well as an excellent resource for both beginners and serious players.

  3. #3


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Letangs View Post
    And you could recommend him only ONE book.
    Which would it be ?

    I'm curious what you guys would respond.

    And just by the way, I'm very new at this forum but I wanted to thank all the contributors and especially all the pro-players who give tons & tons of advices. This forum is a diamond for Blackjack players.

    See you soon
    I would say, "One book is insufficient. There is much to learn about counting cards that one book won't teach you. Before you practice, consider playing the game for a while. Burn 100 bucks first to get a feel of the game. After that, learn the general basic strategy for H17 (if West of Mississippi River) and/or S17 (for NE area). After that, pick a count you would like to use. Some popular ones are:

    High-Low
    Wong Halve's (double the values)
    Zen
    Hi-Opt II

    Once you find a count you would like, *then* I can point you to *several* books! If you have any questions, please ask and I will be glad to help!"

    If you (like me when I started) rely on one book, you will not capture most of the hidden essence of BJ AP. Make no mistake, you can still be a winning player, but there is more the counting than just robotically following a singular strategy.

    @OP: Are **you** wanting to learn to count? If yes, I have several books in mind, following the above quote I provided.

    -dogman_1234

    EDIT: Freighman has a good response. +1

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Western Europe
    Posts
    173


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    I would say, "One book is insufficient.
    I'm pretty sure any serious player would agree with you.
    But hence why my question in the initial post, the dilemma is to recommend only one book The one you consider as the best material to introduce anyone to BJ cardcounting

    I'm sure all of us would have different answers, as we perceived a book differently from one to another.

    By the way, I'm pretty curious you didn't point out the KO count which combines a pretty good efficiency and the fact that it's rather "easy" to handle compared to Hi-Lo (no converting RC/TC which is basically what newcomers struggle with) in "Casino conditions" when you're not fairly well confident.

    And to your last question, it might sound strange to you but... I'm not anywhere close to a "card counter". In fact, I've read tons of books (I guess about a dozen, Wong, Don, Lawrence, ...). Always been very interested in it, fascinated by this. I know most of it (theory), but I never really had the chance to really try it out on a regular basis.... Never had the time to train that hard, and I'm not living anywhere near a Casino, makes things harder.
    Still, I'll enjoy growing my BJ knowledge on that forum.
    Last edited by Letangs; 08-12-2018 at 05:15 PM.

  5. #5


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Letangs View Post
    I'm pretty sure any serious player would agree with you.
    But hence why my question in the initial post, the dilemma is to recommend only one book The one you consider as the best material to introduce anyone to BJ cardcounting

    I'm sure all of us would have different answers, as we perceived a book differently from one to another.
    Understood. Hence, my "insufficient" response.

    Again, Freightman's response I would like to echo for a beginner.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    3rd rock from Sol, Milky Way Galaxy
    Posts
    14,158


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    It is a tough question for me because I got my start with no books. But I would say if I could only have one book it would be Blackjack Attack edition 3. But that is not the best beginner's book.

  7. #7


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Also, if you’re interested 2nd best book recommendation for a beginner, let me know. I won’t burden you until you ask

  8. #8


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Three View Post
    It is a tough question for me because I got my start with no books. But I would say if I could only have one book it would be Blackjack Attack edition 3. But that is not the best beginner's book.
    We all know what a tremendous resource that book is, but for a beginner 1 only book recommendation - not a chance - and not my #2 recommendation either.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Western Europe
    Posts
    173


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Dogman, I edited my response, sorry bro I'm getting used to this forum ! I realized I missed half of what you asked haha !

    Freightman, go ahead if you want and name that #2 book, that's always interesting to hear !

  10. #10


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Letangs View Post
    Dogman, I edited my response, sorry bro I'm getting used to this forum ! I realized I missed half of what you asked haha !

    Freightman, go ahead if you want and name that #2 book, that's always interesting to hear !
    Snyder’s Blackbelt in Blackjack.

    And while you’re at it, read both of them several times over. Lots of hidden nuggets in both books. Snyder’s book has some really well hidden gem mines.

  11. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Western Europe
    Posts
    173


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Oh and I might use aswell this thread to drop a question which is pretty much linked to the current question.

    I've read that some of you are linking people to a "free book" which we can access on BJV website.
    I'm sure it's good material, but I havn't read it yet.

    You guys would rank it as a "Must read" like Wong's books, or is it just some kind of e-book mainly for newcomers ?

  12. #12


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by dogman_1234 View Post
    Wong Halve's (double the values)
    Or don't, decimals make for extra fun

  13. #13


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    I'll respond to your edit!

    Quote Originally Posted by Letangs View Post
    By the way, I'm pretty curious you didn't point out the KO count which combines a pretty good efficiency and the fact that it's rather "easy" to handle compared to Hi-Lo (no converting RC/TC which is basically what newcomers struggle with) in "Casino conditions" when you're not fairly well confident.

    And to your last question, it might sound strange to you but... I'm not anywhere close to a "card counter". In fact, I've read tons of books (I guess about a dozen, Wong, Don, Lawrence, ...). Always been very interested in it, fascinated by this. I know most of it (theory), but I never really had the chance to really try it out on a regular basis.... Never had the time to train that hard, and I'm not leaving anywhere near a Casino, makes things harder.
    Still, I'll enjoy growing my BJ knowledge on that forum.
    So, lemme clue you in on my knowledge of KO: I started out as a KO player. The thing about KO is, yes, it is easier to implement than that of High-Low or any other TC system. However, what you make up for simplicity you lose in advantage. That is, the less info you take in, the less advantage playing you can accurately perform. By no means is KO a losing system. However, in my experience, it has allowed me to capture some advantage while at the same time outing myself as a player. The unbalanced nature of KO inaccurately predicts the advantage until later on in the shoe. That is, you overbet early and under bet later during the game. This would require me to have a much larger spread at the table, again, outing me as an AP. Although, me being a newly-minted AP did not help, it pushed me to improve my game. Hence, why I went to HOII.

    KO is not that efficient in playing nor betting. If you want efficient for shoe games, Halves is a good choice. Or, simply stick to High-Low! Also, with deteriorating conditions, you want to outpace to casinos in losses and KO is not good enough for today's conditions. (In my opinion!)

    As for practice, I would find 8 decks of cards, a shoe, discard tray, felt, and some plastic cheques and practice basic strategy first most of all. That is where I would start.

    -dogman_1234

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. "Wild Cards": Reactions, critiques, criticisms, etc.
    By ZenMaster_Flash in forum General Blackjack Forum
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 04-29-2016, 09:03 AM
  2. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 03-11-2016, 09:38 AM
  3. Replies: 3
    Last Post: 10-15-2015, 11:37 AM
  4. Replies: 0
    Last Post: 03-29-2015, 08:44 AM
  5. Replies: 7
    Last Post: 12-30-2014, 04:51 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

About Blackjack: The Forum

BJTF is an advantage player site based on the principles of comity. That is, civil and considerate behavior for the mutual benefit of all involved. The goal of advantage play is the legal extraction of funds from gaming establishments by gaining a mathematic advantage and developing the skills required to use that advantage. To maximize our success, it is important to understand that we are all on the same side. Personal conflicts simply get in the way of our goals.