Frank Scoblete

[SPX]

What's everyone's opinion here of Frank Scoblete? From what I've seen he seems to be genuinely knowledgeable and successful in regard to many gaming pursuits and--even though many refuse to believe it's possible--he's done a lot to develop and refine dice control with Chris Pawlicki.

On the other hand, I also know he helped develop and popularize the Speed Count, which many consider to be just about worthless--even though it has been simmed to show that, while it might not be Hi-Lo, it still turns the advantage to the player's side.

[ChefJJ]

Judging by how much pub he gets, especially the number of those Travel Channel shows on gambling he has been on, I'd imagine his non-gaming career is much more lucrative than on-floor action.

Just a guess...don't know the man.

good luck

[21forme]

I find his AC conditions report in the Blackjack Insider newsletter pretty far from reality.

[Renzey]

Originally Posted by SPX

What's everyone's opinion here of Frank Scoblete?

About a dozen years ago, I spoke at a few casino gaming seminars along with several other lecturing "authorities". There, I met Frank Scoblete. All the lecturers and most of their wives would have dinner together and get to know each other. Frank was an outgoing, dynamic personality, firmly grounded in the principles of advantage play at gambling games.

Although he was apparently a very sharp casino gambler, I believe Frank's first line of interest was to teach advantage play and make money doing that, rather than at gambling himself. I found him to be a prolific speaker and writer -- a natural at that craft.

Back then, he was a Hi/Lo blackjack player, and his seminars, although not exclusively on blackjack, always stuck to positive EV strategy. I never heard him push a game plan that was a mathematical loser.

When all the publicity about "dice control" broke onto the scene years later, I called Frank and asked him for the real "skinny", and whether it was for real.
He said, "Fred, believe me, you can alter the random probabilities of a dice throw enough to gain the upper hand. But it takes an enormous amount of practice -- akin to learning how to throw a major league curve ball."

As for the Speed Count, I personally think it's gotten a bad rap. It's clearly inferior to traditional full scale counts, but does produce a positive EV. In running what jury-rigged sims I could program for it, it appeared to perform decidedly better than the Ace/10 Front Count, slightly inferior to or equal to KISS I, and considerably weaker than KISS III, KO or Hi/Lo. It simply is what it is, and has its slot -- a recreational player's counting system.

In closing, I'd say Frank Scoblete is a marketing whiz with lots of gambling savvy and pretty high business standards. Just my 2 cents worth. Feel free to counterpoint.

[jimpenn]

He sometimes fails to put the words in the right position. You got to give him some credit for building a residual income machine, but I don't believe he's a top 20 real deal player.

[Paradox]

He is the very best gambler, author and inventor in the world, just ask him!

IMHO---He's a psudo-ploppy who stumbled upon dice influencing. He has practiced enough to make it work for him. Any compulsive gambler can get motivated! If you give him money, he will take it. He has nothing to teach that you cannot get from a book and a much cheaper class. Speed-count is dangerous. You vary your bet, but don't get a meaningful advantage. So you chance a back-off without an advantage. His dice classes are over-priced and he is a pompous ass in them. Dom has the only ego bigger than his, but Dom is better at dice control. Frank is not respected by professional BJ players, he is mocked. How many PhDs and master's degrees does he have this week? He may have purchased a few more since I last checked lol!

Paradox

[SPX]

Originally Posted by Renzey

About a dozen years ago, I spoke at a few casino gaming seminars along with several other lecturing "authorities". There, I met Frank Scoblete. All the lecturers and most of their wives would have dinner together and get to know each other. Frank was an outgoing, dynamic personality, firmly grounded in the principles of advantage play at gambling games.

Although he was apparently a very sharp casino gambler, I believe Frank's first line of interest was to teach advantage play and make money doing that, rather than at gambling himself. I found him to be a prolific speaker and writer -- a natural at that craft.

Thanks a bunch for this very honest opinion based on your personal experience. I found it very interesting to hear your own account and it was also nice to hear someone say something good about a fellow blackjack/gaming author and teacher. It has always seemed to me that that world of blackjack is very factious and people huddle together in their own little cliques.

I have perused some of Frank's books and have read some of the books in his Get the Edge series that weren't authored by him and have never found anything that I would think serious BJ people would object to . . . but still they find reasons to object.

Originally Posted by Renzey

When all the publicity about "dice control" broke onto the scene years later, I called Frank and asked him for the real "skinny", and whether it was for real.
He said, "Fred, believe me, you can alter the random probabilities of a dice throw enough to gain the upper hand. But it takes an enormous amount of practice -- akin to learning how to throw a major league curve ball."

I know a lot of people refuse to believe it's even possible. But why? Jealousy of sorts or just plain old closed mindedness? These are the same types of people who said that man would never fly, man would never go to the moon and no one would ever need more than 640K of RAM in their PC. . .

Originally Posted by Renzey

As for the Speed Count, I personally think it's gotten a bad rap. It's clearly inferior to traditional full scale counts, but does produce a positive EV. In running what jury-rigged sims I could program for it, it appeared to perform decidedly better than the Ace/10 Front Count, slightly inferior to or equal to KISS I, and considerably weaker than KISS III, KO or Hi/Lo. It simply is what it is, and has its slot -- a recreational player's counting system.

Well KISS I is not a bad system and no one finds any reasons to denigrate it, so why all the hostility toward SPEED COUNT? I have found others in professional positions to give gambling advice who give it credit, but that's not really the case around the boards here.

[shadroch]

I think you just have to remember that he ,first off,a salesman. Keep that in mind and you'll be fine.

[SPX]

Originally Posted by shadroch

I think you just have to remember that he ,first off,a salesman. Keep that in mind and you'll be fine.

But isn't everyone who offers a product for sale? And didn't they all start off as players first? I mean, I'm sure Frank was a BJ player before he was a teacher and that his teaching sprung from his table experience.

Same with Arnold Snyder or Ken Uston or Stanford Wong. . . They were all players who now have built media empires through their authorship and, I assume, derive most of their income these days from their writing and self-promotion rather than their playing.

Of course I don't know any of these guys personally, just speculating.

[rogue1]

I read a book by him I think it was entitled Best Blackjack. I found him to be down to earth,direct, and he didn't try to dazzle you with big words or concepts. In fact in the books' introduction he tells you what he kiddingly called "The Big Secret"-play good games,count accurately,get as much money out as you can when the count favors you! I certainly would recommend his book on blackjack,it was also fun to read.