The GameMaster's Blackjack School

This free course on blackjack and card counting was provided by the GameMaster, publisher of the GameMaster Online website. It is reproduced here in its entirety with permission of the author. The 24-lesson course is an excellent introduction to winning blackjack.

To start at the beginning, visit the Welcome page.

Lesson 1. The Basics of Basic Strategy

• Basic Strategy Matrix - Developed for a fairly common game (as described in lesson 1): Six decks, double on any first two cards, double after splitting pairs is permitted and the dealer stands on A-6 and surrender is not permitted.
• Basic Strategy Matrix in Adobe Acrobat format.
• You can create a specific Basic Strategy Matrix for any Blackjack game at the Blackjack Basic Strategy Engine.
• Basic Strategy Decision Chart - This is the Basic Strategy condensed into easy to remember rules for each player's hand, using these rules (as specified in Lesson 1): 6 Decks,S17, DA2, DAS, no surrender.
• Basic Strategy Decision Chart in Adobe Acrobat format.

Lesson 2: Memorizing Basic Strategy

• Basic Strategy Reconstruction Chart - This link will load the page to your computer, then you can print as many as you wish. You will notice that it is just a "blank" of the Basic Strategy Decision Chart we used in Lesson 1 to create the rules for each of the player's starting hands. The object here is to write in the rule for each hand and then check for accuracy. Time yourself as you do it and see if you can get under 60 seconds with 100% accuracy.
• Basic Strategy Reconstruction Chart in Adobe Acrobat format.
• Basic Strategy Decision Exercise. - Here I've made up a lot of player's starting hands along with a dealer's up card. Use your "Basic Strategy Matrix" from Lesson 1 to make a "correction copy" and mark it as such at the top. Then, just go down the columns of another copy and fill in the proper play. Use your correction copy to check for accuracy. Speed is of the essence here, so work towards a goal of completing this in under 60 seconds with 100% accuracy. This link will load the page to your computer, then you can print as many as you wish.
• Basic Strategy Decision Exercise in Adobe Acrobat format.

Lesson 3: Card Counting: The Basics

• Hi/Lo Counting System--Point Values - The Hi/Lo counting system assigns a "point" value to each type of card in a deck. The first step in card counting is to memorize those values. This link will load the page to your computer, then you can print a copy.

Lesson 5. Betting With the Count

• The Optimum Bet Chart - By using this information, you can determine the optimal bet for any bankroll; just multiply the figure in the last column by the amount of the bankroll. Thus, for a bankroll of $3000, the optimal bet for a true count of 2 is .0038 X $3000 = $11.40. This link will load the page to your computer, then you can print a copy.
• The Optimum Bet Chart in Adobe Acrobat format.

Lesson 6. Verifying Your Skills

• Multi-card Soft Hands Test - The Answers. This link will give you the proper "HIT or STAND" answers and the reasons for that decision to the 10 questions on the DVD.
• Basic Strategy Decision Test. Here is a final test for you to verify your basic strategy skills. A completion time of 2 minutes is very reasonable. This link will load the test to your computer, then you can print as many as you wish.
• Basic Strategy Decision Test in Adobe Acrobat format.