Do you read?

[blackchipjim]

I hate to sound like a broken record but does anyone ever read books anymore. I see alot of questions on the subject of the game that is coverd in the most simplist book on gambling. What is wrong with reading a few books then rereading them a few times so you have the basics down pat. I see alot of questions that appear on this site that seems that the person never picked up a book on the subject at all. You waste alot of time trying to learn what I term advanced bj by not learning the basics of the game by reading about it. I not getting on the newcomers to the site or the game but geesh pick up a few books and read about the subject matter before asking questions. blackchipjim

 

[shadroch]

What are these "books" you refer to? Have a link?

 

[Canceler]

What are these "books" you refer to? Have a link?

Perfect! That actually made me laugh out loud. :laugh:

On a slightly more serious note, visit your local library for books you can read for FREE!

 

[Automatic Monkey]

There's a lot to be said for reading books, but the kind of discussion we have here is important too. Discussion puts the concepts in contemporary terms for real-world conditions.

Think of it as like a college course. The textbook is important but so are discussions with professors and fellow students.

 

[cardcounter0]

The library is an EXCELLENT suggestion!

When I first started studying the game, for many years I was armed only with a copy of Stanford Wong's "Professional Blackjack" and Don Schlesinger's "Blackjack Attack".

However, I spent many hours in the local library (I didn't even have a library card), where I read Revere's "Playing Blackjack as a Business", Uston's "Million Dollar Blackjack", Wong's "Blackjack Secrets", Snyder's "Blackbelt in Blackjack", Thorpe's "Beat the Dealer", etc.

Literally hundreds and hundreds of dollars of blackjack literature and knowledge -- all absolutely free. A true ADVANTAGE PLAY!

 

[GeorgeD]

Books? We don't need no stinking biiks.

 

[gus]

Sure. Books are essential (I v seen the same in magic... You have to study..).

But I agree with Automatic Monkey, here I can find the true experience... APs of 2008.. So, it s a perfect mix.

 

[callipygian]

We don't need no education.

We don't need no thought control.

 

[gus]

We don't need no education.

We don't need no thought control.

No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher leave them kids alone.

 

[blackchipjim]

reading

You bust me up with the what books comment. I was refering to reading as a tool and then discussing. I have yet to go to school and have a teacher talk and ask questions on a subject that no one has read about. There are steps in learning is all I'm saying and the alot of questions are basic and could be learned by reading about bj in general. The boards are great for explanations on sticky points or on help understanding but should not be substituted for reading about the game. blackchipjim

 

[bjcount]

You bust me up with the what books comment. I was refering to reading as a tool and then discussing. I have yet to go to school and have a teacher talk and ask questions on a subject that no one has read about. There are steps in learning is all I'm saying and the alot of questions are basic and could be learned by reading about bj in general. The boards are great for explanations on sticky points or on help understanding but should not be substituted for reading about the game. blackchipjim

I agree with BJJim.
For one purple chip you can purchase new or used a complete library of books on the subject we are discussing in the forums, BLACKJACK. Some of them have math that is way advanced for me to grasp on a first read, but after numerous reads and asking some fellow experts here for better explanations, the advanced formulas and concepts became easier to follow and understand.

I have collected over 25 books plus CVBJ and still haven't spent a purple chip on all combined. The AP books are harder to find and are more expensive but you won't find those in a library.

After you read them once, go back and read them again. Of course dont learn all the strats., but you can learn much much more reading about the authors methods then can be discussed here.

The books are an investment in knowledge that you are trying to obtain. By owning them you can always go back and find the info you are in need for.

Geez, you go out and lose 100units without blinking an eye (maybe a little sweat), but you wouldn't spend it on a book. How damn cheap can you be? If Thorp or Revere didn't spend their time and money on computer time to develop the early sims, we would still be using worthless betting progressions.

BJC

 

[bjcount]

Heres a quick list I found on a search:
Arnold Synder (in Blackbelt in Blackjack)
Michael Dalton (in Blackjack: A Professional Reference)
Olaf Vacura (in Knock-Out Blackjack)
Stuart Perry (in Las Vegas Blackjack Diary)
Mason Malmuth (in Gambling Theory and Other Topics)
Reference
,"Blackjack: A Professional Reference (Third Edition) - The Encyclopedia of Casino Twenty-One! -", Michael Dalton, Spur of the Moment Publishing, 1993, $29.95, ISBN: 1-879712-02-4
Mathematics
,"The Theory of Blackjack (Sixth Edition) - The Compleat Card Counter's Guide to the Casino Game of 21 " , Peter A. Griffin, Huntingtion Press, 1996, $11.95, ISBN: 0-92971213-7
"The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic (Revised edition), Richard A. Epstein, Academic Press, 1977, $39.95, ISBN: 0-12-240761-X
"Blackjack by The Numbers", Richard Parrillo, Sibylline Books, 1993, $14.95, ISBN: 0963196103 (0-96319614-6?)
, "Extra Stuff--Gambling Ramblings", Peter Griffin, Huntington Press, 1991, $11.95, ISBN: 0929712005
" "The Mathematics of Games and Gambling (New Mathematical Library, No 28)", Edward W. Packel, The Mathematical Association of America, 1981, $20.95 ISBN: 088385628x
" Discrete Gambling and Stochastic Games (Applications of Mathematics,32)" ,Ashok P. Maitra, William D. Sudderth, Springer Verlag, 1996, $60.95, 244 pages, ISBN: 0387946284
"Gambling Theory and Other Topics",, Mason Malmuth, Two Plus Two Publishing, 1994, $29.95, ISBN: 1880685035
, "The Mathematics of Gambling", Edward O. Thorp, 1984, ISBN: 0897460197
, "Getting the Best of It ",, David Sklansky, Two Plus Two Publishing, 1989, $29.95, 310 pages ISBN: 1880685043>
, "Caro on Gambling",, Mike Caro, Lyle Stuart Book, 1984, $6.95, ISBN: 0897460294
, "Multi-Deck Blackjack by The Numbers", Richard Parrillo, Sibylline Books, 1994, ?, ISBN: 0963196162
"The Casino Gambler's Guide", Allan Wilson, 1970, ISBN:0060146745[Out of Print]
Basic
,"Fundamentals of 21", Mason Malmuth and Lynne Loomis, ISBN: 1880685132
,"Basic Blackjack", Stanford Wong, Pi Yee Press, $14.95, ISBN: 0935926194
,"Fundamentals of Blackjack", Carlson R. Chambliss & Thomas C. Roginski ISBN: 089650705X
Strategy
"Beat The Dealer - A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One-", Edward O. Thorp, Vintage Books, 1966, $10.00, ISBN: 0-394-70310-3
,"Million Dollar Blackjack", Ken Uston, Carol Publishing Group Edition, 1981, $19.65, ISBN 0-89746-068-5
,"Professional Blackjack" , Stanford Wong, Pi Yee Press, 1994, $19.95, ISBN 0-935926-21-6
,"The World's Greatest Blackjack Book", Lance Humble & Carl Cooper, Doubleday, 1987, $10.95, ISBN: 0-38515382-1
, "Blackjack Secrets", Stanford Wong, Pi Yee Press, 1993, $14.95, ISBN: 0-935926-20-8
,"Blackjack For Blood (Revised Edition)", Bryce Carlson, CompuStar Press, 1994, $19.95 , ISBN: 0-9633684-0-0
,"Playing Blackjack as a Business", Lawrence Revere, Lyle Stuart Book, 1969, $15.95, ISBN 0-81840064-1
, "Blackbelt in Blackjack -Playing 21 as a Martial Art", Arnold Snyder, RGE Publishing, 1983, $12.95, ISBN 0-910575-02-9
, "Blackbelt in Blackjack - Playing 21 as a Martial Art", Arnold Snyder, RGE Publishing, 1998, $19.95, ISBN: 0-910575-05-3
"Knock-Out Blackjack - The easiest card-counting system ever devised (Second Edition)", Olaf Vancura & Ken Fuchs, Huntington Press, Sep 1998, $17.95, ISBN 0-92971231-5 , WWW
, "Card Counting for the Casino Executive", Bill Zender, Self published, 1990, $20.00, ISBN:--
"Card Counting Revolution", J.C. Moore, Nutshell Books, 1997, $17.00, ISBN: --
,"Armada Strategies for Spanish 21 - Sink the Casinos' Hottest New Game", Frank Scoblete, Bonus Books, Inc., 1998, $12.95, ISBN 1-56625-106-0
"The Gambling Times Guide to Blackjack" , Stanley Roberts, Gambling Times Inc., 1984, $12.95, ISBN: 0-89746-015-4
, ,"Blackjack: A Winner's Handbook", Jerry L. Patterson, Perigee Book, $12.00, ISBN: 0399515984
,"Beat the X-Deck Game" (X=1,2,4,6,8), Arnold Snyder
, , "The Blackjack Formula" , Arnold Snyder
, "Casino Tournament Strategy", Stanford Wong, ISBN: 0935926224
, "Winning Without Counting", Stanford Wong, [out of print], $200.00?
, "The Big Player", Ken Uston, 1977 ISBN: 0030169216
"Blackjack in Asia", Stanford Wong
"How to Play Winning Blackjack", Julian H. Braun, ISBN: 0935822003
"Burning the Tables in Las Vegas", Ian Andersen, 1999
"The Unbalanced Zen II", George C., 1996
"The Silver Fox Blackjack System", Ralph Stricker, 1996
"Smart Casino Gambling", Olaf Vancura, 1996
Super Strategy
"Read the Dealer" , Steve Forte, RGE Publishing, 1986, $40.00, ISBN: 0-910575-03-7
"Shuffle Tracking for Beginners", George C., Self published, 1996, $39.95, ISBN:--
,"Turning the Tables on Las Vegas", Ian Andersen, 1976, [out of print] ISBN: 0814907768
Cheating
"Cheating* at Blackjack * and Advantage Play", Dustin D. Marks, Index Publishing Group Inc., 1994, $19.95, ISBN 1-568-66071-5
"Cheating at Blackjack Squared -The dark Side of Gambling-", Dustin D. Marks, Index Publishing Group Inc., 1996, $24.95, ISBN 1-56866-073-1
"Card Control -Practical Methods and Forty Origianl Card Experiments-" , Arthur H. Buckley, Dover Books, 1946, $8.95, ISBN 0-486-27757-7
"Gambling Scams", Darwn Ortiz, Carol Publishing Group, 1993, $11.95, ISBN: 0-8184-0529-5
"Hand Mucking", Geo Joseph, 50 pages
Dealing
"Blackjack Dealing and Suprevision - A Complete manual to instruct dealing and supervising casino style Blackjack", Vic Taucer, CASINO Creations, inc. 1993, $29.95, ISBN: 0-924719-07-9
"Blackjack Dealer", Wanda Russell
Essay and Misc
"BLACKJACK Wisdom", Arnold Snyder, RGE Publishing, 1997, $19.95, ISBN: 0-910575-06-1
,"Las Vegas Blackjack Diary", Stuart Perry, ConJelCo, 1997, $19.95, ISBN: 1-886070-08-3
, "Blackjack Essays -For Today's Modern Casino Player- ", Mason Malmuth, Two Plus Two Publishing, May 1996, $19.95, ISBN: 1-880685-05-1
"Beat the House" , Frederick Lembeck, A citadel Press Book, $12.95, ISBN: 0-8065-1607-0
"Beat the House Companion" , Avery Cardoza, Interplay
"Ken Uston on Blackjack" , Ken Uston, Barricade Books Inc., 1986, $12.95, ISBN: 0942637569
"Inside the Gambler's Mind", David Spanier, University of Nevada Press, 1994, $14.95, ISBN: 087417242x
"Blackjack Attack", Don Schlesinger, 1997, ISBN: 0910575045
"Two Books on Blackjack", Ken Utson,
"Blackjack and the Law", I. Nelson Rose, Robert A. Loeb, Jeremy Wolff (Photographer), Lea Jacobson (Editor), RGE Publishing, 1998, $24.95, ISBN: 0910575088
"Gambing and the Law", I. Nelson Rose, 1986, ISBN:0897460669
"Blackjack for Profit", Arnold Snyder, RGE Publishing

 

[InPlay]

What are these "books" you refer to? Have a link?

Are you ONE of the authors of most of the posts that are made up here ? Who are the other nembers of your team of authors? Do you get paid for your work and how much do you make ? You are doing a great job keep them coming.

 

[SystemsTrader]

BlackChipJim I assume you are middle aged or older. That's how those generations consumed its information. With the younger generation they have learned to get everything free off the internet. Just ask and someone will give it to you. I'm not saying its right or wrong, that's just the way things have evolved.

 

[shadroch]

The library is a great source of free reading material. The problem is that when you are a serious student,you don't read the material once and forget about it like you read a novel.I have a shelf full of BJ books and its rare that I don't refer to one or more on a weekly basis.
I'd guess I've invested well over $300 on my BJ reference material.
Invested,not spent.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

The library is a great source of free reading material. The problem is that when you are a serious student,you don't read the material once and forget about it like you read a novel.I have a shelf full of BJ books and its rare that I don't refer to one or more on a weekly basis.
I'd guess I've invested well over $300 on my BJ reference material.
Invested,not spent.

Interesting. I have exactly 5 BJ books, two I refer to occasionally. Just about everything I want to do I can derive with my simulator and other software tools, and I find it a lot more educational that way. You can experiment and see what happens as you change things, gives you a great feel for it that a book can't reproduce.

 

[gus]

it's a good list... but Steve Forte is missin'.
Also, there is a magician in between..

 

[sagefr0g]

Interesting. I have exactly 5 BJ books, two I refer to occasionally. Just about everything I want to do I can derive with my simulator and other software tools, and I find it a lot more educational that way. You can experiment and see what happens as you change things, gives you a great feel for it that a book can't reproduce.

none of my business but just curious about the "other software tools" if it's something you can post about. :cat:

 

[bjcount]

Interesting. I have exactly 5 BJ books, two I refer to occasionally. Just about everything I want to do I can derive with my simulator and other software tools, and I find it a lot more educational that way. You can experiment and see what happens as you change things, gives you a great feel for it that a book can't reproduce.

I think you are a bit above beginner/intermediate level. Does the software offer insight into the minds of the pros, how they play, act, behave? Does the software offer insight into advance techniques? Some of the more advanced strat books I haven't seen available in software. How about sharing some software names with me too....

Thanks

BJC

 

[SD Padres]

I agree with blackchipjim. I see tons of post by newbies that are basic BJ questions. To me it's just plain laziness to come in here and ask basic questions from which the answer could be obtained in reading a book. Or at least looking for a FAQ on this site.

Ofcourse this forum is very important too. They both have their place but if I were just starting out I would read many books on the subject before I opened my mouth.