In TnMILLION DOLLAR BLACKJACK Copyright © 1981 by Ken Uston All rights reserved, No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from Gambling Times Incorporated, except by a newspaper ormagazine reviewer who wants to quote brief passages in connection with a review. All inquiries should be addressed to Gambling Times Incorporated, 16760 Stagg St., #213, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Uston, Ken Million Dollar Blackjack ISBN: 0-89746-068-5 Manufactured in the United States of America Distributed by Carol Publishing Group 120 Enterprise Avenue ‘Secaucus, NJ 07094 ‘Seventh Revised Printing—August 1992 Carol Publishing Group Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases, for sales promotions, fund raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details contact: Special Sales Department, Carol Publishing Group, 120 Enterprise Ave., Secaucus, NJ 07094, All material presented in this book is offered as information to the reader, No inducement to ‘gamble is intended or implied.TO JERRY FUERLE, “THE ROCK,” AND ONCE AGAIN, TO ERROLL GARNERAcknowledgments I would first like to thank Dr. Edward Thorp, for his pioneering work in the field of blackjack, and the late Lawrence Revere, who con- tributed significantly to the player's knowledge of blackjack. My in- itial blackjack education stemmed directly from the work of these two men. The person solely responsible for my entering the business bears the pseudonym of Al Francesco. “Al” spent hundreds of hours painstak- ingly training our first team, and through the years, has been unselfishly supportive of our team operations. Al also introduced me to Dale Crase, the producer of the movie of my first book, The Big Player. This book would not be possible without the expertise of literally dozens of players with whom I have worked over the past six years. While I will not name them all, the primary contributors include Bill E., Ron K,, Daryl P., Frank 8. and Frank P., whom I consider to be among the strongest blackjack players in the world. I would like to thank Mark Estes, who generously contributed infor- mation on the “Double Exposure” game. Finally, I would like to thank Stanley Roberts, who encouraged the publication of this book, and Bruce Plopper, who painstakingly read and re-read several versions of the manuscript. Ken UstonTable of Contents List of Tables and Illustrations xiii Publisher's Foreword xvii Can You Win at Blackjack? 1 House advantage at selected casino games 2 Why blackjack can be beaten 4 History of card counting .6 Use of this book : : 9 The six teams and current opportunities 7 12 Can you wit, at blackjack? 13. How We Won $4,000,000—Part 1 (Teams 1 and 2) 5 Meeting a professional gambler 16 Joining Team 1 so AT ‘The $17,000 card : 218 The bust : 20 The lawsuits : 21 ‘The formation of Team 2 22 Team 2 wins $650,000 . 23 Do You Know How to Play Blackjack? 27 How well cin the typical player do? ... 27 Basic Strutegy defined : 28 Do you know how to play blackjack? ........... +. 28 Blackjack quiz : 29 Why ood players can lose and bad players can win . 31 How to use this book 33 Rules of the (iame and How They Affect You 35. Basic rules : 35 Rules variations : 39 Double exposure (Zweikartenspiel) : 40 Bonus optic. +s 41 How the rues variations affect you 41 Basic Strategy -Start hy Playing Even 45 Objective ot Uhis chapter 45 Like 1-2 45 Seven simple rules for the social player ees 47 Basic Strategy— Atlantic City 49 How to practice Basic Strategy 54 vTable of Contents (continued) Basic Strategy—Las Vegas Las Vegas Strip single deck Downtown Las Vegas single deck Las Vegas Strip multiple deck Downtown Vegas multiple deck Double-on-splits and conventional surrender What are the best and worst games in Las Vegas? Basic Strategy —Reno-Lake Tahoe Basic Strategy—The Bahamas Determing Basic Strategy for other locations Basic Strategy for double exposure (Zweikartenspiel) Counting Systems and A One-Level Professional System Levels of blackjack play Professional-level systems— which ones are the best? The basic principle behind card counting The ace-five count ; The Uston Simple Plus/Minus, an advanced count Uston Advanced Plus/Minus 7 How We Won $4,000,000—Part 2 (Teams 3 and 4) 6 Beyond Basic Strategy—Intermediate and Advanced Team 3—The perfect blackjack player A first unsuccessful attempt A second try Another bust, ‘Team 4 and the gorilla BP's 8 The Uston Advanced Point Count. Can you play a multi-level professional count? Logic flow of professional-level card counting Comparison of professional-level blackjack systems Learning a professional system Learning the count Learning the numbers Converting running count to true count Ace adjustment Steps to be taken to learn the Uston Advanced Point Count 9 Determination of Betting Strategy The negative swings Earning versus risk Five percent element-of-ruin Element-of-ruin curves How to know your edge on a given hand Kelly Criterion Earnings expectations How tocalculate expected value Protection from the long run vi 101 101 102 105 106 107 41d 118 121 124 125 125 126 126 127 128 131 131 132 135Table of Contents (continued) The Art of Playing Single Deck Learning to become a professional-level single deck player ‘True count conversion Ace adjustment ‘The single deck final test True count conversion and ace adjustment when not playing head-up Fine points of single deck Number of cards seen Creating a good game Preferential shuffling Betting ratios Mixing colors Card eating 1 Multiple Deck Play Learning to become a professional-level multiple deck player True count conversions-ace adjustment tests Ace-rich or ace-poor times ace adjustment factor of "3" Ace adjustment and betting true count test The multiple deck final test Betting ratios and number of cards seen "Tips on double deck games 1s on four deck games ‘Tips for Atlantic City Blackjack Team Methods Team Play—The big player and the little counters How it works. Establishing modified team play Team signals Joint Bank Gorilla BP's Insurance counters 13 How We Won $4,000,000—Part 3 (Teams 5 and 6) ‘Team 5—We play openly for the first time Commission Chairman Lordi lowers the boom ‘The Battle moves from the casino to the courts ‘Team 6 and the great blackjack experiment ‘The experiment succeeds but no one knows it front-loading? s of front-loading Front-loaders we have known How to play front-loaders Should you count when front-loading? Casino comportment 14 vii 139 139 140 141 144 146 148 148 150 150 150 152 153 155 155 155 158 158 160 162 162 163 164 167 167 167 169 171 177 179 180 181 181 187 188 189 195 197 198 200 201 204 216 217Table of Contents (continued) Usinga relay Tas touse the rel How to train the retay Tow to train the BP and coordinate the effort 15 Spooking and Other Hole Card Play Spooking How spooking works ‘The edge in spooking A spooking team is formed How to spook Learning to read the pips Cover Spooking the Bahamas Playing the warps Playing with the help Cheating Dealers in business for themselves How dealers steal How much cheating is there? Methods of cheating the player Cheating dealers we've known (or suspected) How to protect yourself against cheating Cheating by the players Getting Barred How it happens How to avoid getting barred What to do if barred The Griffin Detective Agency What is the fair solution to the problem? Status of litigation against casinos Being the House and Caddy Blackjack (A Peek Inside The Underworld) Being the house Setting the limits of the game if you're the house Determining average hourly earnings How to enhance house earnings Conducting the game Prevalence of private casino games Caddy Blackjack A peek inside the underworld Rules of caddy blackjack How to win at caddy blackjack How much can you win at caddy blackjack? Blackjack Abroad—Where It Is and How To Play It How to evaluate a blackjack game Europe viii 218 221 221 221 223 223 224 225 226 227 229 231 233 234 235, 237 238 240 241 242 245 248 250 255. 255, 258 261 262 266 267 269 271 272 272 273 273 273 273 276 282 284 286