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 BLACKBELT IN
BLACKJACK

PLAYING 2 1 AS A
MARTIAL ART

REVISED AND EXPANDED

BY ARNOLD SNYDER
Blackbelt in Blackjack:
Playing 21 as a Martial Art
Revised and Expanded

© 1998 RGE Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or trans-

mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to
be printed in a magazine or newspaper, without permission in writ-
ing from the publisher. Portions of this book have previously ap-
peared in different form in the following periodicals: Gambling
Times, Boardwalker International, Rouge et Noir News, The Experts
Blackjack Newsletter, and Blackjack Forum. Copyright 1980-1996
by Arnold Snyder

Published by: RGE Publishing

414 Santa Clara Avenue
Oakland CA 94610
(510) 465-6452
FAX: (510) 652-4330
Web site: www.rge21.com
E-mail: books@rge21.com

Cover design by Marion Oldenburg

First Edition
12345678910

ISBN 0-910575-05-3
FOR JESSE AND CHELI-SE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank:

Nick Alexander
John Auston
Julian Braun
George C.
Clarke Cant
Sam Case
Moe Cash
Anthony Curtis
Bob Fisher
Steve Forte
Al Francesco
Peter Griffin
John Gwynn
Tommy Hyland
John Imming
John Leib
Max Rubin
Don Schlesinger
G.K. Schroeder
Howard Schwartz
Ralph Stricker
Ed Thorp
Chuck Weinstock
Brother William
Allan Wilson
Stanford Wong
Bill Zender

For valuable contributions. - A.S.

 CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 1

PART ONE: EARNING YOUR WHITE BELT

1. The Great Blackjack Hoax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. How to Play Casino Blackjack . . . . . . . 20
3. Basic Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4. The Red Seven Count. . . . . . . . .. 37
5. How Much Money Do You Need? .. 55
6. Table Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

PART II: EARNING YOUR GREEN BELT

7. The Hi-Lo Lite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
8. The Zen Count. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9. True Count. . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
10. Betting Strategies. . . . . .. .... . .. 91
11. The Unencountered Counter . . . . . . . .. 101
12. Idiot Camouflage 116

PART III: EARNING YOUR BLACK BELT

13. High Rollers Survival Guide . . . . 121
14. Team Play . . . . . 132
15. Shuffle Tracking .. 142
16. Special Rules . . . . 172

APPENDIX
Complete Basic Strategy . . . . . . 176
Complete Hi-Lo Lite Strategy . . . 178
Complete Zen Count Strategy. . . 180
Recommended Source Materials . . 182

INDEX . 184
 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE 1998 EDITION

hat's 1998 to the rest ofthe world is 36 A.T. (after

Thorp) to card counters. It is remarkable that 36
years after Ed Thorp's Beat the Dealer (Random
House, 1962) was published, the game of casino
blackjack offers greater profit opportunities to in-
telligent players than at any time in the history ofthe game. Few
would have predicted this back then, when the only state in the
union where you could legally play casino blackjack was Ne-
vada, and blackjack wasn't even that popular a game (a distant
second to craps).
Since the publication of Beat the Dealer, virtually hundreds
of books on card counting have been published. Dozens of
newsletters and periodicals - devoted exclusively to casino
blackjack - have come and gone. Blackjack systems are
hawked on' late night TV infomercials, through audio and video
training courses, high priced seminars, and even in adult educa-
tion classes in community colleges. There are dozens of home
computer software programs on the market, for practicing, simu-
lating, analyzing and devising blackjack strategies. Anyone with
a PC can now reproduce in a matter of minutes what Ed Thorp
once spent months computing on an IBM mainframe. Every ca-
sino in the world now provides special training on card counters'
tactics for their pit and security personnel. Specialty software is
also in use in casino surveillance departments for identifying
players who are suspected of utilizing card counting strategies.
Ed Thorp didn't just write a book in 1962; he transformed an
industry and altered the consciousness of millions of casino
players throughout the world.
This revised and expanded edition of Blackbelt in Blackjack
has not been rewritten from scratch because I still agree with
much of the original 1983 text and recommendations. It is more
an expansion ofthat text than it is a revision ofit. The games and
the opportunities have changed in the past 15 years, as have my
understanding and perspective on the games available.
One major change in the blackjack scene in the past 15 years
is that the casinos are now utilizing high-tech surveillance tech-
2

niques to identify professional players. Computer analysis of

betting and playing strategies - both real-time and post-play
from video footage - has made it more difficult for big money
card counters to fool the casino counter catchers using traditional
count strategies with the tried and true parlay betting camouflage
techniques. Because whole tables of players are now computer
analyzed simultaneously, even low to moderate stakes card
counters, who may have been ignored in the past, find them-
selves being identified and barred.
It used to be a great camouflage technique to always play at
tables where bigger action than yours was on the felt. Your rela-
tively small bets rendered you invisible to the pit. Many black-
jack experts, myself included, advised: "Never be the biggest
bettor at your table." In some casinos, this is no longer such great
advice. Nowadays, if any player at your table is betting black
($100+) action, you may be more liable to be caught in the high-
tech surveillance net. Ofcourse, ifthat high roller happens to be a
partying fool who has already been rated as a certified idiot by
the pit, this table could be a great opportunity. But these days, the
danger of detection is increased substantially, because so much
of the surveillance is done invisibly, via video cameras. You
don't always see the scowling pit boss anymore.
In some parts ofthe country, card counters can still get away
with murder at the tables. Even in Nevada, you'll find vast differ-
ences in casino attitudes and policies. Card counters can no
longer play strictly according to charts and schedules. You've
got to learn to judge games not only by the rules and the number
ofdecks in play, but by what you can get away with, how percep-
tive they are, how closely they're watching you. Serious players
must join the blackjack underground, subscribe to the players'
trade publications, surf the Internet BJ message boards for tips
and inside information.
So, in this new edition of Blackbelt, I will concentrate on
some of the advanced strategies that the pros are using to get
away with big action - notably, shuffle tracking and team play
(or tracking and teaming). As the casino industry continues to
advance technologically, these types of strategies become more
important for all card counters, not just high stakes players.
My approach to these strategies will be similar to the ap-
proach I have always taken with blackjack strategies. There is
strength in simplicity. It is more profitable to make a few strong
strategic plays with accuracy than it is to attempt to squeeze
 3

every last penny of profit out of the game with complex, brain-
straining methods.
I am very pleased to see that the 1983 edition of this book,
along with my first two now out-of-print titles - The Blackjack
Formula (1980) and Blackjack For Profit (1981) - have left a
mark. When I embarked on this writing career as a self-professed
blackjack expert, I knew my ideas faced an uphill battle.To pro-
pose the heresy that a highly simplified set of some two dozen
playing strategy indices would realize most ofthe potential prof-
its from c~rd counting, or that an unbalanced counting system,
utilizing only half a dozen playing strategy changes, by running
count, could be considered a "professional-level" system, was
contrary to the thinking ofthe time. I also emphasized that table
conditions, and especially deck penetration, far surpassed the
system of choice as far as potential profits from card counting.
This was a radical idea in the early 1980s.
Today, thanks to the work ofnumerous other authors and ex- .
perts since the publication ofthe 1983 edition ofthis book, these
concepts and approaches to the game have been further exam-
ined and refined, and are no longer even considered controver-
sial. Quite frankly, I initially learned about the value of deck
penetration from computer simulation results Peter Griffin had
published in a technical paper back in 1975. By the early 1980s,
none of the major blackjack authors - Ken Uston, Lawrence
Revere, Stanford Wong, Julian Braun, Lance Humble - nor any
ofthe lesser authors at that time, including Jerry Patterson, Rich-
ard Canfield, John Archer, Stanley Roberts, and others, had yet
picked up on the immense effect of deck penetration; or if they
had, they totally ignored this factor in their books. Today, no se-
rious book on card counting would ignore the importance of the
shuffle point. And most blackjack authorities today would ac-
knowledge that there is little to gain from using more than a few
dozen strategy indices, and even that unbalanced running count
systems can be played at a professional level.
This edition of Blackbelt, as the first book to describe and
recommend advanced shuffle-tracking techniques, will likely
also raise a ruckus. I suspect my revelations about using rounded
"lite" indices will lift a few quizzical eyebrows. And the new
methods I am proposing for true count adj ustments, one ofwhich
can even be used accurately with an unbalanced counting sys-
tem, should get the experts buzzing.
4

Little is known ofthe original blackjack systems. In Beat the

Dealer, Ed Thorp discusses a number ofthe first system devel-
opers who had colorful names like "Greasy John" and "System
Smitty." They had privately worked out crude but effective
blackjack strategies with which they'd won a livelihood from the
Las Vegas blackjack tables. Until the early sixties and the publi-
cation of Dr. Thorp's book, however, most casinos felt that
blackjack systems were like all other gambling systems, a lot of
bunk. Prior to Thorp, the only card counting system that was rec-
ognized by the casinos as valid was "casing the aces," in which a
player would markedly increase his bet (like from $5 to $500) in
the second half of the deck if no aces had been dealt in the first
half. Crude as this counting technique was, it was effective and
the casinos knew it. Unfortunately, it was extremely easy for the
casinos to detect. Because it was such a weak card counting
method, and because the players who used it rarely employed
even an approximation of accurate basic strategy, the huge bet-
ting spread was necessary for the system to gain an advantage
over the house.
In 1956, a group ofmathematicians - Roger Baldwin, Wil-
bert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott - tediously
applied the methods of statistical analysis to the game of black-
jack and developed a basic strategy which they published in a
technicaljoumal for mathematicians. This strategy, if followed
rigorously, would narrow the house edge, making blackjack
close to a break even proposition for the player oyer the long run.
Though a colloquial version ofthis paper was later published as a
book, Plqying Blackjack to Win (Barrows & Co., NY, 1957), few
gamblers took notice. Gamblers wanted winning systems, not
"break even" systems.
One pe~son who took particular note of this technical paper
was Dr. Edward O. Thorp, a mathematician. He saw that this
strategy had been devised using old-fashioned mechanical add~
ing machines. He had access to what, in the early sixties, was a
sophisticated computer. He wrote a more precise program than
had been used, and subsequently developed a more accurate
strategy. Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel, and McDermott ·had sug-
gested in their 1957 book that winning strategies might be devel-
oped by keeping track of the cards played, and they even
proposed their "partial-casing" system which advised strategy
changes dependent on whether the last few cards dealt were ten-
 5

valued or "low cards." It was five years, however, until Ed Thorp

picked up the ball and ran with it.
Blackjack is a difficult game to analyze mathematically be-
cause the depletion of the deck, as cards are played, constantly
alters the makeup ofthe remaining deck, thus altering the prob-
abilities of making a hand or busting, wining or losing. It oc-
curred to Dr. Thorp that, using a computer, he could analyze just
how the makeup of the deck affected the possible outcomes of
the various hands. His method was unique. He wrote a program
to analyze the player's best strategy and long run expectation, as-
suming various cards in tum had been removed from the deck.
He noted that the player's chance of winning was dramatically
increased when fives were removed from the deck. In fact, to re-
move any ofthe "low" cards - 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s or 7s - was ad-
vantageous to the player in varying degrees. On the other hand, if
tens or aces were removed, the player's chances were hurt quite
dramatically.
Thorp's first winning strategy was based on counting fives.
He recommended betting heavily when they were depleted, and
also playing a slightly different strategy when no fives were in
the deck. His next system - and this is the system upon which
all professional level card counting systems in use today are
based - was called the "ten-count." In this system, tens and
non-tens were counted separately. Larger bets were placed as
the proportion of tens to non-tens in the deck became larger.
The ten-count system, as Thorp created it, was not easy to
learn nor to apply in a casino. It required keeping two separate
backward counts, and computing the ratio of tens to non-tens
prior to betting and strategy decisions. Thorp played his system
with what today would be considered a wild betting strategy,
sometimes jumping from a table-minimum bet of a dollar to a
table-maximum of$500. Casinos were unaware ofthe power of
Thorp's system, since his big bets did not identify him as an ace-
caser. When they saw some of the "unusual" plays he made-
like splitting 8s vs.. dealer upcards oftens and aces - many con-
tinued dealing their single-deck, hand-held games down to the
last card. Players capable of using Thorp's system accurately
had an enormous advantage over the house. Players who were
capable of following even a crude approximation of Thorp's
strategy could win big if they used even a moderate betting
spread in the deeply dealt single-deck games that predominated.
6

Once the Las Vegas casinos realized a legitimate winning

system was being employed at their blackjack tables, they took
drastic action. They changed the rules of the game. This was in
1964, two years after .the original publication of Thorp's Beat
The Dealer.
The rule changes did not last long because, to the casinos'
dismay, players abandoned the blackjack tables rather than play
against the new rules. The casinos that changed their rules began
losing the enormous blackjack profits that, ironically, had been
generated by the publication of Thorp's book. Bracing them-
selves for the worst, they reverted back to the original rules.
The worst never came. In fact, the opposite occurred. Black-
jack became the most popular table game in U.S. casinos. Every-
one, it seemed, believed they could beat the game, but few put in
the time and effort to learn a legitimate system. Many blackjack
systems were sold which were not mathematically valid. Many
players who did have valid systems had no understanding ofnor-
mal fluctuation. They overbet their limited bankrolls and tapped
out before they ever had a chance to see the long run profits.
Most importantly, casinos learned to recognize card counters by
their playing styles.
Card counters jumped their bets suddenly. They paid inordi-
nate attention to everybody's cards. They were quiet. They con-
centrated. They didn't drink or socialize. They were often young
collegiate types who didn't fit in with the normal run.oftourists
and vacationing businessmen.
Once spotted, a suspected card counter would be silently ob-
served by the pit boss. Surveillance was called. If suspicions
were confirmed by the eye-in-the-sky, the dealer would be sig-
naled to shuffle-up on the counter. Ifthe suspect changed tables,
the "heat" would follow him. If he did not leave the casino, he
would be asked to leave the blackjack tables, and ultimately or-
dered to leave the casino. Thus, the casinos weeded out the few
competent players and let the hoards of fools who thought they
could beat the tables with sloppy play and invalid systems play to
their heart's content.
A small number of card counters have been able to continue
to profit from the game of blackjack. Two factors contribute to
the success of the present day counter. First of all, he knows the
basic math of the game. He has studied the game and various
valid systems and has a realistic attitude about his long and short
run expectations. Secondly, he knows the basic psychology of
 7

the casino environment. He understands how casinos detect

counters and so disguises his play. He is an actor. If he senses
heat, he leaves, perhaps to return at a different time when differ-
ent casino personnel are running the show. He doesn't take
chances. There are lots of casinos.
Although three-and-a-half decades have passed since the
first valid card counting systems were published, many casinos
still offer beatable blackjack games. The math ofcard counting is
easier today than ever. The systems presented in this book are
among the easiest-to-learn professional level systems ever de-
vised. This does not mean that you can learn to beat the game of
blackjack in an hour. If you are serious about playing blackjack
for profit, you should plan to spend quite a bit oftime at study and
practice to develop your proficiency. I will say this, however:
any person with average math ability could learn to count cards
at a professional level.
The difficulty ofmaking money as a card counter is not math,
but psychology. Some people are good actors. Some are not.
Some are very perceptive of others' attitudes and are capable of
manipulating people. Some cannot do this. To make it as a card
counter, you must often be sociable and friendly to dealers and
pit bosses while simultaneously deceiving them into thinking
you're just another dumb gambler. Most card counters who ex-
perience any long term success thrive on this exhilarating
espionage-like aspect of the game. You must be part rogue and
part charlatan. You must be cool under pressure. You must have,
enough money behind you to weather losing streaks without fi-
nancial worry. You must thrill to beating the casinos at their own
game. If you're not in it for the fun as much as for the money,
you'll never make it as a counter. Card counting is boring, once
mastered. It's a lot of work. Few who try card counting stick
with it. It's like most games - chess, tennis, even the stock mar-
ket; many people "know how to play," but only a few become
masters.
This book is titled Blackbelt in Blackjack: Playing 21 as a
Martial Art. Many ofthe same talents, skills, and virtues which
would earn you a top ranking position in any of the martial arts
could also be applied to casino blackjack. The concept of card
counting is based on balance, and making your attack when you
are in a stronger position. You never make yourselfvulnerable to
your opponent (the casino), but through your superior knowl-
edge ofyour opponent's weaknesses (rules, conditions, cards re-
8

maining to be played, etc.), you allow your opponent to bring

about his own loss. Your strategy is based on simplicity, not
complexity. You take no foolish chances. What moves you make
are made with precision, with force ($), and perfect timing. Your
opponent thinks he can beat you, thinks he is beating you, and
does not see the strength of your superior position. You make
your moves with a natural ease. Your camouflage, which allows
you to win, is your ability to appear as ifyou are not even trying.
I realize that most ofthe readers ofthis book will not go on to
become masters of blackjack strategy. With this in mind, I will
offer many simplified, albeit less powerful, methods that the cas-
ual player may use to better his chances of winning at the black-
jack tables. I will also attempt to provide clear explanations of
the more powerful techniques so that the casual player will at
least understand how and why the advanced systems work. By
understanding these concepts, a beginning player who has not
developed the skill to apply them will, hopefully, realize his lim-
ited abilities, and will not entertain false visions ofhimself as an
unbeatable player.
One thing you must remember: Casinos don't give money
away. You have to take it. And contrary to appearances, casinos
are holding on to their money with both fists. You've got to be
slick to take on the casinos for high stakes, and walk away with
your shirt.

......
 1
THE GREAT BLACKJACK HOAX:
AN IRREVERENT OVERVIEW OF CARD COUNTING

orty years ago, the number one casino table game in this
country, in terms of gross revenues for the casinos, was
craps. This was not surprising. Craps was an all Ameri-
can pastime during World War II. After the war, the
state of Nevada provided a way for old war buddies to
get together and shoot dice through the years.
Today, thanks to Ed Thorp, casinos make their money from
blackjack players. They make a lot ofmoney from card counters.
Authors and systems sellers make a lot ofmoney from blackjack
players who are, or want to be, card counters. Card counting is
big business, but the people who make the most money from it
are not the card counters. The greatest profit from card counting
goes to the casinos. Systems sellers come in a distant second as
far as blackjack profits go. Card counters, as a group, are suffer-
ing a steadily increasing loss from their blackjack investments of
time and money.

A CARD COUNTER Is BORN

I am a card counter. I got hooked on blackjack twenty years

ago to the point of obsession. I love this game. There is nothing
as exciting as beating a casino and walking out the door with
more money in your pockets than when you entered. Card count-
ing offers a legitimate thrill. To enter a casino with the ability to
beat the house, knowing the casino will be doing everything it
can to identify and eliminate such a threat, gives a James-Bond-
Spy-vs.-Spy flavor to the experience. The heart races. The feel-
ing is not unlike that which I recall from my childhood when all
the kids in my neighborhood would choose up sides for "cops
and robbers." I'd forgotten how much fun it was to hide, sneak,
run, hold your breath in anticipation ... Adults don't play that
way, except for maybe a few real cops and robbers.
10

Then I discovered card counting. It took me a year of week-

end trips to Nevada, some dozen books on card counting, and an-
other half-dozen books on mathematics, to learn that I didn't
have enough money to play the game professionally. Prior to the
1980s, many blackjack authors seemed to neglect the risk factor,
or to provide much guidance on bet sizing according to bankroll.
The counter's edge is small. The fluctuation of capital is very
great. If you do not have a lot of money, you will not last.
I'll never forget my first trip to Nevada as a card counter. I
was driving a car that was 15 years old and over-the-hill. It not
only guzzled gas but leaked oil. Winding up through the Sierra
Nevada Mountains on my way to Lake Tahoe and the casinos of
Stateline, I had to stop twice to add a quart of oil and give my
overheated wreck a rest. I was with a friend, and we were split-
ting the cost of the trip. The way we figured it, after paying for
gas, oil, motel room and meals, we'd have about $55 left over to
play at the $1 blackjack tables.
When I pulled over to the shoulder ofthe road for my second
oil stop, I said to my friend, "It's hard to believe that we're on our
way to becoming wealthy. I hope my car makes it up this damn
mountain."
"A year from now," my friend responded, "you'll look back
on this day and laugh. This is just the beginning."
One year and some dozen trips to Nevada later, I thought
back to that first trip and I laughed. I was again on my way to
Stateline, this time alone. My car had long since broken down,
beyond repair, and I didn't have the money for another car. I was
traveling by bus, and the way I figured it, if I was ahead by
twenty-five bucks the first day, I could get a motel room and stay
for another day. Otherwise, it was back to the Greyhound station
that night. About that time I started to realize I'd been deluding
myself into believing !' d get rich at this card game.

WHY BLACKJACK Is So POPULAR

Blackjack has become the casinos' number one moneymak-

ing table game precisely because people believe the game can be
beaten. Casinos are forever bemoaning their losses to card coun-
ters. They are constantly changing their rules and dealing proce-
dures to make their games tougher for these feared blackjack
experts. Casino floormen, with increasing frequency, uncere-
 11

moniously bar suspected counters from their tables. Projecting

this image of counter paranoia is one of the most successful ad-
vertising campaigns ever developed. Not one person in a thousa-
nd has what it takes to make any significant amount of money
playing blackjack, but hundreds of thousands of people have
given it a try. Card counting is not difficult for the dedicated
practitioner, but few people are dedicated enough, and, as most
players discover the hard way, there is more to being a successful
card counter than the ability to count cards.
In cynical moments, I see the American public being taken
for a ride by the curiously combined forces ofthe casino industry
and the blackjack systems sellers. A tremendous effort is being
made to convince people that card counters can get rich quick at
the casino blackjack tables.
Many of the biggest and most prestigious publishing houses
list books on card counting in their catalogues. Card counting
practice programs are available for home computers, as well as
in video format. Blackjack "schools" and seminars are churning
out thousands of"graduates" per year. Tuitions often run as high
as $1,000.
I don't mean to imply that all blackjack system sellers are
trying to bilk the public. I am a system seller. I'm the author of
nine books on casino blackjack, numerous technical papers, and
a quarterly journal for professional and aspiring professional
counters. I've written operating manuals for two home com-
puter blackjack programs, and articles on card counting for nu-
merous periodicals. I've acted as informal consultant for a
number of high stakes international counting teams. I know the
game can be beaten. I know many part-time card counters who
regularly beat the tables for significant amounts of money. I
know a few players who have made a fortune playing blackjack.
But these successful pros are few and far between. Their dedica-
tion to the game is beyond that ofthe average counter. They live
and breathe blackjack. They devour every written word on the
subject. They drill and practice until they are counting cards in
their sleep. They view professional blackjack as a dog-eat-dog
business, which it is.
Some blackjack system authors have been honest about their
negative experiences at the blackjack tables. Most publishers,
however, do not advertise this aspect of the game, nor does the
media in general pay it much heed. It's not newsworthy to say,
"gambler loses money." Advertisements for blackjack systems
12

promise everything from instant wealth to private airplanes and

islands.
The average player has no way ofknowing that the author of
his system disagrees with the publisher's advertising claims, and
sometimes with large portions ofthe ghostwritten text. The most
respected names in the field of blackjack literature have been
abused by their publishers, promoters and imitators.
Compound all of this misinformation about card counting
with the dozens ofbooks on the market which teach totally inac-
curate count strategies, "money management" systems, systems
so weak as to be a complete waste oftime or too difficult for hu-
man players to master, and you can begin to fathom why card
counting is the best thing that ever happened to the casino indus-
try in this century.

THE GREAT BLACKJACK MYTH

In New Jersey, in 1982, representing himselfbefore the state

supreme court, the late Ken Uston, renowned author of numer-
ous books on card counting, won a landmark case against the ca-
sinos. Today, the 14 Atlantic City casinos may no longer bar
skillful players from their tables. The immediate response ofthe
casinos to this law was to stop dealing a game that card counters
could beat. This is, and always has been, a very easy thing for the
casinos to do. Converting their 6-deck shoes to 8-deck shoes, the
dealers were simply instructed to deal out only four decks be-
tween shuffles. Voila! Card counting became a waste of time!
Within a few months, however, the A.C. casinos threw in the
towel and reverted to their prior practice of cutting off only two
decks. In an unofficial boycott reminiscent of what happened in
Nevada 18 years earlier when some Las Vegas casinos tried to
change the rules of the game to thwart Thorp's followers, the
players again forced the casinos to loosen up or lose it all.
Never forget that blackjack exists as a beatable game only
because the casinos choose to allow it to exist this way. They do
not need mechanical shuffle machines, or electronic card read-
ers, or any other high-tech contraptions, to eliminate the poten-
tial profits that card counters might extract from the tables. A
simple change of rules or dealing procedures could make all of
the blackjack games in the world unbeatable by any card count-
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