Blackjack is a game that is easy to understand and nearly impossible to master. It is also a game that is largely influenced by how people play. The odds will vary depending on compliance with basic strategy. For a new player, the basic strategy chart will be useful, as may the description of gameplay. But the suggested betting strategies and card counting techniques are nothing but snake-oil! I'd recommend Andy Glazier's works over this book to experienced as well as inexperiened players.

Thomason's book is very good. Novice blackjack players will find it informative and very helpful. I did.

This is a good book for newcomers to the world of Blackjack but should NOT be considered a thorough review of the game. Mr. Early presents only one method of counting cards which may or may not be the most effective for the myriad of Blackjack rules and games available. I was expecting more. A much more useful tome is BEST BLACKJACK by Frank Scoblete. It thoroughly explains not only the gory details (if you want them) of Blackjack geeks but also the easiest methods to maximize your odds of winning if you are, like me, a casual player

This is one of the very few books which emphasizes the reasoning behind mathematical results; knowing WHY plays are made is the first step to memorizing those plays. The book is excellent for those who face six-to-eight deck shoes. Only one counting method is presented, but others are referenced in the bibliography. For the low price required, it has paid for itself over and over again in superior play. I highly recommend this for everyone interested in 21.

Poker books are perhaps best judged by characterizing the author; given this, reading Jeff Rubens' "Win at Poker" is like listening to your grandpa sermonize on his card strategy, which in this case is conservative and numbers-oriented.

Be forewarned--'Win' was written in 1968, and the game has changed since then. There is no mention of Texas Hold 'em or Omaha, and "stud" poker mostly means 5-card, which is virtually extinct. Not to say that the book isn't generally correct or effective (I have caught a couple of questionable calculations that don't give further explanation), only that it isn't very stimulating, and the sample deals and quizzes aren't easy on the eyes.

'Win' is good for the amateur player who already has style and intuition, but needs to learn a bit about probability. The book's strength is its coverage of pot odds and betting odds (calculating risk vs. possibility of reward), and its treatment of positional mechanics, or what you'd better have in relation to where you're sitting.

I'd like to give "Win at Poker" more, but the fact that it's dry and dated devalues it from a 'must-read' to a 'might-read.'

This book presents a no-nonsense approach to winning draw and stud poker.

The author not only talks about the strategies of winning poker, but he also talks about what you need to do to become a strong player besides just learning the strategies. He presents an entire plan for your poker development.

But that's the icing on the cake. This book is absolutely full of solid, fundamental poker advice. How do you determine whether to draw, raise, or fold? What cards should you throw away? How good a hand do you need to open? It's all in here.

This book is cheap but packed full on excellent information. I recommend it strongly for those who know nothing about poker other than that they'd like to play as well as those who, like me, know the basic rules already and want to learn what it takes to win.

This book has quite a few good points and strategies along with probability theory. I believe it will greatly improve a beginner and average poker players style if he/she reads and applies some of the basic principles herein. However quite a few of the strategies are common sense (never play with money needed for groceries -- duh).

Mr. Scarne himself is an egotist (anyone familiar with John Scarne should know this), so one must take him with a grain of salt while reading. Mr. Scarne believes his poker should be the definitive one. I don't think Scarne's rules will ever be "the rules" for poker, and his "according to Scarne" (takeoff of "according to Hoyle") stance on poker rules is a little outlandish. One must remember for all the card tricks and stunts he can pull (and they are REALLY good!), this man has never won a major poker tournament. You can build a cold deck, but that still is cheating in honest poker.

Anyway, get past the man for it is a decent treatise on poker strategy.

Humility is not one of John Scarne's traits but he has room to talk. The man is a genius in the realm of statistics, gambling, and gaming. He is self taught which makes his intellect even more astounding.

That aside, this book is all you need to play poker and play it successfully. By following the guidelines set forth by this genius it is only a matter of time before your experience catches up with your knowledge and you will be unstoppable.

Ok, maybe it takes alitte more work then that but you get the point. Scarne's books are the best, hands down. If you can find some of his older book (Scarne on Cards is my recommendation) pick them up. They are invaluable.

Scarne's Guide to Modern Poker, though over 20 years old, holds more useful info on poker than I've seen in any other poker book. Scarne covers topics such as rules for Draw and Stud Poker, with many variants, some major poker probability principles, money management in poker games, which poker games to avoid, and popular poker cheats (something most poker books ignore). This book deals exclusively with real poker games, played in a group of people, where the only possible house take is a fixed percentage or amount per pot (and he shows you how to figure out if a commercial poker house is giving you a bum deal). If you want to learn how to deal with video poker or casino poker games like Caribbean Stud, let me tell you right now -- you can't possibly make money in the long-term playing those games. Scarne himself will tell you this in one of his other gambling books.

There's basic sound advice to be found in this book, advice you will find elsewhere: obvious things such as don't borrow money to play poker, don't play against people highly superior to you at poker, and don't play when drunk or emotional (unless you really want to lose money). However, there's advice I haven't seen elsewhere (except when they're copying Scarne): ways to prevent common card cheats, ways to calculate whether one should stay in a pot based on pot size versus your odds, and ways to mix up your play, so as to make people uncertain of your style -- so that people will stay in the pot when you've got a sure winner, and so that people will drop out when you're bluffing. I've used this last bit of advice in playing poker with friends; they know I play close to the vest (I'm very conservative on risk), so when they see me calling & raising bets, they think I know I have a sure thing. I've gotten away with some pretty horrendous bluffs with this technique. The name of the game is: don't do it too often.

There are complaints about the number of stories Scarne tells about himself (and sometimes he refers to himself by name, and I go back to check who wrote the book.) Actually, in most of the stories, Scarne's not the central character; rather, some prime poker player is the center of the story. Some of the stories of the tricks he's performed is rather neat. But more to the point, I think these stories are good examples of the kinds of tips and strategies he talks about -- he mentions stories of cheats, of bold betting, and of people who have gone from great poker players simply to good, because they lost betting courage and needed to find games more their monetary limit. More to the point, I feel Scarne is completely justified in "puffing himself up" in these stories of high-roller games and visits to the Merv Griffin show - he can back up his self-promotion with actual knowledge and skill. Scarne also knew how to write a book that would serve poker players at any level, giving specifics as well as general principles to follow. For those wishing to improve their games, this should be the first book you get.

By chance, this was the first book I ever bought when I decided to learn how to play blackjack. Some 15 books and four years later, it is still the book I recommend friends read first when they come to me for advice on how to improve their game.Sure, Patrick's basic strategy is in error. Still, it's not a bad strategy to start out with. I didn't win in the long run with it, but I had some very good days. As a beginner, I definitely lost less in those sessions and days when I was getting killed and didn't know enough to recognize it. Eventually you'll want to learn and adopt the true basic strategy, available in virtually any other reputable blackjack book.Of course Patrick's counting system (taught in his follow-up book, Advanced Blackjack) is creaky and nebulous compared to most medium-level systems that are just as easy to learn. Read Best Blackjack by Frank Scoblete, start with the Hi-Lo count taught there, then advance into the better systems.I still contend that this book stands alone as the best on the topics of discipline and money management, and I consider myself lucky to have read this one first.Patrick's concepts on win goals, loss limits, pocketing profit and playing the excess are extremely valuable to any and all blackjack players, but especially to those just starting out. Any time I find myself losing and ultimately playing poorly, it is Patrick's money management rules I am breaking. No single blackjack book teaches you everything. Read as many as you can, because most of them will give you a little something. Patrick's books will give you a solid money management approach to use as a starting point. As you get better you'll vary it, but you'll know when and why.Pay attention, too when Patrick writes on the topic of discipline. No one tells it better or more accurately.This year (1998), my fourth year of playing, I will finish the year with a tidy little profit, for a $5-table player. I credit Patrick's writings for some of that.

This book must be taken with a grain of salt. Patrick differs from basic stategy based on short term results. The majority disagree with this practice.

The best thing about this book is its' money management system. Patrick teaches a conservative money management system that helps gain small but consistent profits.

My sugesstion is get a different book if you want to learn basic strategy, but get this book for its' money management system.

This book has taught me how to be a consistent winner at blackjack. with loss limits it has kept me from getting killed at a hot table.Hit your loss limit and move on to another table. This book has made me a big winner. I have made a lot of believers in this way to play in that we go out to vegas and play as a team on a table and we have yet to lose. thank you John Patrick.

This book has very limited utility. Much of the 220 pages of information could probably be summarized in about 5 pages. I could only recommend this book to a complete novice who is too cheap to spring for one of the $2X books.

Much of the book describes what to do when a particular set of cards are on the board in a heads up situation. While Silberstang's advice in these situations may be correct the book is terrible at explaining why a particular situation is good, bad, or middle of the road. It would seem that stictly following the advice would make you prone to be dupped by more sophisticated players. Without any indepth discussion of position, pot odds, varing your play, etc. you will only be someone performing the 'correct' moves, not knowing if the situation really calls for that play. Therefore, this book should be called 'Basic Poker for the Complete Novice". It is hardly for 'serious' poker players, and most likely not 'The ultimate money-making guide' as espoused on it's cover.

If you buy this book, be ready to quickly move up to one of the more indepth books, such as Sklansky or Brunson. Good luck, unless I'm at your table ;).

Title says most of this. I learned VERY little from Silberstang. I'm on my third read.

Silberstang has a habit of showing examples without showing IDEAS. He says "If I had this hand, and that fell, I'd do this." Well, that settles that. But I'd like to learn a few concepts, to go with my facts.

I mostly play low-limit games, where the tables are loose. YMMV, but I found Silberstang useless and poorly written.

This book takes a lot of pages to say very little. Also, he assumes that you are familiar with a lot of poker lingo that he doesn't define (some of them I still don't know). There is a small glossary in the back, but most of the terms he uses are not in there. The book also lacks an index.

Probably the biggest drawback is that mostly he gives specific examples than general guidelines. For instance, if you have Ace-Ace-ten, here's what you do. These examples will rarely occur, and he needs to give general principles instead.

Basically, the message of this book is, "You can win the lottery if you just think positively about it." Which is ridiculous, of course. You can win the lottery even if you're a pessimistic jerk about it. Not buying a ticket is the only thing that disqualifies you from winning. The people who run the lottery systems don't know or care how you feel about it. Some reviewers have said this is a good book for changing your "life perspective". Whatever. I'm sure Amazon has a Self Help section with many books on that subject, and they probably aren't as deceptive as this book.

Bought the book thinking I might win the lottery but reading it gave me a totally new slant. This book actually helped change my life! It was a way to live..I became in control of what was to become of me, not dependent on someone else. Thanks!

He definitely tells you how to win the lottery, but he uses the lottery as a metaphor too. This is really a book about how to become self-reliant, and how to become conscious of living your life while in full control. In other words, he didn't preach like John Gray does, instead he gives you the tools to alter your own perception of your own life - and in the process make it be exactly what you want it to be. Including having as much money as you can dream..... I gave this 5 stars and I really mean it - this little book can help you change your life for the better.

This books explains a lot progressions and money management in roulette, but none of the strategies in this book will give you and edge over the house. It's for recreational players only, who want to have fun only.

This book is based on "martingale" ? There no wayyou can win with this systeme.

This is one of the most poorlywritten books I have ever read.The system is quite simple and could beexplained clearly in a few pages of charts, but the authors have no idea how to make a clear explanation. It would take a conscious effort to make a simple idea any more confusing than has been done in this book. Unfortunately, the authors make it as difficult to learn as possible.There is a fair amount of information for me, but, again, this information is better-presented in other volumes.

I would strongly recommend that players at all levels go to another book.

This book is not simple to read!

Patrick's book has helped me in a major way to quit throwing money around the layout, and play in a controlled manner that's still fun -- because I've won 7 of 9 casino visits since! I don't break the bank -- but I don't lose my usual $300-$400 anymore either. This book is far superior to Scoblete's, offering actual inside numbers to play in order to spread numbers around the wheel, excellent suggestions on outside bets, pros and cons of betting systems, regression bets, money management, discipline -- highly recommended for those who see that Scoblete's riff -- "biased" wheels -- is something only those looking for a ridiculous "angle" will believe.

If you are a serious horseplayer and have read many books about horse racing and betting, this book will just be a summary of what you learnt in the past. You will be disappointed if you want to find new ideas on horse racing from this book.

Sadly this book reveals nothing new.....same old stagnant handicapping methods as previously outlined in most of the authors previous books.....to collect a paycheck they have again hyped each other and their own outdated methods.

Same stuff as outline previously only packaged different . Brohammer is the only one making sense in todays handicapping game

A quick overview of each authors specialty,good reading and allows you the chance to learn all different angles of handicapping.

Not wanting to count cards in a 6 deck shoe, this book offers an alternative to card counting. Some other reviewers don't think that the progression system makes any sense, but think about it. When the deck is in your favor you will more likely win more hands. The progression system leads you to bet more when you win more.

My experience is that for ~92% of the time, the deck is neutral, and the good basic strategy Dahl teaches keeps me from losing too much money. ~4% of the time I'll lose several hands in a row and I'll sit out the rest of the shoe. ~4% of the time the shoe is decidedly in my favor, and the betting progression system makes a lot of money very quickly. I played about 12 hours of blackjack in Vegas last weekend using the strategies in this book and left with quite a bit of the casino's money.

The book is short, no doubt. But that made it easy for me to learn and use. The World's Greatest Blackjack Book, while a great read, is too much to memorize, and requires more precision focus than I can maintain for four hours of play.

Give this book a chance, and see which strategy (progression or counting) you can honestly use correctly in a casino.

A great book for someone new to the game. Progresion Blackjack is an enjoyable and easy read. Dahl gives you a formula for success at the tables. This book will teach you the following: Blackjack basics, basic play strategy based on the well accepted IBM statistical models, a winning betting system, effective money management, the most favorable rules for the player (double down on ANY two cards, dealer MUST stand on soft 17, etc.), and more. I started out playing blackjack using this system and I am happy to say it has worked for me after playing over 20 sessions from Montreal to Vegas to the Chicagoland riverboats. Using Dahl's system I have been able to play for hours on a relatively small bankroll and usually walk away a winner! This is THE book for the non-cardcounter!

In the 1960's card counting as as formulated by Thorpe, Braun and others, produced an edge for the player. Although difficult to execute, many players learned the system and profitted by high counts. Then the casinos introduced multiple deck shoe play, reshuffles and barred players. This effectivly cut down players profits. This book offers the player an edge through proper play and money management by a positive progression system which keeps losses at a minimum while allowing the player to realize greater profits.
Basing a bet on a count belongs back in the 60's. Buy this excellent book and play winning blackjack.