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Blackjack Training Tools

24 November 2002

Some players find it difficult to learn the basic blackjack playing strategy. Ditto for card counting. I know when I first learned blackjack some 30 years ago, I resorted to using flash cards made from index cards to learn the basic playing strategy. On one side I'd put the player's hand and dealer's upcard, and the other side would have the correct basic strategy play. I'd run through the flash cards for 30 minutes every day, always putting to the side the hands that gave me trouble. Then I'd run through those hands until I got them right. To make sure I had the strategy down pat, I'd get a sheet of blank sheet of paper and recreate the entire basic strategy grid for every player hand and dealer upcard. I did the same flash card routine to learn card counting including strategy deviations.

Now that I've dated myself, let me tell you about some of the modern tools that are available on the Internet and software products that will make learning basic strategy and card counting a lot easier. Here are some that I recommend.

www.hitorstand.net
There is a very good basic strategy game and tester with two levels of difficulty. The game will keep track of how many hands you played correctly. This is an excellent tool to practice your basic strategy.

www.blackjackinfo.com
This site contains a blackjack strategy trainer. What I like about this trainer is that you can select the number of decks and playing rules. If you make an incorrect play, a strategy coach will pop up and tell you what the correct play is.

www.robtougher.com
You'll find a basic strategy trainer and a card counting trainer on this site. You can also specify which counting system you want to practice.

www.bju21.com
This contains a basic strategy and card counting trainer. There is also unique shoe trainer that will help you estimate the number of decks in the discard tray (great practice for card counters).

www.deepnettech.com
You'll find several excellent shareware basic strategy and card counting software that you can try out. The drills are very good.

www.qfit.com
Not sure which card counting system to use? On this site you'll find the unique Blackjack Strategy Advisor. You describe your skills and circumstance and it will advice you which counting system is best.

If you have a computer, then there are a couple of software options that I can recommend for training purposes.

Blackjack 6 7 8
Inexpensive software that will help you learn the basic strategy playing strategy as well as card counting. You can read more about the software at www.blackjack678.com.

Blackjack Mentor
Excellent software to learn the basic playing strategy. For more details go to www.deepnettech.com.

Blackjack Counter and Blackjack Expert
Two software programs that will teach you how to count cards. ( www.deepnettech.com)

If you want to calculate the house edge for any set of playing rules, go to one of these sites.

Blackjack House Edge Calculator at www.thewizardofodds.com.
Trackjack Edge Calculator on www.trackjackedge.com (membership required but worth it).

Finally if you want to do your own blackjack simulations or determine the risk of ruin check out the powerful software available at www.qfit.com.

Now you have no excuse to learn the basic strategy and card counting. Give one or more of these sites or programs a try and before long you will be playing like an expert.

For more information about blackjack, we rec ommend:

Blackjack: Take the Money and Run by Henry Tamburin
Best Blackjack by Frank Scoblete
The Morons of Blackjack and Other Monsters! by Frank Scoblete
Winning Strategies at Blackjack! Video tape hosted by Academy Award Winner James Coburn, Written by Frank Scoblete

This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network, John Robison managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network.

 

Getting Maximum Comps by Playing Blackjack

13 September 2002
"Comp" is short for complimentary. They're the nice perks that casinos give you just for playing. Depending upon your betting level and how long you play, you could get comped to a buffet, a café, a gourmet room, a hotel room, a suite, even air fare. And by playing blackjack you can get the most in comps compared to other casino games. ... (read more)
 

Disturbing Trends

21 August 2002
It used to be that if you wanted to find a good blackjack game, you had to go to Las Vegas. Because of the intense competition for players, casinos in Las Vegas always offered decent rules and good games. They were the standard that players used when comparing blackjack games in other locations. But this is not the case now. ... (read more)
 

Winning Hands in Blackjack

12 June 2002
When you play blackjack, your final hand can only be one of these possibilities--a blackjack, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16 or less, or you could bust. When you bust, you know you automatically lose and when you get a blackjack hand, at worst you'll tie and at best you'll get paid a bonus of 1.5 times your bet. ... (read more)

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Henry Tamburin
Henry Tamburin has been one of America's most popular casino gaming writers for over a quarter of a century with over 600 published articles to his credit. He is a skilled blackjack player, author of the best-selling book, Blackjack: Take The Money & Run, and featured in the instructional video Blackjack-Deal Me In.

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