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Bass Pro Shops
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BPS Direct LLC
Trading name
Bass Pro Shops
Type
Private
Industry
Retail
Founded
1971
Founder
John Morris
Headquarters
Springfield, Missouri
Number of locations
177 (including 82 Cabela's)
Key people
John Morris Founder and CEO
James (Jim) Hagale President & COO
Products
Hunting, fishing, and outdoor merchandise
Revenue
4.45 billion (2015)[1]
Number of employees
22,000 (2015)
Subsidiaries
Cabela's
Website
www.basspro.com
BPS Direct LLC (doing business as Bass Pro Shops) is an American privately-held retailer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor recreation merchandise, known for stocking a wide selection of gear. Bass Pro Shops supports and sells merchandise for the National Audubon Society.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 House brands
3 Tracker Marine Group
4 Retail stores
4.1 Outdoor World locations
4.2 Other locations
4.3 Upcoming locations
5 Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant
6 Uncle Buck's Fishbowl and Grill
7 NRA National Sporting Arms Museum
8 Affiliation with NASCAR
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
History[edit]
Bass Pro Shops at the Memphis Pyramid
Bass Pro Shops at Vaughan Mills
The majority owner, John Morris, began his career in sporting goods with a fishing section in the back of a Brown Derby liquor store owned by his father, located in Springfield MO on the road to Table Rock Lake and Branson, Missouri. That small fishing department sold homemade bait and worms, proving popular enough that Bass Pro Shops was incorporated in 1971. These homemade baits were so popular that many people wanted the opportunity to buy these when they had returned home. Thus began the Bass Pro Shops catalog, first mailed in 1974. Soon, it became the world's largest mail order sporting goods store.
In 1975, to meet the burgeoning demand for Bass Pro Shops exclusive products, American Rod and Gun was established. Acting as a separate wholesaling entity ARG serves more than 7,000 independently owned retail stores worldwide. In 1977, Bass Pro Shops introduced the first fish-ready complete boat motor and trailer package with the Bass Tracker. In 1984, construction began on the Outdoor World Catalog Showroom in Springfield, Missouri. Big Cedar Lodge opened in 1988 on Table Rock Lake.
In 1995, Bass Pro Shops Sportsman's Warehouse opened in Atlanta, Georgia, its first store outside the state of Missouri. In November 2001, taking advantage of Outdoor World's popularity as a tourist destination, the Wonders of Wildlife museum was opened next door to the store in Springfield.[2][3] The Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium closed for renovation in 2007. As of October 2016 it is still closed with an expected reopening by the end of the year. Bass Pro Shops has announced that the grand reopening of the Wonders of Wildlife museum will take place on September 21st, 2017. [4]
In 2015, Bass Pro Shops opened a store inside the Memphis Pyramid, a former sports arena and concert venue in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to the retail store itself, the building houses two restaurants, a bowling alley, a 100-room hotel, an observation deck, and the tallest free-standing elevator in America. At 535,000 sq ft, The Pyramid is Bass Pro's largest store.
In October 2016, Bass Pro Shops announced that they had reached a deal to acquire competitor Cabela's for $5.5 billion. The deal is being financed via preferred equity financing from Goldman Sachs and Pamplona. Goldman Sachs will contribute $1.8 billion towards financing and Pamplona will contribute the remainder for a total commitment of $2.4 billion.[13] The new entity is expected to be formed and in operation in Q1 or Q2 of 2017.[5] The new entity will keep Cabela’s base in Sidney and Lincoln, Nebraska. Morris will continue as CEO of the new entity. He will also be the majority shareholder of the new privately held entity. Tommy Milner stressed that the company had reviewed a range of options that would maximize value, with the board choosing to go the route of Bass Pro Shops.
House brands[edit]
Bass Pro Shops carries a number of house brands. Among these are:
Archenemy
Ascend
API
Bass Pro Shops
Black Out
Bob Timberlake
Dark Star
Johnny Morris Reels
Natural Reflections
Offshore Angler
Occulus
ProQualifier
RangeMaxx
Red Head
Uncle Buck's
White River Fly Shop
Worldwide Sportsman
XPS
XTS
Tracker Marine Group[edit]
For the article on the company, see Tracker Marine Group.
In 1978, Bass Pro Shops introduced the Bass Tracker boat, produced by the Tracker Marine Group. Its brands include Tracker Boats, Nitro, Sun Tracker, Tahoe, Fisher, ProCraft, Kenner, Mako Myacht and SeaCraft. These boats are sold in showrooms attached to every Bass Pro Shops store, in stand alone Tracker dealerships, and to independent marine dealers throughout the United States. All Tracker Marine Group boats are manufactured in multiple plants in southern Missouri. Over 400,000 people have purchased Tracker boats since 1978.[2]
Retail stores[edit]
Bass Pro Shops has 94 existing stores in the United States and Canada. The store sizes range from 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) up to 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2). The largest flagship stores are known as Outdoor World stores. The decor of the stores includes taxidermy mounts native to the local area. All stores have an indoor water feature that showcases fish species that are indigenous to the area. The fish in their tanks are game fish of great size. In some of these aquariums, professional anglers and store pro-staff hold demonstrations showing the use of an artificial bait. They catch the fish in these tanks to show how well the bait works. Bass Pro Shops is also known for its Outdoor Skills Workshops, teaching skills as varied as fly fishing, Dutch oven cooking, archery hunting with an archery range in the store, and GPS navigation. They hold many skills workshops with the top names in the outdoor world.[2]
The Rancho Cucamonga, California Outdoor World store is used for the exterior shots of the fictional "Outdoor Man" store in the ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen, that premiered in 2011. Camera crews have also visited the store several times to film interior shots.[6]
Outdoor World locations[edit]
Main entrance to the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Springfield, Missouri
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World at the Louisiana Boardwalk in Bossier City, Louisiana
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World at Tsawwassen Mills in Delta, BC
State/Province
City
Size
Year Opened
Alabama Leeds 150,000 sq ft[7] 2008[8]
Alabama Prattville 140,000 sq ft[9] 2007[10]
Alabama Spanish Fort 140,000 sq ft[11] 2008[12]
Alaska Anchorage 80,000 sq ft[13] 2014
Alberta Calgary/Rocky View 150,000 sq ft[14] 2009
Arizona Mesa 170,000 sq ft[15] 2006[16]
Arkansas Little Rock 120,000 sq ft[17] 2013
British Columbia Vancouver/Tsawwassen 145,000 sq ft[18] 2016[19]
California Manteca 120,000 sq ft[20] 2008[16]
California Rancho Cucamonga 180,000 sq ft[21] 2007
California Rocklin 100,000 sq ft[22] 2015
California San Jose 145,000 sq ft[23] 2015
Colorado Colorado Springs 117,000 sq ft[24] 2013
Colorado Denver 186,000 sq ft[25] 2005
Connecticut Bridgeport 150,000 sq ft[26] 2015
Florida Brandon/Tampa 183,000 sq ft[27] 2015
Florida Dania Beach 160,000 sq ft[28] 1998
Florida Ft. Myers 130,000 sq ft[29] 2005
Florida Orlando 150,000 sq ft[30] 2000
Georgia Lawrenceville 130,000 sq ft 2001
Georgia Savannah 103,000 sq ft 2003
Illinois Bolingbrook 140,000 sq ft[31] 2013
Illinois East Peoria 150,000 sq ft 2011
Illinois Gurnee 133,000 sq ft[32] 1997
Indiana Portage 135,000 sq ft[33] 2007
Indiana Clarksville 280,000 sq ft[34] 2005
Iowa Altoona 145,000 sq ft[35] 2009
Iowa Council Bluffs 130,000 sq ft[36] 2005
Kansas Olathe 135,000 sq ft[37] 2007
Louisiana Bossier City 106,000 sq ft[38] 2003
Louisiana Denham Springs 163,000 sq ft[39] 2008[16]
Maryland Hanover 130,000 sq ft[40] 2001
Massachusetts Foxborough 140,000 sq ft[41] 2007
Michigan Auburn Hills 130,000 sq ft[42] 1998
Mississippi Pearl 130,000 sq ft[43] 2005[43]
Missouri Independence 180,000 sq ft[44] 2008[16]
Missouri Springfield 500,000 sq ft 1981[45]
North Carolina Concord 106,000 sq ft[46] 1999
Nevada Las Vegas 165,000 sq ft[47] 2004[48]
New Brunswick Dieppe 95,000 sq ft[49] 2015
New Hampshire Hooksett 149,000 sq ft[50] 2014
Ohio Rossford 150,000 sq ft[51] 2008[16]
Oklahoma Broken Arrow 130,000 sq ft[52] 2005[16]
Oklahoma Oklahoma City 110,000 sq ft[52] 2003[16]
Ontario Vaughan 131,184 sq ft 2004[53]
Pennsylvania Harrisburg 165,000 sq ft[54] 2004[16]
South Carolina Myrtle Beach 105,000 sq ft[55] 2003[56]
Tennessee Bristol 120,000 sq ft 2014
Tennessee Memphis (at the Pyramid) 535,000 sq ft[57] 2015
Tennessee Nashville 150,000 sq ft[58] 2001[59]
Tennessee Sevierville 130,000 sq ft[60] 2005
Texas Garland 120,000 sq ft[61] 2006[16]
Texas Grapevine 200,000 sq ft[62] 1999
Texas Katy 138,000 sq ft[63] 1999
Texas Pearland 150,000 sq ft[64] 2007
Texas Round Rock 104,000 sq ft 2015
Texas San Antonio 200,000 sq ft[65] 2006
Texas Harlingen 145,000 sq ft[66] 2011[67]
Virginia Hampton 105,000 sq ft[68] 2003[68]
Virginia Richmond (Hanover County) 150,000 sq ft[69] 2008[16]
Washington Tacoma 170,000 sq ft[70] 2014[71]
Other locations[edit]
Bass Pro Shops have several other stores that do not fall under the Outdoor World flagship brand.
State
City
Store Name
Size
Year Opened
Florida Daytona Beach Outpost 67,068 sq ft[72] 2017
Florida Destin World Wide Sportsman 50,000 sq ft[73] 2003[74]
Florida Gainesville Sportsman Center 81,783 sq ft[75] 2017
Florida Islamorada World Wide Sportsman 27,000 sq ft 1995
Florida Palm Bay Stick Marsh Outpost[76] 112,000 sq ft 2013
Florida Port St. Lucie Sportsman's Center[77] 100,000 sq ft 2013
Florida Miami Sportsman Center 100,000 sq ft 2007
Florida Tallahassee Outpost 70,000 sq ft[78] 2013
Georgia Macon Sportsman's Warehouse 120,000 sq ft 2006
Missouri Branson White River Outpost 42,000 sq ft 2006[79]
Missouri Columbia Sportsman's Center 82,000 sq ft[80] 2005[81]
Missouri Saint Charles Sportsman's Warehouse 88,500 sq ft[82] 2001
Missouri Springfield Outlet 20,000 sq ft[83] 2015
New Jersey Atlantic City Outpost 85,000 sq ft[84] 2015
New York Auburn Sportsman's Center 85,000 sq ft[85] 2004
New York Utica Outpost 65,000 sq ft[86] 2013
North Carolina Cary Sportsman's Center 105,000 sq ft[87] 2013
Ontario Niagara-on-the-Lake Outpost 81,000 sq ft 2014
Tennessee Memphis Sportsman's Warehouse 84,000 sq ft[88] 2002
Tennessee Chattanooga Outpost 85,000 sq ft[89] 2016
Upcoming locations[edit]
Prior to the Cabela's acquisition, Bass Pro Shops had several stores under construction. Since then, plans have been put on hold and records removed from their website.
State
City
Size
Year Opening
Florida St. John's County 104,000 sq ft[90] Unknown[91]
Florida North Palm Beach 75,000 sq ft[92] Unknown
Ohio Boston Heights 100,000 sq ft[93] Unknown
Ohio West Chester 150,000 sq ft[94] Unknown
New York Uniondale 80,000-120,000 sq ft[95] Unknown
New York Victor 145,000 sq ft[96] Unknown
New Jersey Sayreville 200,000 sq ft[97] Unknown
Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant[edit]
Logo of Islamorada Fish Company
Many locations include an Islamorada Fish Company, a chain of restaurants owned by Bass Pro Shops.
Uncle Buck's Fishbowl and Grill[edit]
The new San Jose, CA, Bridgeport, CT, Tsawwassen, BC, Altoona, IA, East Peoria, IL, Harlingen, TX, Round Rock, TX, Bristol, TN, Memphis, TN, and Tacoma, WA Outdoor World locations feature a first for Bass Pro Shops: a 12-lane bowling alley. The project is in cooperation with Brunswick Bowling & Billiards. In addition to bowling, the facility offers a full-service restaurant and bar as well as world-class billiards in the Black Widow billiard room. The 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) underwater themed facility is connected to the Bass Pro Shops, but features a separate entrance to accommodate late night diners and bowlers.
NRA National Sporting Arms Museum[edit]
After nearly a decade of work by the NRA and Bass Pro Shops, the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum opened in the flagship store in Springfield, Missouri on August 2, 2013. It showcases almost 1,000 sporting artifacts from the 1600s to today, including some historically significant firearms from the NRA Museum Collection. The museum will host firearms and artwork from the Remington Arms Company factory collection, a multimillion-dollar collection of U.S. military sidearms, engraved Colt revolvers of the American frontier, the guns of Annie Oakley and firearms of U.S. Presidents like Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.[98]
Affiliation with NASCAR[edit]
Bass Pro Shops and its owner, John Morris, have had a longtime interest in NASCAR racing. The company has sponsored such racers as Dale Earnhardt, Kerry Earnhardt, and Martin Truex Jr. Truex won the 2004 and 2005 Busch Series championships in the No. 8 Bass Pro Shops-sponsored Chevy, and drove the No. 1 Chevy for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint Cup series from 2005 to 2009. He got his first win at Dover International Speedway and finished 11th in the Chase for the Nextel Cup in 2007. While Truex, Jr. renewed with Bass Pro Shops as his main sponsor for three years in 2007. In 2009, he announced he would be leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010. Jamie McMurray, former driver of the Roush Fenway Racing Crown Royal Ford Fusion and who is from Joplin, MO (approx. 60 miles away from the national headquarters in Springfield), replaced Truex, Jr. for the 2010 season.
McMurray won the 2010 Daytona 500 in his first race driving in the Bass Pro Shops-sponsored Chevrolet. He followed that up by winning the 2010 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, making him the 3rd driver to win both races in the same season. He also won the 2010 Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
In the Xfinity Series, Bass Pro Shops was the main sponsor for the No. 3 car driven by Ty Dillon. Also in the Truck Series, Bass Pro Shops sponsors the No. 32 truck driven by Ryan Truex.[99]
Beginning with the 2013 season, Bass Pro Shops signed a multi-year agreement to be the primary sponsor for the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet SS driven by three-time Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart.
Bass Pro Shops reunited with Martin Truex Jr. in 2016 to be the primary sponsor of the No. 78 Furniture Row Sprint Cup car at the Daytona 500 and eight more races during the 2016 season.
Also in 2016, Bass Pro Shops became the primary sponsor of the August race at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of the most iconic events in NASCAR. The event is now known as the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race.
In the Disney movie Herbie: Fully Loaded, Bass Pro Shops is one of two main sponsors of Ray Peyton Jr. Herbie also later receives a Bass Pro Shops sticker on his left rear fender.
See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bass Pro Shops.
Academy Sports + Outdoors
Cabela's
Dick's Sporting Goods
Gander Mountain
Legendary Whitetails
REI
Scheels All Sports
Sportsman's Warehouse
Calibers and CalibersUSA.com
References[edit]
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External links[edit]
Bass Pro Shops
Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant
Tracker Boats
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Card counting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A blackjack game in progress
Card counting is a casino card game strategy used primarily in the blackjack family of casino games to determine whether the next hand is likely to give a probable advantage to the player or to the dealer. Card counters are a class of advantage players, who attempt to decrease the inherent casino house edge by keeping a running tally of all high and low valued cards seen by the player. Card counting allows players to bet more with less risk when the count gives an advantage as well as minimize losses during an unfavorable count. Card counting also provides the ability to alter playing decisions based on the composition of remaining cards.
Card counting, also referred to as card reading, often refers to obtaining a sufficient count on the number, distribution and high-card location of cards in trick-taking games such as contract bridge or spades to optimize the winning of tricks.
Contents
[hide]
1 Basics
1.1 Systems
1.2 Design and selection of systems
2 Running counts versus True counts in Balanced counting systems
3 Back-counting
3.1 Advantages
3.2 Disadvantages
3.3 Group counting
4 Ranging bet sizes and the Kelly criterion
5 Expected profit
6 Devices
7 Legal status
8 Casino reactions
8.1 Detection
8.2 Technology for detecting card counters
8.3 Countermeasures
9 History
9.1 Teams
9.2 Shuffling machines
10 See also
11 References
11.1 Notes
11.2 Bibliography
12 Further reading
Basics[edit]
The most common variations of card counting in blackjack are based on statistical evidence that high cards (especially aces and 10s) benefit the player more than the dealer, while the low cards, (3s, 4s, 6s, and especially 5s) help the dealer while hurting the player. Higher concentration of high cards benefit the player in the following ways. 1) It increases the player's chances of hitting a natural Blackjack, which pays out 3:2 (unless the dealer also has blackjack); whereas a dealer's blackjack will only cause the player to lose his or her original bet. 2) Also, when the shoe has a high concentration of 10s, players have a better chance of winning when doubling on a 9, 10, or 11, by drawing a high card, thus making a high hand (a dealer, on the other hand, cannot double). [1] 3) Furthermore, it makes splitting higher cards (especially 8's, 9's, and Aces) more profitable, since it increases the probability of being dealt a 10 or Ace to one of those split cards, thus making a strong hand; while the dealer cannot split. 4) On the other hand, Low cards benefit the dealer, since according to blackjack rules the dealer must hit stiff hands (12-16 total) while the player has the option to hit or stand. Thus a dealer holding (12-16) will bust every time if the next card drawn is a 10, making this card essential to track when card counting.[2] 5)Finally, a high enough concentration of 10's can make the insurance bet more profitable, since it increases the probability of having a 10 underneath that Ace.
Contrary to the popular myth, card counters do not need unusual mental abilities to count cards, because they are not tracking and memorizing specific cards. Instead, card counters assign a point score to each card they see that estimates the value of that card, and then they track the sum of these values – a process called keeping a "running count."[3] The myth that counters keep track of every card was portrayed in the 1988 film Rain Man, in which the savant character Raymond Babbitt counts through six decks with ease and a casino employee erroneously comments that it is impossible to count six decks.[4][5]
Systems[edit]
Basic card counting assigns a positive, negative, or zero value to each card value available. When a card of that value is dealt, the count is adjusted by that card's counting value. Low cards increase the count as they increase the percentage of high cards in the remaining set of cards, while high cards decrease it for the opposite reason. For instance, the Hi-Lo system subtracts one for each dealt 10, Jack, Queen, King or Ace, and adds one for any value 2-6. Values 7-9 are assigned a value of zero and therefore do not affect the count.[6]
The goal of a card counting system is to assign point values that roughly correlate to a card's Effect of Removal (EOR). The EOR is the actual effect of removing a given card from play, and the resulting impact on the house advantage. The player may gauge the effect of removal for all cards dealt, and assess the current house advantage of a game based on the remaining cards. As larger ratios between point values are used to create better correlation to actual EOR with the goal of increasing the efficiency of a system, such systems use more different numbers and are broken into classes depending on such as level 1, level 2, level 3, and so on, with regard to the ratio between the highest and lowest assigned point values.
The High-Low system is considered a level-one count, because the running count never increases or decreases by more than a single, predetermined value. A multilevel count, such as Zen Count, Wong Halves or Hi-Opt II, makes finer distinctions between card values to gain greater play accuracy. Rather than all cards having a value of +1, 0, or −1, an advanced count might also include card ranks that are counted as +2 and −2, or +0.5 and -0.5. Advanced players might additionally maintain a side count (separate count) of specific cards, such as a side count Aces, to deal with situations where the best count for betting accuracy differs from the best count for playing accuracy.
Many side count techniques exist including special-purpose counts used when attacking games with nonstandard profitable-play options such as an over/under side bet.[7]
The disadvantage of higher-level counts is that keeping track of more information can detract from the ability to play quickly and accurately. A card-counter might earn more money by playing a simple count quickly—more hands per hour played—than by playing a complex count slowly.
The following table illustrates a few ranking systems for card counting. Many others exist.[8]
Card Strategy
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10, J, Q, K
A
Level of count
Hi-Lo +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 −1 −1 1
Hi-Opt I 0 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 −1 0 1
Hi-Opt II +1 +1 +2 +2 +1 +1 0 0 −2 0 2
KO +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 −1 −1 1
Omega II +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +1 0 −1 −2 0 2
Red 7 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 or +1 0 0 −1 −1 1
Halves +0.5 +1 +1 +1.5 +1 +0.5 0 -0.5 -1 -1 3
Zen Count +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +1 0 0 −2 −1 2
The KO Strategy was first introduced in 1992 as the "All Sevens" count in The Book of British Blackjack.[9]
Design and selection of systems[edit]
The primary goal of a card counting system is to assign point values to each card that roughly correlate to the card's "effect of removal" or EOR (that is, the effect a single card has on the house advantage once removed from play), thus enabling the player to gauge the house advantage based on the composition of cards still to be dealt. Larger ratios between point values can better correlate to actual EOR, but add complexity to the system. Counting systems may be referred to as "level 1", "level 2", etc., corresponding to the number of different point values the system calls for.
The ideal system is a system that is usable by the player and offers the highest average dollar return per period of time when dealt at a fixed rate. With this in mind, systems aim to achieve a balance of efficiency in three categories:[3]
Betting correlation (BC)
When the sum of all the permutations of the undealt cards offer a positive expectation to a player using optimal playing strategy, there is a positive expectation to a player placing a bet. A system's BC gauges how effective a system is at informing the user of this situation.
Playing efficiency (PE)
A portion of the expected profit comes from modifying playing strategy based on the known altered composition of cards. For this reason, a system's PE gauges how effectively it informs the player to modify strategy according to the actual composition of undealt cards. A system's PE is important when the effect of PE has a large impact on total gain, as in single- and double-deck games.
Insurance correlation (IC)
A portion of expected gain from counting cards comes from taking the insurance bet, which becomes profitable at high counts. An increase in IC will offer additional value to a card counting system.
Some strategies count the ace (ace-reckoned strategies) and some do not (ace-neutral strategies). Including aces in the count improves betting correlation since the ace is the most valuable card in the deck for betting purposes. However, since the ace can either be counted as one or eleven, including an ace in the count decreases the accuracy of playing efficiency. Since PE is more important in single- and double-deck games, and BC is more important in shoe games, counting the ace is more important in shoe games.
One way to deal with such tradeoffs is to ignore the ace to yield higher PE while keeping a side count which is used to detect addition change in EV which the player will use to detect additional betting opportunities which ordinarily would not be indicated by the primary card counting system.
The most commonly side counted card is the ace since it is the most important card in terms of achieving a balance of BC and PE. In theory a player could keep a side count of every card and achieve a near 100% PE, however methods involving additional side counts for PE become more complex at an exponential rate as you add more side counts and the ability of the human mind is quickly overtasked and unable to make the necessary computations.
Since there is the potential to create an overtaxing demand on the human mind while using a card counting system another important design consideration is the ease of use. Higher level systems, and systems with side counts will obviously become more difficult and in an attempt to make them easier, unbalanced systems eliminate the need for a player to keep tabs on the number of cards/decks that have already entered play typically at the expense of lowering PE.[8]
Running counts versus True counts in Balanced counting systems[edit]
The Running count is the running total of each card's assigned value. When using Balanced count (such as the Hi-Lo system), the Running count is converted into a "True count," which takes into consideration the number of decks used. With Hi-Lo, the True count is essentially the Running count divided by the number of decks that haven't yet been dealt; this can be calculated by division or approximated with an average card count per round times the number of rounds dealt. However, many variations of True count calculation exist.[10]
Back-counting[edit]
Back-counting, also known as "Wonging," consists of standing behind a blackjack table that other players are playing on, and counting the cards as they are dealt. Stanford Wong first proposed the idea of back-counting, and the term "Wong" comes from his name.[11]
The player will enter or "Wong in" to the game when the count reaches a point at which the player has an advantage. The player may then raise his/her bets as their advantage increases, or lower their bets as their advantage goes down. Some back-counters prefer to flat-bet, and only bet the same amount once they have entered the game. Some players will stay at the table until the game is shuffled, or they may "Wong out" or leave when the count reaches a level at which they no longer have an advantage.
Back-counting is generally done on shoe games, of 4, 6, or 8 decks, although it can be done on pitch games of 1 or 2 decks. The reason for this is that the count is more stable in a shoe game, so a player will be less likely to sit down for one or two hands and then have to get up. In addition, many casinos do not allow "mid-shoe entry" in single or double deck games which makes Wonging impossible. Another reason is that many casinos exhibit more effort to thwart card counters on their pitch games than on their shoe games, as a counter has a smaller advantage on an average shoe game than in a pitch game.[12]
Advantages[edit]
Back-counting is different from traditional card-counting, in that the player does not play every hand he sees. This offers several advantages. For one, the player does not play hands at which he does not have a statistical advantage. This increases the total advantage of the player. Another advantage is that the player does not have to change their bet size as much, or at all if they choose. Large variations in bet size are one way that casinos detect card counters, and this is eliminated with back-counting.
Disadvantages[edit]
There are several disadvantages to back-counting. One is that the player frequently does not stay at the table long enough to earn comps from the casino. Another disadvantage is that some players may become irritated with players who enter in the middle of a game, and superstitiously believe that this interrupts the "flow" of the cards. Lastly, a player who hops in and out of games may attract unwanted attention from casino personnel, and may be detected as a card-counter.
Group counting[edit]
While a single player can maintain their own advantage with back-counting, card counting is most often used by teams of players to maximize their advantage. In such a team, some players called "spotters" will sit at a table and play the game at the table minimum, while keeping a count (basically doing the back "counting"). When the count is significantly high, the spotter will discreetly signal another player, known as a "big player," that the count is high (the table is "hot"). The big player will then "Wong in" and wager vastly higher sums (up to the table maximum) while the count is high. When the count "cools off" or the shoe is shuffled (resetting the count), the big player will "Wong out" and look for other counters who are signaling a high count. This was the system used by the MIT Blackjack Team, whose story was in turn the inspiration for the Canadian movie The Last Casino which was later re-made into the Hollywood version 21.[13]
The main advantage of group play is that the team can count several tables while a single back-counting player can usually only track one table. This allows big players to move from table to table, maintaining the high-count advantage without being out of action very long. It also allows redundancy while the big player is seated as both the counter and big player can keep the count (as in the movie 21, the spotter can communicate the count to the big player discreetly as he/she sits down). The disadvantages include requiring multiple spotters who can keep an accurate count, splitting the "take" among all members of the team, requiring spotters to play a table regardless of the count (using only basic strategy, these players will lose money long-term), and requiring signals, which can alert pit bosses.
A simple variation removes the loss of having spotters play; the spotters simply watch the table instead of playing and signal big players to Wong in and out as normal. The disadvantages of this variation are reduced ability of the spotter and big player to communicate, reduced comps as the spotters aren't sitting down, and vastly increased suspicion, as blackjack is not generally considered a spectator sport in casinos except among those actually playing (unlike craps, roulette and wheels of fortune which have larger displays and so tend to attract more spectators).
Ranging bet sizes and the Kelly criterion[edit]
A mathematical principle called the Kelly criterion indicates that bet increases should be proportional to the player advantage. In practice, this means that the higher the count, the more a player should bet on each hand in order to take advantage of the player edge. Using this principle, a card counter may elect to vary his bet size in proportion to the advantage dictated by a count creating what is called a "Bet ramp" according to the principles of the Kelly criterion. A bet ramp is a betting plan with a specific bet size tied to each true count value in such a way that the player is betting proportionally to the player advantage with aims to maximize overall bankroll growth. Taken to its ultimate conclusion, the Kelly criterion would demand that a player not bet anything at all when the deck doesn't offer a positive expectation; the "Wonging" strategy described above implements this.[14]
Expected profit[edit]
Historically, blackjack played with a perfect basic strategy offered a house edge of less than 0.5%. As more casinos have switched games to dealer hits soft-17 and blackjack pays 6:5, the average house edge in Nevada has increased to 1%. A typical card counter who ranges bets appropriately in a game with six decks will have an advantage of approximately 1% over the casino. Advantages of up to 2.5% are possible at normal penetrations from counting 6-deck Spanish 21, for the S17 or H17 with redoubling games.[15] This amount varies based on the counter's skill level, penetration (1 – fraction of pack cut off), and the betting spread (player's maximum bet divided by minimum bet). The variance in blackjack is high, so generating a sizable profit can take hundreds of hours of play. The deck will only have a positive enough count for the player to raise bets 10%-35% of the time depending on rules, penetration and strategy.[16]
At a table where a player makes a $100 average bet, a 1% advantage means a player will win an average $1 per round. This translates into an average hourly winning of $50 if the player is dealt 50 hands per hour.
Under one set of circumstance, a player with a 1-15 unit bet spread with only one-deck cut off of a six-deck game will enjoy an advantage of as much as 1.2% with a Standard Deviation of 3.5 on a 2.1 unit average bet.[17] Therefore, it is highly advisable for counters to set aside a large dedicated bankroll; one popular rule of thumb dictates a bankroll of 100 times the maximum bet per hand.[18][19]
Another aspect of the probability of card counting is that, at higher counts, the player's probability of winning a hand is only slightly changed and still below 50%.[20] The player's edge over the house on such hands does not come from the player's probability of winning the hands. Instead it comes from the increased probability of blackjacks, increased gain and benefit from doubling, splitting and surrender, and the insurance side bet, which becomes profitable at high counts.
Many factors will affect a player's expected profit while attacking a game, such as:
The overall efficiency of a card counting system at detecting player advantage, this affects how often the player will actually play a hand at an advantage per period of time
The overall efficiency at creating player advantage as a whole, a system may indicate a small advantage when in fact the advantage is much larger, this reduces the overall ROI of the system while in play.
The rules of the game.
Penetration will almost directly affect the magnitude of player advantage that is exploitable, and the rate that hands are dealt to a player at an advantage.
The number of players seated at a table will slow game pace, and reduce the number of hands a player will be able to play in a given time frame.
Game speed, table with side bets will be dealt at a slower pace than tables without them which will reduce the number of hands dealt over time.
The use of an automatic shuffle machine or in rare cases, a dealer dedicated solely to shuffling a new shoe while another is in play, will eliminate the need for the dealer to shuffle the shoe prior to dealing a new one increasing game speed.
Devices[edit]
A range of card counting devices are available but are deemed to be illegal in most U.S. casinos. In February 2009, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a warning that an iPhone card counting application was illegal in that state.[21] Card counting with the mind is legal and usually more accurate than this application.[22]
Legal status[edit]
The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Card counting is not illegal under British law, nor is it under federal, state, or local laws in the United States provided that no external card counting device or person assists the player in counting cards. Still, casinos object to the practice, and try to prevent it,[23] banning players believed to be counters. In their pursuit to identify card counters, casinos sometimes misidentify and ban players suspected of counting cards even if they do not.[24]
Atlantic City casinos in the US state of New Jersey are forbidden from barring card counters as a result of a New Jersey Supreme Court decision. In 1979 Ken Uston, a Blackjack Hall of Fame inductee, filed a lawsuit against an Atlantic City casino, claiming that casinos did not have the right to ban skilled players. The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed,[25] ruling that "the state's control of Atlantic City's casinos is so complete that only the New Jersey Casino Control Commission has the power to make rules to exclude skillful players." The Commission has made no regulation on card counting, so Atlantic City casinos are not allowed to ban card counters. As they are unable to ban counters even when identified, Atlantic City casinos have increased the use of countermeasures.[26]
Casino reactions[edit]
Detection[edit]
Monitoring player behavior to assist with detecting the card counters falls into the hands of the on-floor casino personnel ("pit bosses") and casino-surveillance personnel, who may use video surveillance ("the eye in the sky") as well as computer analysis, to try to spot playing behavior indicative of card counting. Early counter-strategies featured the dealers' learning to count the cards themselves to recognize the patterns in the players. Many casino chains keep databases of players that they consider undesirable. Casinos can also subscribe to databases of advantage players offered by agencies like Griffin Investigations, Biometrica and OSN (Oregon Surveillance Network).[27] Griffin Investigations filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005 after losing a libel lawsuit filed by professional gamblers.[28] In 2008 all Chapter 11 payments were said to be up to date and all requirements met, and information was being supplied using data encryption and secure servers.[29] If a player is found to be in such a database, he will almost certainly be stopped from play and asked to leave regardless of his table play. For successful card counters, therefore, skill at "cover" behavior, to hide counting and avoid "drawing heat" and possibly being barred, may be just as important as playing skill.
Detection of card counters will be confirmed after a player is first suspected of counting cards; when seeking card counters, casino employees, whatever their position, could be alerted by many things that are most common when related to card counting but not common for other players. These include:[30][31][32]
Large buy-ins
Dramatic bet variation especially with larger bets being placed only at the end of a shoe
Playing only a small number of hands during a shoe
Refusal to play rated
Table hopping
Playing multiple hands
Lifetime win
Racial profiling (in some non-U.S. locations)
Card counters may make unique playing strategy deviations not normally used by non-counters. Plays such as splitting tens, doubling soft 18/19/20, standing on 15/16, and surrendering on 14, when basic strategy says otherwise, may be a sign of a card counter.
Extremely aggressive plays such as splitting tens and doubling soft 19 and 20 are often called out to the pit to notify them because they are telltale signs of not only card counters but hole carding.
Technology for detecting card counters[edit]
Several semi-automated systems have been designed to aid detection of card counters. The MindPlay system (now discontinued) scanned card values as the cards were dealt. The Shuffle Master Intelligent Shoe system also scans card values as cards exit the shoe. Software called Bloodhound and Protec 21[33] allow voice input of card and bet values, in an attempt to determine the player edge. A more recent innovation is the use of RFID signatures embedded within the casino chips so that the table can automatically track bet amounts.[34]
Automated card-reading technology has known abuse potential in that it can be used to simplify the practice of preferential shuffling—having the dealer reshuffle the cards whenever the odds favor the players. To comply with licensing regulations, some blackjack protection systems have been designed to delay access to real-time data on remaining cards in the shoe.[35] Other vendors consider real-time notification to surveillance that a shoe is "hot" to be an important product feature.[36]
With card values, play decisions, and bet decisions conveniently accessible, the casino can analyze bet variation, play accuracy, and play variation.
Bet variation. The simplest way a card counter makes money is to bet more when he has an edge. While playing back the tapes of a recent session of play, software can generate a scatter plot of the amount bet versus the count at the time the bet was made and find the trendline that best fits the scattered points. If the player is not counting cards, there will be no trend; his bet variation and the count variation will not consistently correlate. If the player is counting and varying bets according to the count, there will be a trend whose slope reflects the player's average edge from this technique.[37]
Play variation. When card counters vary from basic strategy, they do so in response to the count, to gain an additional edge. Software can verify whether there is a pattern to play variation. Of particular interest is whether the player sometimes (when the count is positive) takes insurance and stands on 16 versus a dealer 10, but plays differently when the count is negative.
Countermeasures[edit]
Casinos have spent a great amount of effort and money in trying to thwart card counters. Countermeasures used to prevent card counters from profiting at blackjack include:[38][39][27][23]
Decreasing penetration, the number of the cards dealt before a shuffle. This reduces the advantage of card counting.
Banning known counters from playing blackjack, all games, or entering casino property (trespassing).
Shuffling when a player increases their wager or when the casino feels the remaining cards are advantageous to the player (preferential shuffling).
Changing rules for splitting, doubling down, or playing multiple hands. This also includes changing a table's stakes.
Not allowing entry into a game until a shuffle occurs (no mid-shoe entry).
Flat betting a player or making it so they cannot change the amount they bet during a shoe.
Cancelling comps earned by counters.
Confiscation of chips.
Detention (backrooming).
Some jurisdictions (e.g. Nevada) have few legal restrictions placed on these countermeasures. Other jurisdictions such as New Jersey limit the countermeasures a casino can take against skilled players.[40] Casinos have resorted to physical assaults to deter card counters.[41] Assaults are less common than in the early days of card counting.
Some countermeasures result in disadvantages for the casino. Frequent or complex shuffling, for example, reduces the amount of playing time and consequently the house winnings.[42][43] Some casinos use automatic shuffling machines to counter the loss of time, with some models of machines shuffling one set of cards while another is in play. Others, known as continuous shuffle machines (CSMs), allow the dealer to simply return used cards to a single shoe to allow playing with no interruption. Because CSMs essentially force minimal penetration, they greatly reduce the advantage of traditional counting techniques.[44] In most online casinos the deck is shuffled at the start of each new round, ensuring the house always has the advantage.
History[edit]
American mathematician Edward O. Thorp is considered the father of card counting.[45] His 1962 book, Beat the Dealer, outlined various betting and playing strategies for optimal blackjack play. Although mathematically sound, some of the techniques described no longer apply, as casinos took counter-measures (such as no longer dealing to the last card). Also, the counting system described (10-count) is harder to use and less profitable than the point-count systems that have been developed since. A history of how counting developed can be seen in David Layton's documentary film The Hot Shoe.
Even before the publication of Beat the Dealer, however, a small number of professional card counters were beating blackjack games in Las Vegas and casinos elsewhere. One of these early card counters was Jess Marcum, who is described in documents and interviews with professional gamblers of the time as having developed the first full-fledged point-count system. Another documented pre-Thorp card counter was a professional gambler named Joe Bernstein, who is described in the 1961 book I Want To Quit Winners, by Reno casino owner Harold Smith, as an Ace counter feared throughout the casinos of Nevada. And in the 1957 book Playing Blackjack to Win, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott (known among card counters as "The Four Horsemen") published the first accurate blackjack basic strategy and a rudimentary card-counting system, devised solely with the aid of crude mechanical calculators—what used to be called "adding machines."[46]
From the early days of card-counting, some players have been hugely successful, including Al Francesco, the inventor of blackjack team play and the man who taught Ken Uston how to count cards, and Tommy Hyland, manager of the longest-running blackjack team in history. Ken Uston, though perhaps the most famous card-counter through his 60 Minutes television appearance and his books, tended to overstate his winnings, as documented by players who worked with him, including Al Francesco and team member Darryl Purpose.
In the 1970s and 1980s, as computing power grew, more advanced (and more difficult) card-counting systems came into favor. Many card counters agree, however, that a simpler and less advantageous system that can be played flawlessly for hours earns an overall higher return than a more complex system prone to user error.
Teams[edit]
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In the 1970s Ken Uston was the first to write about a tactic of card counting he called the Big Player Team. The book was based on his experiences working as a "big player" (BP) on Al Francesco's teams. In big-player blackjack teams a number of card counters, called "spotters," are dispatched to tables around a casino, where their responsibility is to keep track of the count and signal to the big player when the count indicates a player advantage. The big player then joins the game at that table, placing maximum bets at a player advantage. When the spotter indicates that the count has dropped, he again signals the BP to leave the table. By jumping from table to table as called in by spotters, the BP avoids all play at a disadvantage. In addition, since the BP's play appears random and irrational, he avoids detection by the casinos. The spotters, who are doing the actual counting, are not themselves changing their bet size or strategy, so they are relatively inconspicuous.
With this style of play, a number of blackjack teams have cleared millions of dollars through the years. Well-known blackjack teams with documented earnings in the millions include those run by Al Francesco, Ken Uston, Tommy Hyland, various groups from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, most recently, a team called "The Greeks." Ken Uston wrote about blackjack team play in Million Dollar Blackjack (ISBN 0-89746-068-5), although many of the experiences he represents as his own in his books actually happened to other players, especially Bill Erb, a BP Uston worked with on Al Francesco's team. Ben Mezrich also covers team play in his book Bringing Down The House (ISBN 0-7432-4999-2), which describes how MIT students used it with great success. See also the Canadian movie The Last Casino and the American movie 21, which was based on Mezrich's book.
The publication of Ken Uston's books and of his landmark lawsuits against the casinos, both stimulated the growth of blackjack teams (Hyland's team and the first MIT team were formed in Atlantic City shortly after the publication of Million Dollar Blackjack) and increased casino awareness of the methods of blackjack teams, making it more difficult for such teams to operate. Hyland and Francesco soon switched to a form of shuffle tracking called "Ace sequencing." Also referred to as "cutting to the Ace," this technique involves various methods designed to spot the bottom card during a shuffle (ideally an Ace) and expertly cut the deck and play future hands to force the player to receive the Ace. This made it more difficult for casinos to detect when team members were playing with an advantage. In 1994, members of the Hyland team were arrested for Ace sequencing and blackjack team play at Casino Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was documented in court that Nevada casinos with ownership stakes in the Windsor casino were instrumental in the decision to prosecute team members on cheating charges. However, the judge ruled that the players' conduct was not cheating, but merely the use of intelligent strategy.[47]
Shuffling machines[edit]
Main article: Shuffling machine
Automatic shuffling machines (ASMs or batch shufflers), that randomly shuffle decks, interfere with the shuffle tracking variation of card counting by hiding the shuffle. Continuous shuffling machines (CSMs), that partially shuffle used cards back into the "shoe" after every hand, interfere with card counting. These machines can result in some of the cards just played on the table being re-shuffled into positions fairly close to the top of the shoe, seriously damaging the effectiveness of card-counting.
See also[edit]
Advantage gambling
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Thorp (1966), pp.24-27, pp. 41-47, pp. 98-99, pp. 102-103, p. 110, p. 115.
Jump up ^ Wizard of Odds (July 2011). "How to Play Blackjack". wizardofodds.com. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
^ Jump up to: a b Griffin, Peter A. (1999). The theory of blackjack : the compleat card counter's guide to the casino game of 21 (6th ed.). Las Vegas, Nev.: Huntington Press. ISBN 978-0929712130.
Jump up ^ Jessica K. Sklar; Elizabeth S. Sklar (February 29, 2012). Mathematics in Popular Culture: Essays on Appearances in Film, Fiction, Games, Television and Other Media. McFarland & Company. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7864-8994-7. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Rain Man (1988) Plot Summary". Retrieved 10 July 2014.
Jump up ^ Axelrad (2010), p. 256.
Jump up ^ "Blackjack Side Counts". Qfit.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
^ Jump up to: a b "Card Counting Strategies". Qfit.com. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
Jump up ^ Zadehkoochak (1992)
Jump up ^ "True Count Calculation – The Whole Story". Qfit.com. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
Jump up ^ Schlesinger (2005)
Jump up ^ "How to Use Frequency Distributions to Determine Your Card Counting Win Rate and Fluctuations". Blackjackforumonline.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
Jump up ^ Axelrad (2010), pp. 19, 259.
Jump up ^ Axelrad (2010), pp. 258-259.
Jump up ^ Walker (2008), p. 89
Jump up ^ "True Count Frequencies". Blackjackincolor.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
Jump up ^ "Introduction to the High-Low Card Counting Strategy". wizardofodds.com. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
Jump up ^ Schlesinger (2005), pp. 122-146.
Jump up ^ "Bankrolls, Goals, Risk Data". Blackjackincolor.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
Jump up ^ "Win/Loss/Push Data". Blackjackincolor.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
Jump up ^ "Casinos on lookout for iPhone card-counting app". cnet.com. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
Jump up ^ "Blackjack Computers". Blackjack-scams.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
^ Jump up to: a b Rose, I. Nelson; Loeb, Robert A. (1998). Blackjack and the law (1st ed.). Oakland, CA: RGE Pub. ISBN 978-0910575089.
Jump up ^ Zender (2006)
Jump up ^ See summary brief of Uston v. Resorts International Hotel, Inc.; 445 A.2d 370 N.J. 1982
Jump up ^ Olsen (1981)
^ Jump up to: a b Blaine, Rick (May 2014). Blackjack Blueprint: How to Play Like a Pro . . . Part-Time. Huntington Press. ISBN 978-1935396536.
Jump up ^ Liz Benston. "Griffin book producer files for Chapter 11, citing suit". LasVegasSun. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
Jump up ^ "Minutes of the Private Investigators Licensing Board for 18 June 2008" (PDF). glsuite.us. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
Jump up ^ Zender, Bill (April 2011). Casino-ology 2: New Strategies for Managing Casino Games. Huntington Press. ISBN 9781935396284.
Jump up ^ Grosjean, James (2007). Exhibit CAA : beyond counting (1st ed.). Las Vegas, NV: South Side Advantage Press, LLC. ISBN 978-0-9790061-4-2.
Jump up ^ Cellini, D.V. (2003). The card counter's guide to casino surveillance. Huntington Press. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Jump up ^ "Digitace Website". digitace.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
Jump up ^ Gilbert, Alorie. "CNET News story, "Vegas Casino Bets on RFID"". News.com.com. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
Jump up ^ "HIGH-TECH CASINO ADVANTAGE PLAY: LEGISLATIVE APPROACHES TO THE THREAT OF PREDICTIVE DEVICES" (PDF). Core. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
Jump up ^ Aventura Technologies, Real Time Casino Solution (PDF), diagram 12, "Advantaged Play Server"
Jump up ^ Arnold Snyder's Blackjack Forum periodical featured a printout that demonstrated this feature
Jump up ^ Nersesian, Bob (May 2016). The Law for Gamblers: A Legal Guide to the Casino Environment. Huntington Press. ISBN 978-1935396628.
Jump up ^ Zender, Bill (October 2013). Casino-ology: The Art of Managing Casino Games. Huntington Press. ISBN 978-0-929712-56-7.
Jump up ^ Rose, I. Nelson. "Dealing With Card-Counters – Gambling and the Law®". www.gamblingandthelaw.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
Jump up ^ Blackjack Forum Volume XXIII #2, Summer 2003 - "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Card Counter" by Arnold Snyder - © 2003 Blackjack Forum
Jump up ^ Zender, Bill. "TABLE GAME MANAGEMENT FOR THE SMALL CASINO, PART 2" (PDF). billzender.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
Jump up ^ Zender, Bill. "TABLE GAME MYTHS PERSIST AMONG PLAYERS AND DEALERS" (PDF). billzender.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
Jump up ^ Barker, Jeff. "Horseshoe adds continuous shuffle machines, stirring industry debate". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
Jump up ^ Loudon Ofton. "The History of Blackjack". BlackjackApprenticeship.com. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
Jump up ^ "History of Blackjack and Card Counting". Blackjack Review Network. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
Jump up ^ Snyder (2006)
Bibliography[edit]
Axelrad, Josh (2010). Repeat until Rich: A Professional Card Counter's Chronicle of the Blackjack Wars. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-247-6.
Griffin, Peter (1988). The Theory of Blackjack: The Complete Card Counter's Guide (4th ed.). Las Vegas: Huntington Press. ISBN 0-915141-02-7.
Eddie Olsen (April 18, 1981). "Ken Uston: Big Player Without a Game". Philadelphia Inquirer.
Rose, I. Nelson; Loeb, Robert A. (1998). Blackjack and the Law (1st ed.). Oakland, CA: RGE Publishers. ISBN 978-0-910575-08-9.
Schlesinger, Donald (2005). Blackjack Attack: playing the pros' way (3rd ed.). Las Vegas: RGE Publishing. ISBN 978-0-910575-20-1.
Snyder, Arnold (2006). The Big Book of Blackjack (1st ed.). New York: Cardoza Publishing. ISBN 1-58042-155-5.
Thorp, Edward O. (1966). Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty One. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-70310-3.
Walker, Katarina (2008). The Pro's Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon. New York: Maven Press. ISBN 978-1-4357-1065-8.
Zadehkoochak, Mohsen (1992). The Book of British Blackjack. Cockfosters, England: Medimage. ISBN 1-897728-00-X.
Zender, Bill (2006). Advantage Play for the Casino Executive. OCLC 156916229.
Further reading[edit]
Snyder, Arnold (2005). Blackbelt in Blackjack: Playing 21 as a Martial Art (Revised ed.). New York: Cardoza Publishing. ISBN 1-58042-143-1.
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