Ask Dr. Blackjack

By Sam Barrington

Ask Dr. BlackJack
By Sam Barrington

What do the Readers Think of "Ask Dr Blackjack"?

"I struggled to stay even playing Blackjack and thought I could be a better player. After reading "Ask Dr Blackjack" my game really picked up when I instituted the extra plays in the book".
Phillip Cuffman - Attorney

"I have travelled all over the world gambling with my husband. We have both played professionally and done well, thought we knew all there was to know about Blackjack. After reading "Ask Dr Blackjack" we discovered plays that only enhanced our winning experiences. This book is well worth the price".
Margaret Hinson - Midtown Billiards, Since 1940 (Owner)

"Blackjack is a hobby of mine. I enjoy the game but had trouble grasping some of the methods involved. After reading "Ask Dr Blackjack" I understood why I was supposed to make certain plays. Barrington's logic was a big boost for my game".
Dustin Monday - Computer Systems Engineer

"As a recreational Blackjack player, Barrington's insight on the correct plays has made a great difference in how far my gambling dollars go when I visit a Casino. I just wish I would have found this book sooner".
Greg Pumphrey - Architect

"This book was extremely helpful in advancing my Blackjack winnings but the inside stories about the Casino activity is what made the book".
Owen Ross - Retired Banker

This book would bot have been possible without all the hard work of Billy Mathys and Arkansas Graphics, Inc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781477299302

Book preview

What Lead Me to the

Blackjack World?

black.jpg

In 1983, I went to Las Vegas with a few friends.

I had never been to Vegas before and had no idea as to what to expect.

When I got to Vegas, I thought I had docked at the MotherShip.

I felt as if that was where I was supposed to be in life.

A good friend of mine went to play Blackjack shortly after we got there.

I had never seen a Blackjack table before but I thought I was being drawn to it by some subversive force somewhere in the universe.

But I didn’t know the first thing about Blackjack except for the goofy rules we played by when I was a kid.

Well, my friend returned a couple of hours later with $135 worth of chips in his hand.

I said, Where did you get all that damn money?

He said, Playing Blackjack.

I had to know more about this game.

I found a table, stood way back and watched.

I was intrigued by the way everyone would sit around the table, money being pulled by the Dealer, money being paid by the Dealer, cards being dealt and all thiswithout a word being said by anyone.

It was as if they all belonged to this secret cult with a mysterious hand shake or something.

I was mesmerized.

When I got home, I started inquiring whether anybody knew anybody who knew how to play Blackjack.

Everybody knew how to play.

I found out later that they knew as much about Blackjack as I knew about nuclear science.

As the saying goes, they only knew enough to hurt themselves.

So I bought a how-to book about Blackjack.

Then I bought another and another and another.

I bought videos, flash cards and audios.

I found out that there really weren’t that many different ways to play Blackjack.

Edward O. Thorp was the man who revolutionized Blackjack with the aid of a computer.

Everything else is a by-product of his work.

Most of it was just refined or tuned a little differently.

The true results of Blackjack have to be obtained through the shuffling, dealing and human error of actual card play.

Even with all this in mind, I knew that Blackjack was going to be part of my life.

But how?

Home Schooling

black.jpg

How do you teach yourself to play Blackjack?

I had my books and tapes.

But I was still skeptical of what I was reading.

It just didn’t make sense.

So, I armed myself with several # 2 pencils and some Eye-Ease graph paper and started charting every play that I made.

I recorded down what my cards were and what the Dealer’s cards were and what the final results were for every hand.

Man, was that one time consuming process but I loved it.

I found that the plays developed by Thorp were indeed accurate to a certain point.

I tried many variations to test the theory behind all the plays.

I had to be convinced in my mind that these were indeed the correct plays and no matter how silly they sounded, I would blindly follow them.

I had to have complete faith in what I was doing to be comfortable enough to go to the Blackjack tables.

It’s sort of like the trapeze artist catching his partner in mid-flight.

The one partner is working, for the most part, in the dark.

They have to have blind faith in each other to be where they’re supposed to be when they turn around.

Much like a receiver in football.

He’s running a pattern down the field and it looks as if he’s lost when the quarterback releases the ball.

But as the play progresses, the receiver cuts, adjusts his speed and the ball drops into his hands.

That’s the faith I was going to have to have before I went to the tables.

I practiced with single decks, double decks, and multiple decks, still recording the results of every hand.

I would practice for up to four hours a night and maybe eight to ten hours a day on the weekends.

I was consumed with mastering this game.

I wanted to be the best.

After three years of intense study, I was ready to take a small plunge into the Blackjack world.

I was a $5 player.

Good God, when I got to the Blackjack table, I was like a three-legged pig on ice.

It was a helluva lot different sitting at a live gaming table than sitting at my desk at home.

The quiet serenity I imagined at a Blackjack Table was shattered on my first trip.

I couldn’t concentrate or remember the correct plays.

There were so many people at the table, cigarette smoke everywhere, slot machines rattling, gorgeous Cocktail Waitresses sticking their pretty boobs in my face, people fussing with each other,fussing with the Dealer and someone was always acting stupid.

Yes, that is the life at a $5 table.

But that’s where you have to start if you’re going to make it.

Damn! I lost even though I had prepared myself for this event for years.

So I tucked my tail between my legs and dragged my broke ass back home for more