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Blackbelt in Blackjack : Playing 21 as a Martial Art
In the spirit of Doyle Brunson's Super System, Arnold Snyder's Blackbelt in Blackjack is an underground gambling classic written by one of the grand masters of blackjack and a legend. This newly revised and updated edition is now made available for the first time to a national audience. This is blackjack as a martial art, targeted for serious and professional players looking to win real money at the game. Snyder reveals tips and tricks used by the pros-shuffle tracking, team play, multiple deck camouflage techniques so that the casino can't detect that the player is using winning techniques, and much more. 21 powerful chapters include a complete course on beating the devastating red 7 count, the hi-lo count, the zen count, the true count, and so much more.
328 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 1983
12 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Arnold Snyder
82 books7 followersI’ve been writing nonfiction for more than thirty years, mostly books about professional gambling, and most challenging the conventional wisdom on how to beat blackjack or poker games. The reason I wrote these books was because I was actively making a living playing blackjack and poker, and it drove me crazy to see "experts" who didn't play putting out bad information for newbies.
I published and edited a trade journal for professional gamblers, Blackjack Forum, for more than twenty years. In 2002, I was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
I’ve also written three books on how to solve Sudoku puzzles. Those came out of working Sudoku puzzles whenever I got stuck in another writing project.
In 2009, I wrote a book called Topless Vegas that reviews all of the strip clubs and topless shows in Las Vegas, which I update online every few months or so. Gotta keep current with this all-important cultural scene. (Yes, this is culture in Las Vegas, and yes, I get paid for this.)
Indisputably, I’m a whore. I’ll write just about anything if you pay me. (But that “just about” is significant. I’d split an infinitive before I’d ever write speeches for politicians. I have some standards.)
I recently finished writing my first novel, Risk of Ruin, which will be published by Vegas Lit, a new fiction imprint of Huntington Press, on September 30, 2012. (Actually, it's my forty-first published novel, but the first forty--all pseudonymous hack fiction--have happily disappeared from the face of the earth.) It's about a biker tattoo artist professional blackjack player who becomes obsessed with a stripper who believes she's God.
I published and edited a trade journal for professional gamblers, Blackjack Forum, for more than twenty years. In 2002, I was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
I’ve also written three books on how to solve Sudoku puzzles. Those came out of working Sudoku puzzles whenever I got stuck in another writing project.
In 2009, I wrote a book called Topless Vegas that reviews all of the strip clubs and topless shows in Las Vegas, which I update online every few months or so. Gotta keep current with this all-important cultural scene. (Yes, this is culture in Las Vegas, and yes, I get paid for this.)
Indisputably, I’m a whore. I’ll write just about anything if you pay me. (But that “just about” is significant. I’d split an infinitive before I’d ever write speeches for politicians. I have some standards.)
I recently finished writing my first novel, Risk of Ruin, which will be published by Vegas Lit, a new fiction imprint of Huntington Press, on September 30, 2012. (Actually, it's my forty-first published novel, but the first forty--all pseudonymous hack fiction--have happily disappeared from the face of the earth.) It's about a biker tattoo artist professional blackjack player who becomes obsessed with a stripper who believes she's God.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 1, 2023
I’m always surprised to hear sloppy, slow, and badly trained players profess that they would win a fortune if they just had the big bankroll behind them. They often complain about cheating dealers, poor conditions, negative fluctuations, and the like. But they use systems beyond their abilities and can’t make accurate decisions to save their lives. These players—and the majority of card counters fall into this group—are the meat and potatoes of the casino industry.
In Blackbelt in Blackjack, Arnold Snyder opens his magnum opus of instruction by acknowledging the contribution of “those who have stuck with me,” which include such esteemed blackjack peers as Moe Cash, Honcho, Munchkin, 98%, Mango, and Mookie. Snyder’s authorial voice is all about laying down the fact, Jack: You’re either the casino’s chump or its nemesis. If you’re not following his sage practices as outlined in this work, Dear Reader, you’re a loser and should never sit your sorry ass down at the Blackjack table. Never mind that if the only casino patrons who ever sat at a blackjack table were people who take advantage of the game there would be no blackjack. The chumps keep the casino gears lubricated with cash—Snyder, Moe Cash, and Mookie need to calm down. Why would a casino offer blackjack if everyone could use it to fleece them?
This book is a riot. Snyder comes off as a quirky uncle rattling off practices and suggestions for would-be card counters. He repeatedly stresses that professional gambling is not for the faint-hearted or those with a penchant for quick get-rich schemes. After all, you casino chump, he’s hard core because he has researched his get-rich scheme from multiple angles and experience over the long course of his illustrative blackjack-playing career (though, in all sincerity, whether or not he is as successful as he hints is never really proven). Snyder posits a dark ride through a tunnel of lonely practice sessions and preparation before emerging into the light of a few profited bucks. Then, after you supposedly have earned your white and green belt perfecting his system and absorbing his sage advice, Sensei Snyder lays this wisdom down on the felt:
Every time a gambling pro publicly reveals his methods, the value of that information has a shelf life. That shelf life is based on how widespread the dissemination of that information is…If you play by the book, you’ll never make it as a pro. You’ve got to write your own book, and then, whatever you do, don’t publish it! If you don’t have the versatility to adapt quickly to changing conditions, give it up.
So what the hell? The practices of this book are already dated by the time I read them! What am I to do? Well, for starters, stay the hell out of the casino.
I read this book not to earn my blackjack blackbelt but to watch Snyder employ mathematics. Card counting is all about statistics, and Snyder walks the reader through these academic corridors safely. Additionally to his reviews of statistical probability, he offers some concrete assistance to anyone who struggles with math. For example, check out this free lesson in the midst of his detailed explanation of calculating your true edge on the fly:
Every fraction has two parts, a numerator and a denominator. The numerator is on top, and the denominator is on the bottom. In the fraction ½, the numerator is 1, and the denominator is 2. To estimate your precise advantage with the Red Seven Count, your numerator, the top number, is your current running count.
You see how he handled fractions? I love how he takes the time to reiterate the numerator is “the top number.” It’s the patient teaching of a Zen master, that’s what it is. If he wasn’t fleecing casinos for a living, he should be teaching math to troubled middle-schoolers.
Check him out taking time out to clarify decimal percentages while in the middle of his lecture regarding “The Profit Formula”:
To calculate your expected hourly win: $10 X .01 X 80 = $8 per hour
(Note that your 1% advantage is expressed decimally as .01, for use in the formula. A 2% advantage would be .02, etc. How about 2 ½% That would be 0.25, while 1 ¾% would be .0175. You might find it helpful to follow this math with a pocket calculator, and you must familiarize yourself with expressing percentages as decimals if you are at all serious about making money from gambling, as most books on gambling use this notation.)
Is this a nice parenthetical lesson? (As a former physics teacher, I’m going to say no, it isn’t.) I love how he offers the “pocket calculator” as a resource for the person flummoxed by these calculations. You’re taking up card counting, which employs some serious wrestling with statistical probability—if you can’t even convert 2 3/5 into its decimal (and I’m not doing it for you, Dear Good Reader), then why are you one hundred pages into a book about counting cards? As Snyder notes elsewhere: “If you can’t do the math, hit the path.” Sage wisdom indeed.
I highly recommend this book. It’s unintentionally hilarious and also very enlightening about the world of professional blackjack gambling. Snyder’s voice is part George Cloony, part Macgruff the Crime Dog. The only caveat I’ll note is to not buy a copy of this work at full market value ($16.95, according to my copy). Get it for a dollar at a used bookstore. Like Snyder notes, there’s nothing profitable within its pages because this is the very information casino security are well aware of and have taken steps to prevent. You’ll have to adapt if you decide to give up your nine to five and take up gambling as your profession.
I’ll close with this response Snyder sent someone who asked a question on his blackjack forum about a “system” he purchased which, surprise! surprise!, didn’t work. I also want to note that this advice in no way applies to Snyder’s book.
You purchased four photocopied pages for $25. The total cost to ‘manufacture’ this system to the author/publisher/seller was realistically 25 cents. Add to this the cost of an envelope and a 37 cent postage stamp, and the seller’s overhead expenses on this sale come to about 65 cents. So, even though you were shrewd enough to buy this system ‘below wholesale,’ I don’t think the seller is sweating that $75 you still owe him. I suspect most ‘shrewd’ purchasers of this system never send the remaining $75 owed for one simple reason: This system isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. My heart goes out to the tree that died for this nonsense.
In Blackbelt in Blackjack, Arnold Snyder opens his magnum opus of instruction by acknowledging the contribution of “those who have stuck with me,” which include such esteemed blackjack peers as Moe Cash, Honcho, Munchkin, 98%, Mango, and Mookie. Snyder’s authorial voice is all about laying down the fact, Jack: You’re either the casino’s chump or its nemesis. If you’re not following his sage practices as outlined in this work, Dear Reader, you’re a loser and should never sit your sorry ass down at the Blackjack table. Never mind that if the only casino patrons who ever sat at a blackjack table were people who take advantage of the game there would be no blackjack. The chumps keep the casino gears lubricated with cash—Snyder, Moe Cash, and Mookie need to calm down. Why would a casino offer blackjack if everyone could use it to fleece them?
This book is a riot. Snyder comes off as a quirky uncle rattling off practices and suggestions for would-be card counters. He repeatedly stresses that professional gambling is not for the faint-hearted or those with a penchant for quick get-rich schemes. After all, you casino chump, he’s hard core because he has researched his get-rich scheme from multiple angles and experience over the long course of his illustrative blackjack-playing career (though, in all sincerity, whether or not he is as successful as he hints is never really proven). Snyder posits a dark ride through a tunnel of lonely practice sessions and preparation before emerging into the light of a few profited bucks. Then, after you supposedly have earned your white and green belt perfecting his system and absorbing his sage advice, Sensei Snyder lays this wisdom down on the felt:
Every time a gambling pro publicly reveals his methods, the value of that information has a shelf life. That shelf life is based on how widespread the dissemination of that information is…If you play by the book, you’ll never make it as a pro. You’ve got to write your own book, and then, whatever you do, don’t publish it! If you don’t have the versatility to adapt quickly to changing conditions, give it up.
So what the hell? The practices of this book are already dated by the time I read them! What am I to do? Well, for starters, stay the hell out of the casino.
I read this book not to earn my blackjack blackbelt but to watch Snyder employ mathematics. Card counting is all about statistics, and Snyder walks the reader through these academic corridors safely. Additionally to his reviews of statistical probability, he offers some concrete assistance to anyone who struggles with math. For example, check out this free lesson in the midst of his detailed explanation of calculating your true edge on the fly:
Every fraction has two parts, a numerator and a denominator. The numerator is on top, and the denominator is on the bottom. In the fraction ½, the numerator is 1, and the denominator is 2. To estimate your precise advantage with the Red Seven Count, your numerator, the top number, is your current running count.
You see how he handled fractions? I love how he takes the time to reiterate the numerator is “the top number.” It’s the patient teaching of a Zen master, that’s what it is. If he wasn’t fleecing casinos for a living, he should be teaching math to troubled middle-schoolers.
Check him out taking time out to clarify decimal percentages while in the middle of his lecture regarding “The Profit Formula”:
To calculate your expected hourly win: $10 X .01 X 80 = $8 per hour
(Note that your 1% advantage is expressed decimally as .01, for use in the formula. A 2% advantage would be .02, etc. How about 2 ½% That would be 0.25, while 1 ¾% would be .0175. You might find it helpful to follow this math with a pocket calculator, and you must familiarize yourself with expressing percentages as decimals if you are at all serious about making money from gambling, as most books on gambling use this notation.)
Is this a nice parenthetical lesson? (As a former physics teacher, I’m going to say no, it isn’t.) I love how he offers the “pocket calculator” as a resource for the person flummoxed by these calculations. You’re taking up card counting, which employs some serious wrestling with statistical probability—if you can’t even convert 2 3/5 into its decimal (and I’m not doing it for you, Dear Good Reader), then why are you one hundred pages into a book about counting cards? As Snyder notes elsewhere: “If you can’t do the math, hit the path.” Sage wisdom indeed.
I highly recommend this book. It’s unintentionally hilarious and also very enlightening about the world of professional blackjack gambling. Snyder’s voice is part George Cloony, part Macgruff the Crime Dog. The only caveat I’ll note is to not buy a copy of this work at full market value ($16.95, according to my copy). Get it for a dollar at a used bookstore. Like Snyder notes, there’s nothing profitable within its pages because this is the very information casino security are well aware of and have taken steps to prevent. You’ll have to adapt if you decide to give up your nine to five and take up gambling as your profession.
I’ll close with this response Snyder sent someone who asked a question on his blackjack forum about a “system” he purchased which, surprise! surprise!, didn’t work. I also want to note that this advice in no way applies to Snyder’s book.
You purchased four photocopied pages for $25. The total cost to ‘manufacture’ this system to the author/publisher/seller was realistically 25 cents. Add to this the cost of an envelope and a 37 cent postage stamp, and the seller’s overhead expenses on this sale come to about 65 cents. So, even though you were shrewd enough to buy this system ‘below wholesale,’ I don’t think the seller is sweating that $75 you still owe him. I suspect most ‘shrewd’ purchasers of this system never send the remaining $75 owed for one simple reason: This system isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. My heart goes out to the tree that died for this nonsense.
September 26, 2016
Basically, I Count Cards Using A Different System KISS Three From
Blackjack Bluebook Two, But I Think
Playing Obstacles Are Not Worthwhile To Play The Game Outside "Entertainment Purposes"!
Page #180/BlackBelt In Blackjack
"With This Small An Edge, Whether Or Not You Win Or Lose Is A Crapshoot,
Even Over A Period Of Years!****
**Reading This Book, I Will Only Bother To Play Blackjack For Fun!
*Performance On A Computer Is Not The Real World Of Alive Casino Play*
***********************************
***I Play Now Instead Jacks Or Better Video Poker For Entertainment Only, And Cognitive Know Impossible To Win Over Long Term!***Realistic The
Math Is Unbeatable In Casino Gaming Due PH.D's Mathematical Geniuses Design The House %! ***
*****Page 308 BLackBelt In Blackjack Speaks/
Produce Nothing/Meaningless Passing Of Time/Feelings Of Uselessness To The World/
/Casino Replaceable Clog In A System That Produces Nothing/
Page 298 New High Tech Computer Surveillance Evaluates Skill Level All Players At A Table! Page 301 "MindPlay Software" "The Computer Will Know The Exact Order Of The Cards In The Shoe Prior To The Deal"! My Hunch Other Card Games Of Carnival Nature Is As Above With
Shuffle Master Computer Software!
Page 303 "Confiscate Cash" Has Been A Subject Of Podcast "Gambling With An Edge" Past Programs For Professional Gamblers!
Excellent Book & My Life After Reading Will Only Play As Disposal Money For Recreational Amusement!
The Team Play Chapter 17 Of Numerous Skilled Groups Of Players Who Lost Bankroll Is Obviously Tough
To Beat The House With 1,000's Hours Collective Playing!
The Excellent Materials On page 142 Fluctuation & Page 143 Standard Deviation!
"Penetration" Levels Deal of Deck
177 Vastly Insightful Materials!
Simply, An Excellent Book In My Life
Reading To View Blackjack Play Or Other Games "Recreational Only"!
Blackjack Bluebook Two, But I Think
Playing Obstacles Are Not Worthwhile To Play The Game Outside "Entertainment Purposes"!
Page #180/BlackBelt In Blackjack
"With This Small An Edge, Whether Or Not You Win Or Lose Is A Crapshoot,
Even Over A Period Of Years!****
**Reading This Book, I Will Only Bother To Play Blackjack For Fun!
*Performance On A Computer Is Not The Real World Of Alive Casino Play*
***********************************
***I Play Now Instead Jacks Or Better Video Poker For Entertainment Only, And Cognitive Know Impossible To Win Over Long Term!***Realistic The
Math Is Unbeatable In Casino Gaming Due PH.D's Mathematical Geniuses Design The House %! ***
*****Page 308 BLackBelt In Blackjack Speaks/
Produce Nothing/Meaningless Passing Of Time/Feelings Of Uselessness To The World/
/Casino Replaceable Clog In A System That Produces Nothing/
Page 298 New High Tech Computer Surveillance Evaluates Skill Level All Players At A Table! Page 301 "MindPlay Software" "The Computer Will Know The Exact Order Of The Cards In The Shoe Prior To The Deal"! My Hunch Other Card Games Of Carnival Nature Is As Above With
Shuffle Master Computer Software!
Page 303 "Confiscate Cash" Has Been A Subject Of Podcast "Gambling With An Edge" Past Programs For Professional Gamblers!
Excellent Book & My Life After Reading Will Only Play As Disposal Money For Recreational Amusement!
The Team Play Chapter 17 Of Numerous Skilled Groups Of Players Who Lost Bankroll Is Obviously Tough
To Beat The House With 1,000's Hours Collective Playing!
The Excellent Materials On page 142 Fluctuation & Page 143 Standard Deviation!
"Penetration" Levels Deal of Deck
177 Vastly Insightful Materials!
Simply, An Excellent Book In My Life
Reading To View Blackjack Play Or Other Games "Recreational Only"!
September 10, 2024
Príručka pre vážnych hráčov blackjacku. Snyder v nej pristupuje k blackjacku ako k bojovému umeniu, kde je potrebná disciplína, prax a strategické myslenie. Pokrýva širokú škálu tém, od základných techník počítania kariet až po pokročilé stratégie ako sledovanie miešania kariet, tímová hra a techniky maskovania, aby kasíno nespoznalo, že používate výherné metódy.
Kniha je obzvlášť oceňovaná pre svoje detailné vysvetlenie počítacích systémov, ako je Red 7, Hi-Lo a Zen count, ktoré pomáhajú hráčom pochopiť, kedy majú nad kasínom výhodu. Snyder tiež poskytuje praktické rady, ako byť úspešný profesionálny hráč blackjacku, čo robí túto knihu nevyhnutnou pre tých, ktorí chcú v blackjacku dosiahnuť vyššiu úroveň zručností.
Kniha je obzvlášť oceňovaná pre svoje detailné vysvetlenie počítacích systémov, ako je Red 7, Hi-Lo a Zen count, ktoré pomáhajú hráčom pochopiť, kedy majú nad kasínom výhodu. Snyder tiež poskytuje praktické rady, ako byť úspešný profesionálny hráč blackjacku, čo robí túto knihu nevyhnutnou pre tých, ktorí chcú v blackjacku dosiahnuť vyššiu úroveň zručností.
July 3, 2023
One of the most admirable aspects of Snyder's book is his emphasis on discipline, strategy, and mental fortitude, which he compares to the mindset and training required in martial arts. He encourages players to approach blackjack as a skill-based endeavor that can be mastered through practice, study, and self-control. This mindset sets his book apart from many others that focus solely on luck or betting systems. This book will definitely be useful for every gamer, and if you are looking for opportunities to test your skills in Blackjack, then LeafletCasino is definitely for you, because it provides an overview of the best Canadian online casinos in 2023, where experts have collected the most popular games and bonus offers for this gaming region. Learn more without wasting time and start playing today.
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November 17, 2008
I remember buying this many years ago at a flea market in Las Vegas because it was out of print. A professional card counter told me to buy it, he said it was an amazing book.
Card counting is NOT ILLEGAL.
You can buy this book now, it's back in print and in all the corporate bookstores thanks to the popularity of card counting again.
Try the red 7 count. I am horrible at math and horrible at memory, so if I can do it, you can too. Impress your friends, here's the skill you need, you have to be able to add two plus one, and have the ability to figure out what two minus one is. I'm not kidding.
This is why you need the book, because you'll actually use it.
Card counting is NOT ILLEGAL.
You can buy this book now, it's back in print and in all the corporate bookstores thanks to the popularity of card counting again.
Try the red 7 count. I am horrible at math and horrible at memory, so if I can do it, you can too. Impress your friends, here's the skill you need, you have to be able to add two plus one, and have the ability to figure out what two minus one is. I'm not kidding.
This is why you need the book, because you'll actually use it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews