how to win at blackjack in casino

Welcome to the Precision Blackjack Seminar.  Please open your mind and prepare to absorb a considerable amount of material . . .

PBJ was developed around the reality of today's volatile multiple deck games. The casinos are making the game tougher, so we have to employ innovative approaches in order to survive those games. Recognizing the strengths and drawbacks of all the systems I have been involved with, combined with my own analysis and playing experience, I have developed a cultivated blend of advanced card play techniques and betting tactics, designed to negotiate Blackjack in a low risk, yet exploitive manner.

Our program is for serious players who wish to play Blackjack as a long term business. The success of the long term is achieved via short term goals, which   include table win locks, stop losses, as well as, trip win locks and stop losses. We are extremely concerned with protecting our bankroll and preventing excessive "Give Back" to the casino. These concerns among others are automatically protected by the PBJ betting options, angles and table departure criteria. We have to recognize the (6) main ingredients of successful blackjack play. They include money management, table selection, card play, betting , table departure and of course, discipline. Allow me to briefly address each of those important ingredients from a PBJ point of view. Later on we will get more specific. First, money management. Precision Blackjack not only preaches money management from a pre-determined stand point ; we have also incorporated forms of money management into our betting tactics and table departure criteria.

Regarding table selection ... We are trained to appraise blackjack table conditions as they exist. Each table must present an investment opportunity from our advanced point of view. We are trained and prepared to enter games that exhibit player favorable conditions, where it is apparent that "basic strategy" is responsible for player winning activity. By the same token, we are also equipped and prepared to enter tables that lack "basic strategy" traits, but appear to be playable from an advanced angle of attack. And that now leads me into card play ...

The casinos have drastically tampered with card flow randomness, which traditional "basic strategy" is reliant upon. Ever wonder why the casinos sell "basic strategy" books in the casino gift shops and why they offer "basic strategy" lessons on the floor of the casino? Are they training us to beat them, or are they training us to beat ourselves? I think you know the answer.

Regarding card play , in order to negotiate today's conditions, which are stacked against us, we have to know when to play straight "basic strategy" and when to deviate from "basic strategy," as a means to increase our hands won percentage and to help defuse one of the casino's built - in advantages. However, we must recognize that even with advanced card play capabilities, games can be so dealer strong that even our good card sense can be overcome by the casino, despite the fact that we know why we are losing. Fortunately, I have built in safe guards which essentially protect us from over staying enticing games where we are calling the cards, but losing anyway.

Now let's touch upon betting ...

Betting tactics were designed around game volatility and those adverse radical changes that occur. Betting is based on the premise that "nothing good lasts forever." Therefore, all betting tactics and options anticipate game break-downs. Never-the-less, the betting tactics were also designed to address game type conditions as they exist and change. Our advantage is created due to the fact that we can not only exploit games where we tend to be winning more hands than the dealer, but we can even exploit games where we are alternating wins and losses with the dealer. Of all the betting types available, PBJ recognizes and utilizes (2) main betting themes. Both involve mathematical common sense and logic. These betting methods also address the (2) most common game types. Those game types are the streaking game and the choppy game. First, is the "up as you win" betting scheme, which will have us employing our full base bet unit in incremental stages. We want to use that method in games that are stabilized when we are winning more hands than the dealer and the dealer is doing her share of breaking. The ultra conservative section of the manual illustrates the "up as you win" scheme, utilizing mode levels of betting. This mild up as you win involves safeguard modes which are staggered in between the bet increments, as a means to assure table lock wins, upon game breakdowns and to minimize losses upon table departures.

The up as you win method contained in the expert section is slightly more aggressive than the ultra conservative section, yet still remains within a low risk level. There are no safeguard modes involved with the expert method. It's a straight up as you win and pull type betting scheme. Once the player graduates to the expert section it is incumbent of the player to get a little more aggressive, in an effort to get more money out faster during player favorable sections of the shoe.

PBJ uses the "negative progression" (or betting up as you lose type scheme) which is designed to address the common "choppy" back and forth type games. Despite the fact that betting up as you lose may be dangerous, we cannot overlook the advantages. So, I developed ways to employ the use of the negative progression in a manner which dramatically lowers risk, yet addresses the choppy game complexion. Recognize that our rules of table departure will automatically limit losses in a bad game , where no advantage is working and prevent excessive "give back" in good games that break-down.

In addition to those (2) main betting themes we train the player to recognize when to switch from one betting tactic to the other in order to swing with changing conditions that occur throughout the shoe. Besides those (2) primary betting schemes, we have additional betting tactics involving the 1st base position and an optional card counting enhancement which can be incorporated into the mainstream of PBJ.  All PBJ betting is designed to minimize losses in bad games and safeguard table wins in good games, by win locking and preventing excessive "give back." So what I've found is some middle ground or a happy medium between flat betting and overly aggressive betting. I also go a step further by including very detailed betting guides for different size bankrolls and base betting units. This becomes very significant when we incorporate the "table minimum spread factor" and "chisel ploy" tactics into our low risk attack.

At this point, we need to discuss table departure.

As mentioned earlier, our table departure criteria is designed to minimize losses and assure table wins, by preventing excessive "give back." We are trained to recognize when our entry into a game ruins the game, when we fall into a poor player zone and when a good game has come to an abrupt end. Remember, we are not there to wage a war against a dealer; we are there to win more money than we started with. If a dealer is strong we have to move on. That's one of the realities of casino blackjack. We can leave the table, because we have a choice. The dealer can't!

Of course, everything we've discussed so far has no merit without discipline. Without discipline, all the other facets of successful blackjack play go down the tube. By maintaining discipline these facets will always work in our favor , be it on the win side or the loss side. Bottom line ... we must play this game on our terms!

How about intangibles?

PBJ provides casino insight so that the player is aware of what he is up against. We cover variables created by the casino and enlighten the player as to how to recognize those variables and deal with them. PBJ also teaches the player to recognize variables which are created by other blackjack players as well. We learn how to use other players to our advantage and when to recognize that other players become a hindrance to our intentions. PBJ also touches upon casino marketing, gimmicks and proper utilization of "comps."

Now Let's talk about the few good tables in the casino at any point in time.

For starters, we have to recognize that a good table exists because basic strategy is working in that particular game for those particular players. Those type games are characterized by the following characteristics ... Most of the players are winning, the dealer is doing her share of breaking , the players are receiving good double down cards and the game is stabilized. We can still find those types of game, but we have to seek them out. However, provided that we can get into the game, one of three things will occur ... We will either disrupt a fragile player favorable bias, we will not disrupt the game or we may fall into a poor player zone. Many times we will be able to adjust to a game change, via our advanced card play capabilities and betting tactics.

So, how do we handle Basic Strategy?

I've included a "Fundamental Strategy" chart in the manual for several reasons. First of all, my chart is just slightly more conservative than traditional "Basic Strategy" charts. The chart is needed so that the novice player, as well as the experienced player, can use it as a fundamental guideline to making flexible card play decisions. I consider "Fundamental Strategy" as a transitional mode of card play, if you will. In other words, we employ undamental strategy as a safe strategy, until we deem the game a "basic strategy" game. We are also trained in how to fluctuate from traditional standards of card play to flexible approaches as we see fit in our round to round analysis.

PBJ recognizes team play as playing blackjack at it's highest level. We have tactics designed for partner play and elaborate tactics which can be utilized by larger teams. We are also continuing research on these two very powerful concepts and will be doing seminars solely on team play.

Concerning Head On Play, PBJ details the advantages and the perils of taking on a dealer "head on." We are trained to recognize head on opportunities, create opportunities and when to back off. We can win a lot of money quick and we can lose a lot of money quick during head on play. So, we have to have an idea of why a dealer is standing alone at a table. Especially, a low stakes table, when the casino is crowded.

Let's move on with a discussion on the problems associated with contemporary multiple deck blackjack conditions . . .  First, the problem with "BASIC STRATEGY" ... Today's knowledgeable player must recognize that basic strategy was the first mathematical system devised for the game of blackjack. However, basic strategy was developed years ago by mathematicians and it was developed with a reliance upon card flow randomness. What makes matters worse is that basic strategy was also devised for only single deck play.

As you know, the good card counters put a dent in the industry years ago, so the casinos had to take action against their attackers. They took measures to subvert the mathematics of basic strategy and proficient card counting techniques and betting. As a result, the casinos turned to the multiple deck game and hired consultants to make their games harder to beat. Now for the problem ... How many times were you in a game when either you or someone at the table made a remark like "Where are the (10's) and doesn't this dealer ever break? What you were experiencing at that time was the result of non random card flows and their adverse impact on straight basic strategy card play. Therefore, if card flow patterns are non random, then the cards must be running in like card clumps. In other words, low cards are traveling with low cards and high cards are traveling with high cards more than they randomly should. Shoes that are characterized by an abundance of these card clump runs will kill the straight basic strategy player. It is so clear. All you have to do is use your eyes. The evidence will speak for itself. Consider it the "PAINT ON THE TABLE".

Keep in mind that low cards are dealer favorable and high cards are player favorable. Also, keep in mind that the dealer can't break when low cards are running, except for sometimes a 6. This is one of the reasons why dealer strategy always seems to favor the dealer. The only real  advantage that the dealer has is that the dealer hits last and if the player breaks ahead of the dealer, the house wins.

So, if the cards are running in clear recognizable clumps, then they become predictable to the point that ,you the player, can use that information to judge the dealer's strength, by making a logical prediction on the dealer's down card. You can also use this card flow information to make predictions on your hit cards. And that becomes very significant in increasing your hands won percentage and for good quality double down plays. What I'm leading to here is the employment of advanced card play, which I term "flexible strategy". In a moment I'll cite a typical scenario of a non random card flow and how we can utilize flexible strategy to predict the dealer's strength and our hit cards. But, first allow me to elaborate on how this non random card flow situation is created ... I call it "THE CARD MANUFACTURING PROCESS".

I'll break down the process. It starts with the order in which new cards are packaged. When a dealer opens a table or new cards are brought in to a table, the dealer opens the boxes and spreads the new cards out and employs a WASH which is nothing more than a circular motioned mixing of the cards. Actually the cards don't get mixed up much at all. After the wash, the dealer will shuffle the cards and begin to deal. Now, for purpose of illustration, visualize (7) players at the table. And all or most of those players will be straight basic strategy players. This is where basic strategy and the manner in which the dealer picks up the players' cards becomes an element involved in the card clump manufacturing process. The players hit their stiffs and get a high card and break. The dealer then picks up the player's cards, in break card clump segments and places them in the discard holder.

To make matters worse, when several players and the dealer all have two card (20) pushes, which are nothing more than wasted tens, all those tens are scooped up by the dealer and placed together in the discard holder in a clump of high cards. This process keeps perpetuating itself from shoe to shoe and the end result is overly clumped shoes. The insufficient shuffling techniques inhibit card movement, therefore, randomness is tampered with. And we need randomness for successful basic strategy card play. That is why full tables seldom create favorable player conditions. The more decks used, the fuller the table, straight basic strategy card play and the insufficient shuffling techniques, all stack the cards against you the player. So, how do we overcome the problem or should I say how do we, at least, use the casino advantage against them? The answer lies in flexible strategy card play; not standard basic strategy card play. In effect, if you can take an advantage away from the casino, then you are creating an advantage for yourself. That doesn't mean that you should become cocky and develop an infallible attitude.

The manual teaches you to respect situations where your advantage is not working, especially, when a dealer is just too strong. However, our table departure criteria protects us from over staying poor games. Now please don't get me wrong. Just because we may have to deviate from basic strategy on many occasions doesn't mean that we will completely disregard basic strategy. Anyway, let's get back to the card flow scenario that I spoke of so that I can illustrate the essence of flexible strategy ...

Visualize the following scenario ... You are sitting at 3rd base, the last player position prior to the dealer's hand. There are 5 players in the game including you. The dealer is showing a (6) up card and you have an (11) , comprised of a 6,5. The last 3 cards dealt preceding the dealer's down card are 3,2,5 respectively. The player at 1st base takes a double down card and draws a 3.

Now we have a situation to appraise. And that is the dealer's strength while showing a 6 up card. Remember, 3 low cards preceded the dealer's down card and a low card, which was pulled at 1st base, followed the dealer's down card. Therefore, the dealer's down card fell among and in the middle of a clear recognizable run of low cards. So, you can logically assume that the dealer's down card is also low, which essentially renders the dealer strong, instead of weak according to traditional basic strategy standards. Now, the round is not over. We are sitting with a potential double down play. And, the other players are most likely going to stand on their hands hoping the dealer will break. The only hit card that we got to see is the 3 pulled at 1st base. So, here is where we use our good card flow sense and exercise caution with our card play in order to avoid double trouble. As far as our potential double down play is concerned, we have a strong signal, indicating the dealer is strong and it appears that the low cards may continue to run. So we don't double down. The reason should be obvious. First of all, if we double we will only get one card, and we expect that card to be low. Also, we have the dealer pegged as strong, so if the low cards continue, the dealer will most likely draw to a standing hand. This is what I call a respect round.

How many times have you seen this situation ... The dealer shows the low up card and the players double and stand on their stiffs and ultimately the dealer ends up pulling a 5 card 21 and whacks everyone at the table. Just this tip alone can save the player a lot of money during poor quality double down situations. Keep in mind that the casinos allow the double down and split options for a reason. This is a very frustrating situation for the players. Now, we have to also recognize that there will be times when these card flows are not clear enough to make logical predictions for every round of play. We must not see into things that really aren't there. If a run of cards is not clumped, then we are looking at random or near to random card flows. So, we have to adjust our card play accordingly, and lean towards basic strategy, as I mentioned before. This is especially important when the dealer is breaking. In that case we may see short runs of clumps of low cards but we don't want to hit our stiff hands like 14 , 15, and 16. Actually experience and practice will become the best teacher. In contrast to that last scenario, there will be many times when our card flow appraisals will lead towards quality offensive plays, when we deem the dealer to be weak and the card flow type running to our hand merits aggressiveness instead of caution. I'll cite another card flow example which will illustrate a player offensive round of card play ...

Let's take the prior card flow scenario, only this time, the player is seated at mid table holding the potential double down hand of (11). The dealer is showing the (6) up card and (3) ten count cards preceded the dealer's down card. Now, the player at 1st base pulls a (10) for a double down card. So, this time the dealer's down card fell among and in between a clear run of high cards. As a result, the dealer may very well have a high card in the hole, which would render the dealer vulnerable to breaking. Furthermore, the high cards appear to be running, so we are in a good quality double down situation, as we expect a high card for the double down opportunity. Also, there is a good indication that the dealer will break.

As you can see, this advanced card play knowledge arms the player with skills that can negotiate the less desirable tables where basic strategy appears to be fruitless. From our advanced point of view, we can enter tables where we can capitalize on the card flows, if in fact, we deem the table to be playable from the advanced point of view. All we have to do is watch several rounds of play per table and monitor the card flows in relation to what is occurring with the dealer hands. This card flow knowledge becomes extremely significant in our round to round card flow analysis of the game. We want to manipulate the high and low cards, accordingly. Our intentions will be to feed the dealer high cards, which are needed for dealer breaking activity, and to deprive the dealer of low cards. By pulling low cards to our stiff hands, at the right times, not only can we better our hands, but we can also prevent the dealer from pulling the low cards to her stiff hands.

With practice and experience the player will develop good card flow sense and as a result will increase the hands won percentage. Once again, if a dealer is too strong we will not enter the table. And if our advantage is not working we will depart the table. In the manual, I fully illustrate common card flow scenarios in an attempt to acclimate the player to flexible strategy card play. We discuss card play from the basic point of view and from an advanced point of view.

While on the topic of card flow appraisals and flexible strategy, recognize that we have a very unique advantage at the 1st base position of the table. The advantage capitalizes on the expectancy of a 1st card (10).

ALL THE RULES FAVOR THE PLAYER EXCEPT ONE:   IF YOU BOTH BREAK,
THE DEALER WINS. THE ENTIRE GAME ODDS ARE ENCOMPASSED IN THAT SINGLE RULE. We will therefore spend a great deal of time demonstrating that the cards are not random in multi deck games. We will reveal exactly how this occurs. The basis of basic strategy and card counting or Old Blackjack, is random cards. We will demonstrate, conclusively, that OLD Blackjack (OBJ) relies on a basis that no longer exists.

Anyone who has been playing for awhile recognizes that the shoe game seems far more difficult over the last several years. Dealers appear to win more than their fair share of the hands with uncanny luck. Actually, you will soon see that luck has nothing to do with it. The game has changed radically. Beating it requires a radically changed playing method that corresponds to, and addresses, those game changes. The basis of the casino's new Blackjack game is non-random cards. The basis of our method is non-random cards. We fight fire with fire. We fight Blackjack with PRECISION BLACKJACK.

THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN BLACKJACK: The shoe game is winnable. It offers the advanced player what is probably the best odds the game has ever seen. I know what you are thinking: "That's pure hype." No, it isn't. It is the precise truth. I am going to reveal to you now, what is probably the best kept secret in Blackjack. Go back now and read the revelation at the top of this page again. Think about what it means. "So," you say, "big deal; how can that help me?" It helps you because the dealer breaks far less in today's blackjack game. We will show you why later. For the same reason, the players also break less. The cards don't know who is dealing. Did you figure it out yet?

IF BOTH DEALERS AND PLAYERS BREAK LESS, THE CHANCE THAT THEY WILL BOTH BREAK ON THE SAME HAND IS GREATLY REDUCED. That's the secret of PRECISION BLACKJACK. It's not an opinion. It is a pure and simple mathematical fact. This fact greatly reduces the house odds and gives the edge to the player, IF HE KNOWS HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. IS BASIC STRATEGY WRONG ? OH MY GOD HOW COULD ALL THOSE BOOKS BE WRONG??? ARE THE CASINOS BROKE? WHY DO THEY OFFER FREE BASIC STRATEGY LESSONS IN THE CASINOS? ARE THEY TRAINING YOU TO BEAT THEM? OR ARE THEY TRAINING YOU TO BEAT YOURSELF ??? That is precisely what I am saying. I do not ask you to take my word for this. Solid proof is in the manual.

Basic Strategy was designed over thirty years ago, for single deck games. Experts assumed that multi-deck games were like single deck games with more cards. This was n unfortunate assumption. They are a different animal altogether, demanding a different approach altogether.

WHY DO MOST PLAYERS LOSE? Let's look at how the game was designed. The closest to 21 wins. Since that is true for both dealer and player, the design was for both to win half the hands. That makes it even. But, we had to have a house advantage so the casino could make a living. We said, O.K., when you both break, the dealer wins. For the moment, let's forget all of the other rules, since they all favor the player.

By design, we should win half of the hands and the casino's only advantage should be the "break-push" rule. Now, I want you to think about the last game you lost. Did you lose because of the break-push rule? Think about it. No. You lost because the dealer won more hands than you, didn't she? The break-push rule didn't have much to do with it, did it? Now think about this: How could you lose more than half the hands when the object for you is exactly the same as it is for the dealer? And, you are allowed to play your cards any way you please while the dealer must play her cards one way and one way only. THINK about it How could you lose? It's not the rules that beat you, is it? It's not the game that beat you, is it? It isn't luck, is it? Believing in luck is like believing in leprechauns. There is only one thing left, isn't there? YOU LOST BECAUSE OF THE WAY YOU PLAY YOUR CARDS. THE SYSTEM (BASIC STRATEGY) YOU USE MAKES YOU LOSE IN TODAY'S MULTI - DECK GAMES, NOTHING ELSE! Sorry to be so blunt, but it takes a little force to overcome the mind set you have been subjected to. Help me prepare your mind to accept PRECISION BLACKJACK. Assume for now, that everything you have ever read or heard about the shoe game is wrong. Now, let me show you a far better way to play this game.
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