Continuing with my review of casino books we come on to number two in the list and that is,

2.  Beat the Dealer

Author…………… Edward Thorp

First Published…1962

Publishing Com…Vintage

This was the first ever book that I read on blackjack. In fact this may have been the first ever book on gambling that I ever read. I know that it was close between this book and Tony Holden’s Big Deal as being the first ever book on gambling that I read.

But this was the daddy of all blackjack books because it was the springboard for all the rest of them. In my last revue, I mentioned that Professional Blackjack was the bible but this book precedes the bible and even though much of the data in the book is of little use today, it is still a highly relevant and worthwhile book to read.

In fact players can still learn the high/low count in this book. But this book was THE book that spooked the casinos so much that they changed the rules. In fact it is so good that anyone who purchases “Beat the Dealer” and studied it would be more advanced than virtually all of the blackjack players on the planet with the exception of a very small number of successful card counters.

That is really saying something for a book that is nearly 50 years old. Executing the knowledge in this book would still get you barred from a casino. The book also deals with casino counter measures as well and also on how to detect cheating although this section is of little relevance today.

An introduction to the tens system will also be intriguing for players as will the discussion on end play which was a devastating tactic at the time but one that was rendered obsolete with the arrival of the cutting card. There are better blackjack books on the market today and I would not advise anyone to purchase this book ahead of several of the others.

But as an addition to existing knowledge then Beat the Dealer is and always will be a classic book and will be worth a read just on that alone.

RATING……. 1962 RATING    10/10 would not do it justice…….2009 RATING  8/10

see you soon

Carl

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