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Club USA Casino Blackjack
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Club USA Casino Blackjack is the best bet for practicing blackjack basic strategy without stress and distractions. The game comes in both free play and real money modes and you can play up to three hands on your own table. The rules are favorable and with a house edge of only 0.71%, better than many casinos. The table minimum is $1 per hand and the maximum is $500.
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Interesting gambling books
The Counting Game
by Alan Berg
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Blackjack has long fascinated--and defeated--players who think they have the system to win. Berg tells how he beat the odds at the blackjack tables again and again. He exposes the new tricks he discovered through his experiences and his strong relationship with statistics from his long career as a CPA. Unlike more technical gambling books, this one is written to aid players of all levels.
Read a review of The Counting Game

Is Card Counting Legal?

Q I played blackjack for the first time last month, and I loved it. Now I want to learn everything about the game. My friends tell me that I should learn to count cards. Is that legal? How does it work?
A CountingBasil NestorBasil Nestor is the author of the new Playboy Complete Guide to Casino Gambling. This wonderful book teaches players how to avoid sucker bets and win more when playing gambling games.  He is also the author of The Smarter Bet Guide series for video poker, slots, craps, and many other books about gambling.  Basil's website is www.smarterbet.com  cards is absolutely legal, but it's an advanced strategy that can be tough for beginners to learn (unless you're Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man). So I'll explain how counting works, and then I'll tell you about an easier strategy for beginners.

Card counting is a system that tracks the ratio of tens to smaller cards (such as fours and fives) that are still in the deck. This ratio is important because tens make nice pat hands for players, and they often cause a dealer to bust when he hits. Conversely, small cards bust the dealer less, and they create more "stiff" combinations (like fourteen and fifteen) for players. There are various methods of counting cards, but all methods require you to observe every card that is dealt, and then you mentally add or subtract the card's value from a running count. You raise your bet if the deck has a lot of tens, and you bet less when small cards are plentiful. It's not as hard as it sounds, but counting isn't for everyone. The strategy requires you to be reasonably good with numbers.

Another thing to consider is that casinos don't want players to count cards. So even though counting is legal, it isn't welcome. Casino personnel are constantly looking for counters, and they will eject players who they suspect are counting. A lot of people still count cards, but they're careful about how they do it. One tactic is to avoid substantial increases and decreases in bet size. But of course, this reduces the effectiveness of counting.

In any case, counting is an advanced technique. You are new to blackjack, so you should be concentrating on basic strategy which is the most important tool for consistent winning. Basic strategy is easy to learn, and it nearly erases the casino's advantage. Think of it this way; basic strategy is the "cake," and counting cards is the "frosting" on top. Most of the "profit dollars" are in the cake. Go for that first. Counting cards can always come later.

Where can you find blackjack basic strategy? Right here at ReadyBetGo!  Check out the ReadyBetGo Guide to Blackjack Basic Strategy and welcome to the world of blackjack!

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