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Book Review: Play to Win by Ken Einiger

Subtitled "A World Champion's Guide to Winning Blackjack Tournaments" (Huntington Press, 2005 - $14.95) this book presents two skills the author definitely possesses, that of self-promotion and the ability to win Blackjack tournaments. Regarding the self-promotion aspect, I've written about this at some length here and in rather acrimonious discussions with a few of Mr. Einiger's supporters on various Internet forum boards, but the gist of it all is that the man calls himself "World Champion", when in fact he won a tournament that was an invitation-only, made for television event that just happened to have the word "world" in its title. I think it's bogus and will continue to think that until there is a real, honest-to-goodness world championship tournament that is open to any and all.

That said, the author did actually win the aforementioned event and several others, so his tournament skill is real and this book is a welcome addition to the list of books that discuss Blackjack tournaments and how to succeed at them. The list of such books is small and, to the best of my knowledge, this is the only one that addresses tournament play exclusively. That's not to say all 159 pages of this softbound book cover tournaments, because you also get more than a few paragraphs of Ken Einiger growing up as a high-roller's son, Ken Einiger meeting various gorgeous women at casinos, Ken Einiger getting a lucky haircut and so on. Some people like that stuff; some don't, but you can always skip past it and, at $14.95 you're definitely getting your money's worth here.

Whenever I begin reading a new book about how to win at casino gambling and I find a basic error in grammar or something similar, my warning light goes on and I approach the book with a lot more than my usual skepticism. Unfortunately, this book has such an error on page 23, in a side-bar article entitled "Registration Trepidation". In there, Mr. Einiger writes, "...gamblers running around; and an entire press core (sic) and television-production crew...." Of course, he means press corps, since we all know the media have little, if anything, in common with apples or other fruits. A small point, perhaps, but even if the author made such a mistake, there's no excuse for it getting by the editor. If they missed this, what else was missed?

So, GM...what do you think about the book? In spite of all the stuff I've mentioned, I like it. If you are a newcomer to the Blackjack tournament scene as it exists today in brick-and-mortar casinos, the book will walk you through the process of finding and entering one while offering good, solid advice on how to increase your skills as you gain experience. If you've played in Blackjack tournaments previously, there's still something to be learned here, especially in the chapter entitled "Important Tournament Concepts". Plus there's a lot of very helpful information to be found in the appendices, like a sample rules sheet and online resources to seek out for learning more about Blackjack tournament play. A big part of that is a phone list of nearly every casino in the U.S. and Canada, which is nice to have. Call your local, friendly casino and see if they're running any tournaments.

Did I learn any new concepts about tournament play by reading this book? In all honesty, the answer to that is no. But, I have been playing tournaments for a number of years and, while I'd be the last to say I know it all, there are no real "secrets" revealed here. I don't know if Mr. Einiger has any secret winning techniques or not, but if he does, they're still secret. And I don't blame him; as I always say, I reveal my so-called secrets only after I'm through using them and I assume he's doing the same. However, that reminds me of one amusing, rather ego-driven article in this book that's worth mentioning. It's the side-bar article entitled "The Champ Enters Last", in which the author explains that he never goes directly to his seat at a tournament, but as the "champ", he takes his seat last. Evidently that's some sort of intimidation tactic used by boxers and one the author believes applies to Blackjack. Maybe it will be a secret to his success in the future. Only time will tell.

I'll see you here next time.