The Master Class

Are you ready to take your Blackjack game to the next level? You now have the opportunity to receive personal coaching and advice directly from The GameMaster in a private, one-on-one learning session. The details are here.

BLACKJACK

The GameMaster's Blackjack School

Created in 1990 and first published on the Web in 1995, this is undoubtedly the most respected and widely-used course of instruction on how to win at Blackjack. What you will learn is how to count the cards, which is actually very simple, yet it remains the primary way to gain an edge over the casinos. You do not have to be a graduate of M.I.T. to do this. And it's all free!

Basic Course - Here you will learn the proper playing strategy for every hand, how to count the cards and how to use the count to vary the size of your bet according to your advantage.
Advanced Course - Additional gains are available from varying the play of your hand according to the count. That, and other tricks of the trade are taught here.

Blackjack Tournament Training

Blackjack tournaments can be very profitable ventures, not to mention a lot of fun, be they at your local casino or an online casino. While it takes a certain amount of luck to win one, there is a lot of skill involved as well. Here you can learn the skills needed to do well at the various types of tournaments out there.

With Elimination Hands - Found mostly online, these tournaments inject an additional element of difficulty that gives the skillful player a distinct advantage. Here we show you how to develop the skill that can move you from just online gambling to online winning. Series is in 8 parts.
Without Elimination Hands - This type of tournament is usually offered by local casinos and may be of two types: "table winner" or "winner take all." We discuss the strategies needed to do well at both. Also in 8 parts.

Counting Systems

While we teach the High-Low Count, there are other systems that can be learned. Here we examine all of the major systems available; discuss their pros and cons and compare their weaknesses and strengths.
8 parts, starting here:

Blackjack Teams

In my personal experience, the most money I ever made at Blackjack was through team play. There are a lot of potential problems with teams, but perhaps I can solve most of them before you even start. Here you'll find discussions on how to start and train a team along with team money management.
All this information can be found here.

Playing Multiple Hands

Playing more than one hand at a time requires some crucial money management principles to keep your risk of loss reasonable. While playing more than one hand can be very profitable, you can't just start throwing chips on the table and expect to win in the long run. Read this first.
3 lessons starting here.

Beating the Double Deck Game

In a general sense, the best opportunity for the average card counter to make a profit are Blackjack games that use two decks. Not all of them are beatable, however so you need a good plan of attack. That's what you'll learn here.
4 lessons starting here.

Blackjack Sidebets

Some casinos offer the opportunity to make additional bets on your hand, most of which are never profitable. Here I cover two that offer the skillful player an advantage: Super 7s and Over/Under 13. 2 articles:
Making Side Bets For Fun & Profit - Part1 and Part2

Single Deck Blackjack

Most single-deck games these days should be avoided because the house edge is too big to overcome due to 6 to 5 payout on a 'blackjack.'. But that's not true in all cases, so when and if you run across a decent game, here's a plan for beating it.
3 articles starting here.

The Blackjack Test

So you think you know the game? Been playing it for years, you say? Perhaps you're a master of online blackjack? Take this test and find out how good you really are. 4 lessons

The Entire Blackjack Archive

If you want to see basically everything we've published on casino Blackjack and Blackjack online - except for the School - go here. Included are book and software reviews, warnings about games to avoid and dozens of other articles discussing our favorite game. Here's the page.

POKER

The Poker School

At its core, a poker game is one of mathematics just like Blackjack. While using math alone won't necessarily make you a winner, not understanding the math will almost certainly make you a loser. There's a lot of opportunity for profit here, be it online or in your local casino.
Limit Hold 'em - Most players new to poker begin here. We have 14 lessons to get you started.
No-limit Hold 'em - Often called the "Cadillac" of poker games, Texas Holdem takes a few minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. We're at 36 lessons and counting.
Here's the latest.

VIDEO POKER

This is another game that takes skill to win and here you'll find out how to identify machines that you can beat, plus how to beat them. Video poker dosen't differ too much from other poker cash games . Not all of the games we talk about here will be found online or in your local casino, but you never know what might pop up, so give this section a look.

GAMEMASTER'S SECRETS

The GameMaster's Secrets are not game specific; they cover all of gaming from Blackjack to Sports Betting and everything in-between, for both brick and mortar casinos, as well as online casinos. A few opportunities discussed here are no longer available but that could change tomorrow, so it won't be a waste of your time to visit. Right here.

VIDEO USERS GUIDE

With over 1,000 pages of gambling content it can sometimes be a daunting task to find your way around the GMO. We hope THIS puts an end to that problem. Just click on the link below OR on that handsome dude on the left hand side under the navigation buttons. This will open another browser window where the video will preform, if you're using the newer versions of IE you may have to tell it that it's ok. Show me around.

The GameMaster's Poker School GameMaster's Blackjack School and the Ask The GameMaster in print form is now available to place on your online casino guide or other site. It's free and, best of all, it's good. Click Here For More Information

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Book Review for August

This time I'll discuss Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand At A Time - Volume 2 (Dimat Enterprises, 2010) edited by Matt Hilger, which sells for $19.79 at Amazon. I previously reviewed Volume 1 in October, 2008 and the video of that is archived here.

This is an excellent series that gives you an insight to how three very successful No-Limt Hold'em tournament players - namely Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Jon "Pearljammer" Turner and Jon "Apestyles" Van Fleet - play each hand of a specific online tournament. In Volume 1, the play covered was from the beginning of a tourney up to the "money-bubble." This volume covers their play from in-the-money up to final victory.

Each of the three has a more-or-less different style, with which you may agree or not agree but I will guarantee this: You will learn something helpful to your game, far in excess of the cost of the book. These three have collectively played in over 50,000 tournaments, cashing for more than ten million dollars, so who can argue with success? I'm eagerly looking forward to Volume 3, which is due before Christmas, 2010.

In case you missed it, the "Hot Tips and Hand Plays" for August is waaaay down below the Video Archives in this column.

Update for August 30, 2010

A note from The GameMaster: We are no longer producing videos, but all of the same information - the Mailbag, Hot Tips/Hand Plays and Book Reviews will continue on a weekly basis in written form and will be presented in the space above. All of the videos on these three topics are archived below.

The text articles will be presented in this rotation on a weekly basis: Thoughts and Comments (I do not lack for an opinion on many topics, as you'll see); the Digital Mailbag where I answer readers' questions (I try to pick one for this article that has broad appeal, but I'm happy to answer your questions directly via email, so don't hesitate to message me), then Hot Tips and Hand Plays, followed by a Book Review.

I'll typically move the previous week's article down below the Video Archives in this column and will move the book reviews to this page. But for the most part, these will not be saved beyond that, so if you want the "latest scoop", check back here every Monday sometime after 5 P.M. Central U.S. time.

Poker on TV: ESPN is continuing weekly coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker that will run until November. They run two 1-hour episodes back-to-back that cover the "Main Event" every Tuesday and will continue to do so until November.

Many casinos are now changing their Blackjack games to where the dealer hits soft 17 (what we call a "H17" game, as opposed to a "S17" or Stand on soft 17 game) because they gain about a 0.20% additional advantage. This alters the Basic Strategy slightly so I'm adding notes to my lessons reflecting that, but the basic "School" game will still be S17. The major changes to make in a H17 game are to Double Ace-8 versus a dealer's upcard of 6 (instead of standing) and to Double 11 versus a dealer's up card of Ace, instead of just hitting.

People of Nevada! I have a lot of friends in the Silver State and right now they're having a hard go of things; not that they want our pity. High (14+ percent) unemployment; a housing market in shambles; tourism tanking, a couple of "interesting" U.S. Senators, Democrat Harry Reid and Republican John Ensign (you might remember his I-was-messing-around-with-a-staffer's-wife scandal), plus a "Tea Party" candidate, Sharon Angle who would likely beat Reid very handily (Ensign isn't up for re-election this time), were it not for her previously-expressed wacko ideas - which she is now "walking back" towards the center. But fear not my Nevada pals, I know you can get through this. In the meantime, our Blackjack teams are leaving you alone so your $$$ can stay in the local economy and we're having a grand time following your politics.

VIDEO ARCHIVE

Hot Tips and Hand Plays for August

While the vast majority of casino supervisory personnel - "pit critters" as we lovingly call them here - have no idea of what a card counter in action really looks like, some focus on two plays that might (and I emphasize might) indicate that someone is a counter. The first is how one plays a hand of 16 versus a dealer's up card of Ten (meaning a 10,J,Q or K). Basic Strategy says that's a hit but if you're counting and the count is at all positive, you should stand with 16 vs. T. The solution to this is to simply stand on all 16s, regardless of the count. That accomplishes two things: First, it makes you look like you don't know Basic Strategy, because 16 is "always" a hit versus a 10 (if you're not counting, of course) and second, it resolves the problem of sometimes hitting 16 and sometimes standing with it. Yes, it does cost you a little bit of expected value but bear in mind that you'll only be hitting your 16s when the count is neutral or negatve, so you'll likely have a minimum bet out anyway.

The second play that can tip off a counter is when you have a big bet out because the count is positive, you get a hand like 10-2 or 10-4, the dealer has an Ace up and you make the Insurance bet. Most gamblers won't insure a "stiff" hand but counters will because they know the Insurance bet is really just a side bet that has nothing to do with your actual hand. Here's where it gets painful; if you have a big bet out there and the count says the Insurance bet is profitable, trying to look like the average gambler by not insuring your hand can be costly. But you have to weigh that off with the value of longevity in the casino where this is taking place. Making the Insurance bet may absolutely be the correct play from both a short- and long-term point of view, but only you can make that decision.