Essential Blackjack Wisdom

Renowned casino expert Avery Cardoza returns to the printed page with an indispensable blackjack guide. While some players might be reluctant to embrace Cardoza's textbook approach to teaching the game, it's a surprisingly effective way to learn basic strategy and the nuances of blackjack. Despite all the free gambling resources available online, Essential Blackjack Wisdom will pay for itself whether you play on the internet or at a live casino. Even if you've already had success playing blackjack, the strategy charts and accompanying quizzes will help you refine your game so you win even when the pressure is on.

Avery Cardoza is perhaps most famous for writing Winning Casino Blackjack for the Non-Counter, a “revolutionary” book which has helped players across the globe beat the casino. It’s surprising then, that Cardoza decided to author Essential Blackjack Wisdom; you’d think he covered everything player’s needed to know about blackjack in his previous work.

However, Essential Blackjack Wisdom is more than just a rehash of Cardoza’s previous non-card counting blackjack book. This new blackjack book is essentially a study guide for budding blackjack players who wish to learn basic strategy and understand play by play situations. Cardoza offers players a short, but comprehensive, guide to blackjack and the book is more than just a single read. In Cardoza’s words, here’s what you can expect to find in Essential Blackjack Wisdom:

You’ll learn the basics of play, rules and general winning strategies to be able to beat casino blackjack, plus I’ll provide you with a Master Chart of all the correct plays for single and multiple deck blackjack.

Those who consider themselves experts may shrug whilst reading this and suggest they already know the “basics” of blackjack. Well, Cardoza’s book is also designed to put such experts to the test. On your first reading of the book you’ll be able to find out how good a blackjack player you really are and, on your second reading, you’re invited to take part in Cardoza’s in-book blackjack test. Located at the back of the book, you’ll find Cardoza’s scorecard. Throughout Essential Blackjack Wisdom you’ll find questions next to each play by play situation. If you answer all the questions correctly and score a perfect 70, “you can hang with Cardoza”, any lower though and Cardoza recommends you revise and test yourself again. As he notes in the opening sections of the book:

The goal in these quizzes is to score 100%, to get everything right. You may ask, ‘why is 95% not good enough?’ In school, that would be an excellent score for anyone but a perfectionist, but in blackjack, anything less than perfect gives an edge back to the casino.

Cardoza’s Essential Blackjack Wisdom is a valuable read for blackjack amateurs and pros, as well as anyone in-between. While it is heavy on theory, Cardoza’s relaxed style ensures it’s an entertaining read and what’s more, unlike other blackjack books, you will actually learn something from it. Perhaps its most useful feature is the play by play section, which illustrates what to do in over 50 blackjack hands; perfect for players who really want to get to grips with strategy and are put off by strategy cards. Whether you consider yourself a blackjack beginner or expert, take time to check out Essential Blackjack Wisdom. You really won’t regret it.