Blackjack is a game of skill and card counting can help you gain an advantage in the game. Edward R Thorp is considered the father of card counting. He discovered the principles of card counting and published his method in 1962 in his book Beat the Dealer. His book started the Blackjack revolution and it was also instrumental in the casinos taking action to ban card counters. Card counting is not illegal but casinos can ban players from playing blackjack if they detect that a player is counting cards.

Although formally endorsed by everyone, the tips below are held as 'common knowledge' by many players and represent solid general strategy for the long-run. We include them here for your convenience and information. Some of these tips repeat much of the information above, but if you're looking for a more condensed summary of some of the most commonly accepted and easy to remember strategies, the list below should suffice as a terrific starting point.

The Beginning

Although there are legends about old time blackjack players getting an edge by "casing" the single deck, the modern history of blackjack advantage system development starts in 1958 with the publication of the basic strategy for playing the hands by Cantey, McDermott, Maisel and Baldwin. Initially published in the American Journal of the American Statistical Association, it caused much excitement among both gamblers and statisticians. I remember someone showing me a dog-eared copy of the article, which I immediately copied and committed to memory.