Blackjack: The Card Betting Casino Game

Also known as ‘Twenty-One’, Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games’ that is known across the world. Playing casino games is not only a great source of entertainment, but also a game of luck where you can either win or lose money. Unlike other casino games, which involve slot machines and casino chips, blackjack is a card game that is played between the card dealer and a player.

So, a player CANNOT compete against another player, but has to be strictly against the dealer. Using a standard 52-deck card deck, it might be a bit tricky to understand how to play the game at first. However, there are plenty of tutorial books, which are available, which can help transform a novice at the game to an expert! 

Especially in today’s digitised times, it is very easy to find e-books available online; either for free or at reasonable prices. While you may understand the concept while reading, the more practice and experience you have at the game can help you.  Moreover, you can read about plenty of tricks and techniques to improve your game. 

However, which is the right book to read is the tricky question! With attractive titles, one can easily make their selection of the book to read.

Who wouldn’t want to read the basics of the game from the book titled - ‘The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book’ by Lance Humble?  The odds are that many would opt for this book due to its title.

Besides this, there are plenty of experts who agree that this is the perfect one stop solution for all beginners! Providing an easy to understand and appealing introduction to the card game, this particular book contains all the information that is required to know about the game.

Although it was published in 1987, there are also revised versions available for the same. However, one thing remains the same and that is that the system within the book is relevant even today!  

Some of the highlights covered in this book include the benefits of card counting, benefits of interacting with the dealers, when to finish a game and the Hi-Opt 1 blackjack card counting system, which is a renowned technique for single deck games. The book also provides information on the perfect casino destination, basic and advanced Hi-Opt 1 levels and private blackjack. Private Blackjack offers insights and clever analysis of the gameplay outside casinos.

So, who is Lance Humble and how did he manage to write one of the most compelling books about blackjack? Known to be a professional blackjack player himself, this author of the ‘The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book’ was actually a professor at the York University in Toronto where he taught a course called Aspects of Gambling! Originally teaching about horseracing, it wasn’t long before his students asked him to teach them about casino games and techniques to win at it.

Collecting all the possible information from other fellow colleagues and prominent professionals such as Stanford Wong, Lawrence Revere, Arnold Snyder and Ian Anderson to contribute in the development of his own system. While his interest was high, so was his knowledge and finally after many years, Humble developed his own systems, namely the Hi-Opt I and Hi-Opt II; principles of card counting which have been developed to help a player determine the appropriate bet size.  

However, this system was originally designed in 1968 by the author, Charles Einstein who was influenced by the work of Edward Thorp. This was known as the Highly Optimum card counting system. This Einstein Count, which was refined by Lance Humble as well as Carl Cooper, is currently known as ‘Hi-Opt I’ and ‘Hi-Opt II’. 

Not only did he develop his system, but he was also assisted by one of the most influential blackjack strategists of all time – Julian Braun.

So what was Hi-Opt I and Hi-Opt U about? While Hi-Opt I was intended for players on the basic level; Hi-Opt II is the enhanced version for the expert players. However, Humble ensured that Hi-Opt I covers everything to convert a beginner into a winner.

Although Braun was never a professional player, he was definitely a legacy on his own! Being a computer programmer, he had plenty of blackjack strategies up his sleeve! Also a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, he also has s number of blackjack innovations that are connected to his name.

It was only after reading an American mathematics professor, author, hedge fund manager, and blackjack player -Edward O. Thorp’s ‘Beat the Dealer’ did he actually develop an interest for the game. So, Braun made use of his IBM programming skills to improve the strategies that were discussed in Thorp’s book. Therefore, he was able to invent highly effective basic and Hi-Lo blackjack strategies. In addition to this he contributed to the book ‘The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book’ and continued to develop new card counting systems.