Blackjack Books, Sites & Resources

The seven lessons before this one cover everything you need to sit down and play well. This page is where to go next: the free references worth bookmarking, and the books that the numbers on this site ultimately come from.

Nothing here is required reading. If you have worked through the lessons and practised with the trainers, you already know more than most people at the table.

Free references

These are the sites we check our own figures against. All of them are free, and none of them are affiliate links.

• Blackjack · WikipediaThe standard rules, the common variations, and a short history of the game. A good place to check a rule you saw at a table.
• Card counting · WikipediaHow counting systems work, why balanced counts need a true count, and the countermeasures casinos use against counters.
• Blackjack · Wizard of OddsThe most reliable blackjack reference on the web, and where most of the figures on this site come from: what each rule is worth, the strategy charts for every shoe size, Hi-Lo in full, and the appendices behind all of it.
• How to Play Blackjack · Bicycle CardsA short, plain rundown of the rules from a playing card maker. Useful if you want the basics on one page.

For the mathematically inclined

The references above tell you what the right play is. This one tells you why, and it is where to go if you want the simulations and the arguments behind the numbers rather than the conclusions.

• Blackjack in Color · Norm WattenbergerA free book of charts, and the clearest picture anywhere of what actually drives a counter’s results: penetration, bet spread, risk of ruin, and how long a losing stretch can run before the edge shows up.

Reading it is not necessary to play well. It is necessary if you want to check anyone's claims for yourself, including ours. Every figure on this site assumes a specific rule set, and the whole point of a source like this is that it makes you ask which one.

Telling good information from bad

A word on what you will find elsewhere. Blackjack attracts more bad information than almost any other casino game, so it is worth knowing the warning signs. Be sceptical of anything that sells a betting system, promises to turn a losing game into a winning one without counting, or talks about being "due" for a win. No betting pattern changes the house edge, because each hand is paid at fixed odds regardless of what you bet before it. If a page will not tell you the exact rules a figure assumes, the figure is not worth much.

Books

Card counting has a real literature, and most of it is still in print. These are the ones that matter, roughly in the order they were written, which is also roughly the order they build on each other.

Heads up: some links on this page are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It never changes what we recommend, and there are no ads, no tracking, and no third-party scripts anywhere on this site.

• Beat the Dealer · Edward O. ThorpThe book that started it all, and the first published proof that blackjack could be beaten. Read it for the story and the reasoning; the specific systems have been improved on since.
• Playing Blackjack as a Business · Lawrence RevereA classic from the era when counting went mainstream, known for its colour-coded strategy charts.
• The Theory of Blackjack · Peter A. GriffinThe mathematical foundation underneath every modern count. Heavy going, and the reason the numbers in the other books hold up.
• The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book · Lance Humble and Carl CooperA complete course in one volume: the rules, basic strategy, and the Hi-Opt I count, written to be worked through rather than dipped into. One of the most readable introductions to counting.

Where to start

If you only read one, read Beat the Dealer. It is short, it is the origin of everything else here, and it explains the reasoning rather than handing you a system to memorise.

If you want to actually learn to count rather than read about counting, The World's Greatest Blackjack Book is the one to work through. It takes you from the rules to a full system in one volume, and it is written to be practised with rather than skimmed.

Playing Blackjack as a Business is worth having for its charts, and for a picture of the era when counting went from a mathematical curiosity to something casinos actually worried about.

The Theory of Blackjack is the one to read if you want to know why the numbers are what they are, rather than taking them on trust. It is a maths book, and it reads like one.

What to do next

• Print a strategy chart for the exact rules of the table you play, and keep drilling it in the Basic Strategy Trainer.
• Keep the count without losing it in the Card Counting Trainer, then do it again with a full table of players.
• Set up a game of your own with Lesson 8: Play at Home.