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“Casinos and prostitutes have the same thing in common; they are both trying to screw you out of your money and send you home with a smile on you face.” – -VP Pappy

Lets start off with a very simple example of a game of Blackjack using the Goldhill System. (Remember the main thrust of this method is to ignore early gains in order to progress through the down phases to the point at which the money really starts to roll in).

Tip: Whilst you do not have to take yourself through the difficult `desert-like’ region of the negative phase let me assure you that both financially and emotionally it is well worth the effort.

If the idea of surrendering early gains for greater long term advantage then just cash-in your winnings made during the sudden rise in the Serpent’s Tooth Cycle. They will still be worthwhile but not as great as they will be if you progress onwards to a condition that I call `Blackjack Nirvana’

The Game
I am going to explain the practical application of this system using single betting units. These will represent $1 in this example but you could choose to make it $5 or $10 if you wish though typically it works best with a casino that offers a betting range of $1 – $250 or even $1 – $500 as many now do.
I want to start with a $200 deposit. This is attained either by a straight deposit or in conjunction with a casino bonus. I prefer to avoid using the bonus because in most occasions the Serpent’s Tooth Cycle is played out before reaching the required play through conditions established by the casino in their Terms & Conditions. (This did not used to be the case but all casinos are increasing their play through requirements dramatically).
It is highly unlikely that you will need to use the whole of the $200 pot but starting off with a large amount increases your chances of getting through the negative phases that develop in the game. So then – with these parameters established you are ready to begin.

Stage One
The game begins and as it goes through the first couple of hundred hands early gains will be experienced. Play with 2 x base unit bets. If you lose a hand then increase the bet using the betting ratios of 1, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, 98, 196 for subsequent hands. Now I agree that placing down $196 might sound risky but at this initial level of play I rarely ever experience losing streaks of greater than six hands so you are only risking a small proportion of your pot at this stage. Remember also that if you are playing in conjunction with the casino bonus you are risking less of your own money anyway.
During this phase I always double on elevens and split all pairs – even pairs of tens sometimes. It is also a good opportunity to double up on the occasional 14, 15 or 16 if you feel confident.

Stage Two
If your play through permits it you could easily cash in during this phase but most of the time even a seasoned player will take the opportunity of what appears to be a winning streak to continue playing until suddenly a major losing streak hits you. When it does you will know that you have entered into Phase Two – The Fall.
As soon as you recognize this reduce your betting to the very minimum (i.e.’ 1 x base value). Avoid all doubling at this time and only split pairs of eights. There will be no option than to sit this period out with patience. Do not feel tempted to panic and try to re-cooperate your loses – this is not the time to do so and you will be risking crashing out completely.

Stage Three
After a while – and there is no knowing how long this will be (usually less than another fifty or so hands) you will notice that the proportion of lost hands to winning hands begins to change. Indeed if you have followed my earlier advice to color code your statistics you will see that the tide has started to turn in your favor.
This is not the correct time to return to your 1, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 etc period of play – not so much because of any chance of experiencing another extended period of losing hands but merely because your severely depleted pot will not accommodate it. At this point sit and do the following calculation.
1) Find out how much the value of your pot was just before it crashed – your records will show this.
2) Then find out what the lowest value your pot was reduced to at the end of the Fall.
3) Subtract one from the other to calculate how much you lost in the collapse.
4) Divide this value by 3.
5) Now take the lowest amount figure and add to it one third of the total loss figure.
Once your pot has climbed up to this value again you will know that it is time to play with a renewed sense of optimism. Lets take the following as an example of what I mean. Imagine that you have started with a $200 pot.
After the first stage of the game this has increased to $320. Then comes the crash and it is reduced to $110. This means that you have lost $210.
Now divide this difference by three (i.e. $210/3=$70) and you will arrive at the value of $180 (i.e. $110+$70) as the point at which it is safe to restore the 1, 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 etc system along with doubling up. As you consider doing this keep a check on your coded-coded playing statistics and wait until they indicate a shift out of the negative phase and into a positive one.

Cashing In
Once your fortunes have changed you will find that the size of your pot grows consistently until eventually it soars well past the highest peak value (in this example $320) that it had attained before you crashed earlier. From here on you can keep on going until you decide is the correct time to cash in.
In the example of a $200 deposit I would install a stop-loss system at every $50 after reaching $400. During this phase you can even increase your base betting value from 1x to 2x or more – but this is down to personal preference.
Another method that I employ is this. If you have fulfilled any play through terms and conditions (and if you are not entirely sure what they are then telephone the casinos help line and they will give you an accurate figure of how much play you have left) then cash in your initial deposit ($200). Doing so means that whatever happens now you will incur no loses. Continue playing on through Phase Three and withdraw at every $50 or $100 stage. This creates an automatic stop-loss system and guarantees a profit from a game.

Summary
I have used this system time and again and have found it to give assured profits 90% of the time. The 1 in 10 game that I lose is usually where I have failed to follow my own rules (usually through greed, tiredness or euphoria) or where I have failed to start off with a decent sized deposit in the first instance. Thus I do recommend a minimum deposit of at least $200 (which of course may stand you at nothing because you developed it from the free no-obligation bonus as revealed way back in Chapter 4.) In this regard your $200 can be made to go a very long way indeed.

So that is the system. I now want to take you through 6 real-life casinos and show you how to make the whole system work for you

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“All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck — who keeps right on going — is the man who is there when the good luck comes — and is ready to receive it.” – Robert Collier

In this chapter I want to reveal to you the method by which I achieve my success at Blackjack but before I do I want to take you back in time to when you were a child.
As a youngster do you remember learning a particular skill or ability – one such as learning to swim or ride a bike? Do you remember the pain and frustration that you went through as you struggled to master the basics and then the seemingly endless effort that you had to make to perfect your art. Tough wasn’t it? Do you also remember the times when you wanted to give up?
The times when the effort seemed pointless and everything that you did went wrong?
However finally and after a lot of perseverance and self-discipline quite suddenly everything that you learnt fell into place? You reached a point when you no longer constantly fell off your bicycle or when you finally managed to complete a whole length of the swimming pool. That single glorious day was when all of the hard work and effort suddenly seemed to be worth while, when the struggle of the early stages were forgotten and you sailed effortlessly into a blissful land in which all of your actions were effortless and successful.

The Serpent’s Tooth Cycle
If you examine each of the various skills that you learnt throughout life you will discover that the same basic pattern of growth/decay/growth is woven into the development of each one. I can’t pretend that I know why this happens it just does!
On the left is a graphic representation of this unique cycle.

Stage 1 – The Rise
At first you start off your chosen task with great enthusiasm. This energy quickly propels you into making rapid progress. This period is called `The Rise’. (Sometimes it is referred to in card playing as `Beginner’s Luck’). In this part of the cycle everything that you do is a success and you learn at a faster pace than at any other time.

Stage 2 – The Peak
However this rapid rise in growth does not continue onwards forever for you do reach a zenith in performance. Most of us are only aware of their highest stage of achievement after it has been reached. Thus this stage is referred to as `The Peak’.

Stage 3 – The Turn
Then suddenly just as you think you know it all along comes a disaster. You fall from your bike, you fail your exam, you crash the car etc. Something happens to suddenly bring to your attention the fact that you do not know it all! No matter what you try to do you all that you experience is continued frustration, failure and defeat. This called `The Turn’.

Stage 4 – The Fall
The rate of decline then appears to accelerate and your enthusiasm for the chosen task falls to its lowest point. It is at this stage that 99% of people give up – probably to move on to try something else. However this decline in fortune does have its limit. Suddenly things change and you start to feel a little more positive about things. This is called `The Fall’.

Stage 4 – The Growth Gradient
From the turn you slowly begin to piece things back together again. Bit by bit you develop a new aptitude for your chosen task. This then continues unabated until finally you begin to realize that you starting to surpass your earlier achievement level. This is called `The Growth Gradient’. Throughout all my various pursuits in life – as a writer, teacher, farmer, musician and businessman I have seen this pattern in operation in every single every key experience of my life. I have seen it happen in the growth patterns of many businesses, whilst teaching students a wide variety of different subjects, during the development of any skill, whilst saving money and much more.

It is also evident in the life cycle of plants and is a well understood and accepted dynamic in the theory of economic cycles. In fact this cycle is observable in every key element to human experience. (As I write this I have witnessed it in operation during the US/Iraqi conflict of April 2003 when rapid early gains in the war gave way to defeat and frustration before a steady climb towards victory) but most importantly of all – it is in evidence in the playing of Online Casino Blackjack!

Applied to Your Gambling
Understanding that this cycle effects ALL of our initiated actions in life (including gambling) gives us a VERY important insight into how to play Blackjack successfully.
All you have to do is to correctly identify the phase that you are in during a game you can modify both your playing and betting styles accordingly.
Let’s take a look at how this operates in practice that is to say, during an actual game of Blackjack. To simplify the matter I have turned the five stages of the Serpent’s Tooth Cycle into four key play phases.

These are:

Play Phase 1 – The Rise
The early phase in a game is always the most advantageous. It is characterized by free-flowing and advantageous play. Leave the game to settle down (probably takes no more that a dozen hands) and from then I recommend loose and aggressive style of play. Double up with confidence and increase your bet size accordingly. (If you like you can play as I do and cash in during this rich and abundant period for smaller – but assured, winnings).

Play Phase 2 – The Fall
This is the stage all gamblers hate the crashing out. It is usually characterized in a game of Blackjack by a prolonged losing streak of us to 12 or more hands. This has been known to wipe a player out completely on many occasions.
When you realize that you are in this phase DO NOT strive to re-coup your losses by increasing your bet size. This will always end in disaster. Just accept the tide is flowing against you and bet only the very minimum amount on each hand.

Play Phase 3 – The Rise
There WILL come a point at which the turn of play changes. The run of losing hands stops, the dust settles and you are left to confront the debris of the disaster. This is the point at which many players either blow what’s left of their pot on one final desperate attempt to save face or they cash in what they have left and depart with their tails between their legs. This is a pity for the miss what turns out to be a golden opportunity to make some money.
At this stage continue placing the minimum bet allowed but return to doubling up and splitting.

Play Phase 4 – The Growth Gradient
The rate of growth during this phase is not as great as when the game first began – however it is consistent.
Once your pot has returned to roughly where you were when you first began the game you can return to a positive and aggressive style of play.

Having successfully seen your way through the difficult early periods of the Serpent’s Tooth Cycle you will enter into this magnificent period in which you consistently win hand after hand. I have entered this stage on many, many occasions and I can tell you it is pure bliss. Every hand that you get throws the dealer into crisis.
Blackjack’ increase in regularity. Consistent doubling up on 13 – 17 ALWAYS produces a 20 or 21 total. Blackjacks appear in proliferation. I have entered this stage in some games that I have played and amassed so much winning money that I have almost felt sorry for the casino!
Following this system through for the first time requires some nerve but once you have experienced it for the first time you will play with renewed confidence in subsequent games. Let me assure you that it is worth the waiting.!

Tip: At what stage you eventually cash in depend upon your intuition. However I generally wait until I am about 25% percent above the amount that I had in my pot at the peak and then create a Stop-Loss point. If I fall below that value I immediately stop the game and cash in.

Tracking the Flow
So how is it possible to identify which period or stage you are during a game? In earlier lessons I impressed upon you the need to keep accurate records of your games. With a little more note taking during a game you will quickly identify the phase that you are in or even coming up to. This is how it is done.
Each time you note down your hand on the sheet take the chance to record each of your winning hands in a different color to a losing hand. I use a red pen to record my winning hands and a blue pen to mark those hands that I have lost.
After each round of about 50 rounds total up the winning (red) hands as well as the losing (blue) hands. Your results will reveals one of three things;

A predominance of red marks – indicating that you are in a positive of rising phase

A predominance of blue marks – indicating that you are in a negative or declining phase

An equal number of each – which indicates that you are either moving in/out of a positive phase or in/out of a declining phase.

As your game progresses monitor total your various amounts in the box provided (W=Total of Won hands and L= Total of Lost hands).
If you keep accurate records you will easily detect over just a few 50-hand cycles which way your luck cycles are taking you. For example you may have had a few rounds in which your total of winning hands has out- stripped those that you have lost. Where this is the case your play is in positive phase.
Then you have a round in which they are equal in number. At this stage you could suspect a slip into a negative phase so you begin to adjust your playing/betting accordingly. The next round also reveals an equal or slight bias to the Loss Total. Then your suspicions are completely confirmed when you find that over the next round the number of your Loss Total is substantially greater than your Win Total. This is evidence that you are in a losing phase and marks a time for careful play.
Continue playing with care until the count returns to indicate a positive phase.
Now this system might seem complicated but it only takes a few minutes to practice and become a natural element to your play. You may feel that it is unnecessarily wieldy given that the pot total reveals how well you are doing. This is the beauty of the Goldhill System for your purse total DOES NOT do not reveal the way that your play is going to progress nor does it accurately reflect how well you are doing.

There are many reasons for this. For example you may win a couple of Blackjacks – even when the phase of play is against you. Because of the higher payment ratio for Blackjacks this would exaggerate the impression of your playing luck by inflating the betting total.It is tempting to bet more when your total is higher and so you could actually be creating problems for yourself later on by inadvertently increasing your betting at a time when your playing phase is against you.
Another reason for not relying upon the betting total is because of the use of Insurance or Doubling Up. Thus it is possible to lose money in a positive playing phase if you make a number of incorrect decisions. Thus your total pot value would fall and you would not be aware of the fact that you are actually in a current positive playing phase!

Tip: Treat your playing statistics with respect and they will repay you time and again by revealing the optimum opportunities, or risks, before they even begin to emerge in the game itself.

Having introduced you to the actual playing system I now want to move on to show you in a practical form you can make this all work for yourself

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“At that point I ought to have gone away, but a strange sensation rose up in me, a sort of defiance of fate, a desire to challenge it, to put out my tongue at it. I laid down the largest stake allowe-four thousand gulden-and lost it. Then, getting hot, I pulled out all I had left, staked it on the same number, and lost again, after which I walked away from the table as though I were stunned. I could not even grasp what had happened to me.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Gambler

Successful play at Blackjack is dependent upon you developing two key strategies. We looked at the first one, the playing strategy, in the last chapter. Now we come to the second – the betting strategy.
No fortune has been won or lost quicker than by someone using a betting strategy or system! They are a double-edged sword for when they work they can be brilliant – when they fail the results can be disasterous!
The mistake that most people make when it comes to using them, and this covers all types of gambler, is to assume that there is one betting strategy that will guarantee a player a winning game time after time. This is not the case for different approaches to the game are required at different levels of play.

Betting Systems
In order to become successful you are going to need to develop several betting strategies and to learn how to apply the correct one at the right time. Whilst the Perfect Blackjack Playing Strategy generally covers all playing situations this is not the case with Betting Strategies. Some games and playing conditions require one style of strategy whilst another might call for another quite different approach.
In time you will intuitively know which approach is the best one but for the moment you will have to make a valued judgment as to the method that suits you best. Here are a few of the more popular betting systems that have been used by players over the years.

The Martingale System
This Martingale Method (named after the creator of the same name) was invented some 200 years ago. In a sense it is a damage limitation exercise in that it protects any wins – but at a great risk. It is simple to apply. Each time that you lose a hand you then double your bet for the next one until such time that you win a hand. Then you return to your initial bet level.
For example, with an opening bet of $5.00 and doubling on each loss you would then bet $10 next time and $20 the next. Thus you will follow the pattern $5, $10, $20, $40, $80, $160 etc. If you have a win at any point you then return to your basic $5.00 wagers.
At first glance this seems a good system however it fails in two regards. Firstly casinos place a betting limit – a maximum amount that you are allowed to wager. Whilst it is set at several hundred dollars it would not seem very restrictive however using the Martingale System it would not take very long to reach that limit and you run the risk of losing a very substantial amount of money indeed after a prolonged losing streak. The second problem with this system is that you need a sizeable bankroll to start with. For these reasons the Martingale System is not recommended for general play unless you are playing a `stable’ game – i.e. one with few fluctuations.

Reverse Martingale System
This system is the same as the Martingale above but reversed – which means that as a player you increase your bet value after a win and not after a loss. This is based upon the assumption that winning streaks will bring you profits even if you lose a greater number of hands than the casino.

Progressive Betting System – 2 Levels
This is a slightly less-risky system than the Martingale. It is based around a player deciding upon a maximum and minimum betting level. After a losing hand the lower amount is bet and after a win a larger amount is placed.
For example, with a minimum bet level set at $5 and with a determined upper limit set at $15, you would start playing with a $5 dollar bet. If you win that hand then bet $15 for the next hand. You would then continue to bet $15 until you lose. After any loss you then return to your minimum bet level of $5.
This seems simple and straightforward but I do not use it for to me. It works on the assumption that the outcome of one hand pre-determines the probable outcome of another. This is not so for the opposite is the case. The chances of winning a hand just because you won a previous one are diminished and not increased – which makes the system a little unreliable to my mind.

Progressive Betting System – 5 Levels
This system is based on a 1-2-3-5 back to 1 progression. For example, with a basic $5 bet the player’s betting levels would be then be $5,10,15, and 25. Starting with a $5 bet you then progress to the next level ($10) when you win a hand. If you lose it then you return to an original $5 wager. If you are fortunate to win four hands in a row then you should return to your original $5 wager.

1-3-2-6 Betting Progression
This is an attractive system for the reason that you risk only two betting units for a chance to win ten units.

This is how it works.

• Your initial bet is one unit (we will assume that it is $1 for simplicity sake).
• If you win you then make the second bet a total of three units.
• If you win this second bet you will have six units (unless you are lucky enough to get a Blackjack!). Take away four units and use the two that are left for your third bet.
• If you then win again on the third hand then make your fourth bet six units. If you win this hand you will collect twelve units of which 10 are profit.

The success of this system works on the assumption that you have a four hand winning streak – which is not unlikely at all.

• However if it all goes wrong and you lose the first bet: The loss is one unit.
• If you win the first hand but then go onto to lose the second bet: your net loss is two units.
• If you win the second hand but then lose the third bet, you have a profit of two units.
• If you win all of the first three bets but lose the fourth bet then you will break even.

The d’Alembert System
A French mathematician, Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, invented this system way back in the eighteenth century and this is how it works.
The player begins by betting one unit. Each time that he/she loses they increase this by one unit. Each time that they win they decrease the bet by one unit.
Whilst being similar to the Martingale System it is not quite as dangerous for becoming bankrupted. It does not work at many online casinos though where the betting options move from single to double units.

Fibonacci Series
Leonardo Fibonacci was a 12th century mathematician who discovered, and then gave his name to, a specific progression of numbers. Whilst the discovery was pretty unexciting in itself it has been re-assessed over the past couple of centuries as perhaps holding the key to life and all cycles of effect upon it.
The Fibonacci Series has been discovered hidden with the growth patterns of everything form plants and animals through to the Stock Market. Many players believe that it has an important place to play in gambling. Very simply the Fibonacci Progression is merely the development of a series of numbers formulated from the addition of the two previous digits. This therefore gives rise to the sequence; 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55 … and so on!
Many players have converted this progression into a betting system and are very pleased with its results.

This is how you would use it.

• Play your first hand
• If you lose step up one in the progression
• Each time you win repeat the current bet
• If you win again start the progression over again
• If you lose move up one step.

The Labouchere Betting System
The Labouchere system, or `Cancellation’ system, comes in several variations.

However this is it’s simplest form

Write down a series of numbers, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The progression can be of any length and
does not have to be sequential.

Each number represents the amount in units or chips to bet and the idea is to bet the first and last of
these numbers. In the example above, that would be 1 and 6, totaling 7 units.

When you win cross off those two numbers and bet the next two outside numbers. In our example
the values 2 and 5.

If you win again you bet on the next two remaining numbers 3 and 4 and if you win that as well you
would have made a `coup’ or completed one game.

Restart the system.

If you lose, add that one number to the end of the series. For example, if you lost your first bet of 7 units (1+6) then add number 7 to the end of the series to look like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and your next bet would equal 8 units (1+7). If you won the first bet but lost the second 2 and 5, then the series of numbers would look like this: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7.

Thus when the series is completed or when you make a `coup’, there is always a profit. The negative side of this system is that you could end up betting large sums of money even if your initial bet is small.

The Best Betting System
So which is the best betting system? Well, as dumb as it sounds the best system is the one that works for you. Whilst that sounds a little trite and unhelpful as a statement is in fact quite true. I shall explain a little about this is subsequent publications but to put it briefly we each have a different `resonance’ as a player. You have to find out what your own is (at any particular time) and develop a betting system around it.
Personally I have severe misgivings about all of these betting systems on their own and therefore cannot recommend any of them under all laying conditions. The main reason that most of these fail is because the laws of luck and chance are not determined by pure mathematics – if they were then there would be some very rich mathematicians languishing about on their private yachts right now.
That being said there is a way of playing successful Blackjack that does not depend solely upon betting systems and mathematical criteria. It is in fact based upon an accumulation of all the various playing factors that we have looked at in the manual so far. I call it `The Goldhill Playing System’ (out of sheer immodesty and lack of imagination!) and an understanding of it forms the basis of the next chapter

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“Son, we are sorry about the tuition funds…your mother and I did not know you are not supposed to split tens…” – Letters home from people visiting Reno.

In my introduction to this manual I referred to the part-time casino player who only plays for the thrill and excitement of the play. As daft as it might have sounded to you there are players who have little or no concept of the idea of playing Blackjack at online casinos as a sound financial proposition.

Just for a laugh go along to Littlewoods Casino (http://www.littlewoodscasino.com/) and download their software. Later on I recommend this site as a good one to play at for a number of reasons however at the moment I would suggest that you join up in Guest Mode and go to one of their Public tables. Here you can play Blackjack against other players.

Now just by spend a few minutes watching the playing strategies of your fellow Blackjackers – if strategy is indeed the correct word, for doing so leads one to the inevitable conclusion that most people just do not have the slightest clue what they are doing. From both their play and betting decisions it is clear that they still regard Blackjack merely as a game of chance in the same mould as Roulette, Slots and Craps. All of their decisions are wild and clearly based upon hope that the flow of play will eventually go their way and land them a win – which it rarely ever does!
After a while you can see them log out and presumably wander off to slap down some more money at another game. This hit and miss approach characterizes the activities of 95% of all amateur casino gamblers and their foolish actions keep the casinos (and ourselves) in business.

Rookies vs. The Pros
I want to show you where they (and possibly also yourself) can go wrong. Imagine, if you will, the following scenario – a game played between an amateur and a professional.
Our game has started and the `fool’ or `Rookie’ has placed down his/her bet – probably at a value that reflects his level of personal optimism at the time. They then consider their cards for a moment.
Player one finds that he has been dealt a King and a 4. This will give him a pip value of 14, which of course is not a large total and a long way off his 21 target – so he selects to `Hit’. His third card is an eight and he has bust out causing him to lose his bet deposit. Undeterred by this he then selects a new deal and then goes on to repeat all of his subsequent playing hands using the same hit or bust strategy.
Now take a look at the same situation, as a professional would play it. Firstly he or she will place a bet at a value that is right for the present state of play. Once again the two cards dealt up are a King and a 4 but this time the player takes a quick glance at the dealer’s upturned card which is a 6 – so he/she decides to stick.
This forces the initiative onto the dealer so he then cuts a 10 giving 16 and being forced to hit (all dealers have to hit on total less than 17) he then reveals a 9 as his third card giving a total of 25. Player wins! I have lost count of the number of times that playing these sorts of hands have given me a playing edge in a game.

The Perfect Blackjack Strategy
So what’s the difference between the two styles of play? Why was a 16 total considered a poor total for the novice player but perfectly adequate for the professional? The answer lies in the laws of probability and in a remarkable system known as `Perfect Blackjack’.
Whilst it cannot predict the outcome of any initial card pairing with 100% accuracy, it does offer the player a remarkable way to dramatically increase the winning odds. This is how it looks in table form If you look at Table 1 you will see that the nearest left hand column is marked `Player’ and the values 5 to 21 beneath it are the only totals available with an initial two card deal. The top row is marked `Dealer’ with the numbers 2 through to 10 and the letter A (meaning Ace) on the line below it. These are the only values that the dealer can have with his/her first deal.
To find the most advantageous response to a deal you simply add up the pip total on your first two cards, locate the total under the `Player’ column and then follow it across until you reach the dealer column. The letter at this point reveals the most propitious action to take and the Key reveals the correct response to make.

Example 1
In the game that I gave as an example earlier the player had a King and a 4 creating a total of 14. Locate the row that extends out from the number 14 until it reaches the number 6, which if you recall was the value of the first dealer card. Where they meet you will encounter a letter S which with reference to the Key means `Stick’ or do nothing.
To many beginners the thought of sticking at 16 would seem a rather daft one. Indeed 9 times out of 10 a player will simply `Hit’ or `Twist’. This is wrong because the odds of the dealer busting with a 6 are extremely high in fact higher than they are of your reaching 21 safely.
Can you see how armed with this simple table you can radically revolutionize your winning strategy? It takes the guesswork out of your playing decisions.

Example 2
Let’s take another example of how we use the Strategy. Player has been dealt a 3 and a 4. This totals to 7. According to our Table 1 no matter what the pip value is of the dealers card you should always Hit here. Now the third card is a 5, which brings you to a total of 12. Take a look at the dealer card, in this case it is a 5 and a quick look at the chart reveals that your best option is to stick.

Example 3
When Aces appear in a hand they add considerably to the options available to you as a player. They also require a different table of actions.
Imagine that you have been dealt an Ace along with a 5. In this instance the dealer has a 6. To determine the correct play for this situation refer to Table 2 on the left this time.
Locate the A, 5 pairing then check across to the player’s 6 column and you will see that the best course of action in this example is to double.
Tip: It may be that in instances where you Hit a third card does not increase your playing edge sufficiently to Stand. If this is the case then total up your card pip values and refer back to Table 1 for the correct playing decisions.

Example 4
Pairs occur in perhaps one in every 25 hands of Blackjack that you play. When they do they certainly make life interesting!
In this game example you have been dealt a pair of 5s against a dealer’s 8. Take a look at the third table (left) and you will see that the recommendation is to Double.
You may also notice that whilst the recommendations for various Ace combinations varies according to the dealer card the optimum action for a pair of Aces is to always split them whilst the best approach for a pair of 10s is to stand. (Some players argue against this and insist that a pair of tens should always be split. Don’t believe them!)
Tip: It is always worth checking out what a particular casinos proceedure is on dealing with pairs. Whilst all games allow you to split your pair there are many differences in how you can progress from there on. Some casinos allow you to split any subsequent pairs again, some allow you just the standard set of options whilst some allow you no options at all. You are merely automatically dealt one more card for each of yoursplit pair and that is your lot!

A Summary
That, very simply, is the Perfect Blackjack System and how to apply it in the most common situations. As a professional player you will rely upon it time and again towards making the correct playing decisions.
Tip: If you want to test your knowledge of the strategy then visit Hit or Stand at http://www.hitorstand.net/ to practice your skills.

Now that we have revealed the best playing strategy let us now take a look at the different betting strategies on offer

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“When we put 50 machines in, I consider them 50 more mousetraps. You have to have a mousetrap to catch a mouse.” – Bob Stupak, former Las Vegas casino owner

The Internet is literally awash with golden opportunities for as the number of online casinos increase so does the competition to find and keep customers. This has meant bigger and more attractive offers are available to players both to try out a casino and then to remain loyal to it. So with all this going on how do casinos win the battle for customers? How are they able to attract the attention of curious visitor and then make sure that he/she remains a regular player?

Sprats to Catch Mackerel
There are several different types of offers that casinos use to attract custom. These vary in size from one casino to another but the basic ones are;

Free No-Obligation Deposit,
Welcome Bonus
Payment Bonus
Recurring Bonus.
Periodical Bonuses
Rewards Schemes

They can be a little complicated to understand so let us now take a closer look at these incentives and how they work.

1 – The Free No-Obligation Deposit
Many good online casinos offers a new player a no-obligation deposit. This is a free deposit made to your account when you first sign up. You generally don’t even have to make an initial deposit yourself. The amount on offer varies from one casino to another but usually they are somewhere between $10 and $25. This is enough to guarantee a few games and to get you to experience the thrills and spills of online gambling. An example of a good casino offering a no-deposit bonus is www.mummysgold.com. Note: It would seem tempting just to go around signing up to casinos, taking their free deposits and moving on. Of course, it does not work like this. Instead there are terms and conditions attached to any payout. Sometimes these relate to the amount of play you have to give before cashing in whilst many casino now limit the amount of winnings that you withdraw. However these restrictions do not limit us unduly.
The free bonus incentive gives anyone a great opportunity to get started with no money whatsoever! Using the offer you can begin to build a sizeable betting pot through three strategies.

Option 1: Take the whole of your free bonus and put it down as one bet on the first hand of Blackjack Remember on your first visit to the table you will have an almost equal 50/50 chance of winning – which are pretty favorable odds. Later on you will learn how to increase that 50% chance dramatically by introducing you to the best play for any given situation.

Option 2: A slight modification on this all-or-nothing approach is to split your bonus into two or even three parts. This reduces the chances of crashing out on game one and gives you a little room for maneuver should you find a hand winning opportunity that you want to double up on.

Option 3: This method takes a little more time, effort and patience but will invariably bring you the right result.

First of all search out a casino with a good introductory bonus but which also offers a low minimum bet amount. This ought to be 50c and $1. (Two of the best I could find at the time of writing were www.piggspeak.com and www.captaincookscasino.com)

Now play a very careful game using only the minimum betting stakes and avoiding any risky moves. Your bonus payment should give you somewhere between 20 and 40 hands of Blackjack depending upon your playing style and gradually you should be able to build this up to a decent pot. I do recommend that when you reach a level of about three times your free bonus that you check that you have fulfilled your playing requirements and then cash in. Do not risk your winnings – just take them and cash-in. With your winnings you can then move on to take advantage of any casino’s second sign-up incentive – that being the Welcome Bonus!
Tip: If you lose your initial opening free bonus then just move onto another casino. You will find a list of Casino Free Bonuses directories in Appendix 2 of this manual. It is also worth signing up for a newsletter service such as the Mayer Club, so you are updated when offers become available.

2 – Welcome Bonus
Once you have established your account at a casino and are ready for your first serious game then always look for the casino’s `Welcome Bonus’. This is an amount offered by the casino to compliment your first deposit. Usually it is given in percentage terms and usually amounts to 1, 2 or 3 times your deposit. This means that with even a small initial deposit, and it could be your winnings from the Free No-Obligation Bonus, you can create a decent playing purse.
However like the earlier bonus system that we looked at there are advantages and disadvantages to playing with this incentive.

Advantages
The major plus to using a welcome bonus is that you are effectively playing with the casino’s money as a way of safeguarding your own. For example, imagine that you deposit $100 and then receive another $100 as a bonus. You can play with a stop-loss system of $100, which means that you will not come out of the game as a loser. You are in effect playing with safe money.
There is a strategy amongst some Blackjack players to visit a casino, make use of the free money and then move on. This means that even if you lose 20% of the hands (which is very unlikely) you will still emerge with a profit of 80$ … and your deposit intact! You only need visit a few before you have generated a very sizeable financial advantage!
However I should warn you that some casinos are getting wise to these players and are blacklisting them. Personally I do not use the Welcome Bonus very often but for another completely different reason – namely, the play-through limitations, which brings me to the disadvantages of this system.

Disadvantages
Payout on winnings made using a casino’s Welcome Bonus are dependent upon the player fulfilling a complex set of terms and conditions. These are usually revealed in either the General Playing Terms and Conditions or the Introductory Bonus Terms and Conditions. A link to these is usually included on the casinos home page.
Now these Bonus Conditions usually require some skill to interpret. Typically they reveal the games that you can and cannot play using the bonus (thankfully Blackjack is usually included in their list of acceptable games) and the amount of play (measured in $) that you are required to play before you can cash-in. This play-through amount can be between 7 and 30 times the deposit plus bonus. This means that if you deposit $40, then receive another $40 in bonuses at 10 times play-through you have to wager $800 in bets.
As I mentioned earlier I do not like the limitations that the Welcome Bonus places upon a game. I find it cramps my playing decisions and restricts my choice of when to judge the optimum time to cash-in. However if you are prepared to see a game through many hands with the risk of total failure then even a complete novice can win a decent amount of money if he/she chooses the right casino and playing tactics.
The best joining bonuses tend to be at the best-known casinos, such as www.888.com or www.casinocraze.com

3 – Payment Bonus
Really good bonuses that many casinos offer are `Payment Bonuses’. This generally amounts to some 10 – 15% extra for all deposits that are made with specific third-party processors. If you take the advice that I offered earlier then you would undoubtedly be using one of these anyway. This is a decent offer and one that is particularly attractive if you are depositing several hundred dollars at a time.

4 – Recurring Bonus
Although much smaller than the Welcome Bonus, the Monthly, or recurring bonus, is sometimes a much more attractive offer. In many regards it is a cross between the Free and Welcome Bonuses – it is a set amount (perhaps $30 – $40) with a low play through that the casino offers you – usually on a monthly basis. UK-based players are the lucky ones here as they have access to Intercasino, who kindly top up your account with £50 each and evry month. Lets hope they soon accept US players!

5 – Periodical Bonus
Once you have joined a casino they will email you regularly with time-limited bonuses. Some of these can be pretty spectacular amounting to as much as the first-time bonus itself. Some Casinos are now starting to offer their regular players guaranteed cash back on their lost deposits. It really is a player’s playing field out there!

6 – Reward Schemes
Quite often a casino will offer a player a wide range of other rewards programs. The most useful is the points system in which you are credited with a number of points per $ deposited. The player can generally convert these back to Dollars.
Whilst this type of bonuses are not worth playing a specific casino for they can add a little added bonus to the serious Blackjack player who wagers large amounts over a period of time. There are others such as Rewards Incentives and bonuses for VIP players but these only become available after you have been playing at the casino for a while.

And So…
That brings us to the end of this chapter and of looking the various casino payment and incentive systems. With a little imagination you can see how with careful use of them they can add significantly to your overall profits.

In the next chapter I want to take a look at the actual playing strategy that will strip the house-edge down to virtually nothing

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