How to Beat the Dealer

Beating the dealer is the main purpose of every blackjack player. The subject is contained even in some dedicated blackjack books, such as Eduard Thorp's "Beat the Dealer"

Beating the Dealer with Eduard Thorp

Eduard Thorp was passionate about mathematics since his early ages. He realized the close connection between blackjack and calculations; therefore, he started to study the subject closer. He published all his discoveries in this astonishing book, a paperwork that is still considered the bible of blackjack playing.

The book was an immediate success. It is considered the main reason for players to come into the casinos for blackjack. Until this book, roulette and poker were considered the main casino games. Of course, the casinos tried to prevent all that flock of players to win. This is how the professional "spotters" appeared. Those people are former players that are hired by the casinos to spot the winning players. However, the new players were also helpful for the casinos. New tables emerged, and although those new players were winning on blackjack, they were losing more money on other games.

Some professional blackjack teams improved the Edward Thorp system. Six or even ten people composed some of those teams. Only three of them were players. The rest of them were only observers, people who were in charge of finding the best tables and for keeping the team under the radar

Blackjack Teams Based on the Thorp System

A professional blackjack team is composed of five people at least. The most important part of the team is composed of the main players. Those blackjack players must be smart, as keeping in mind tens of cards at the same time is not that easy. Moreover, those players must also know when to enter and when to exit from a game. Of course, the system is easy to understand, but very hard to apply.

The first player must come to a certain table. He must bet the minimum stake for a lot of time. During this time, he will observe the table and the dealer. He won't have to win, as the team doesn't need the attention of Pit Bosses over it. At the right moment, the main player of the team would appear at the table. This player would have a large sum of money over him. The first player (also called the "rabbit") must make a sign to the main player. This information exchange must be made in a discrete manner, so the main player would know the status of the table.

The main player must be the master of cards counting. He would have to apply advanced strategies, and he must know when to withdraw from the table. The rest of the team will stay at the surrounding tables, following the Pit Bosses and the casino's personnel. Once the required sum is earned, the team must leave the casino quietly.