Ken Uston on Blackjack

By Ken Uston

Book Overview

Ken Uston on Blackjack is an intimate look into the most successful blackjack player of the 20th century. Considered the world's foremost blackjack player by experts, Ken Uston played in teams that won over $5 million at the tables of Atlantic City, Nevada, Europe, and around the world How did he do it? And why?

This book is filled with hilarious anecdotes and shocking stories that chronicle a tumultuous period of Ken Uston's life. From enduring arduous lawsuits to developing quirky disguises, Uston was determined to keep playing the game.

Discover the real Ken Uston, whose masterful blend of theoretical knowledge and playing experience built a champion blackjack career that had an indelible influence on the game.

Ken Uston (1935-1987) was a master blackjack player and game strategist. He graduated from Yale with a BA in Economics and received his MBA in Finance from Harvard. After a stint as the Senior Vice President of the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, Uston traded his three-piece suit for the unpredictable life of the professional gambler. During his blackjack career, he mastered card counting, which led him to be barred from a number of casinos. Uston won a lawsuit against casinos in New Jersey, which protested the banishment of card-counting players, and its ruling still holds today.

Uston has authored a number of bestselling books including Million Dollar Blackjack and Mastering Pac-Man.

Readers interested in related titles from Ken Uston will also want to see: Mastering Pac-man (ISBN: 1626548978), Million Dollar Blackjack (ISBN: 1626548951), Mastering Pac-man (ISBN: 1626548978), Million Dollar Blackjack (ISBN: 1626548951).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 162654896X
• ISBN13: 9781626548961
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media, LLC.
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.7" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Good Book

Most anything written by Ken Uston is good. Filled with stories of blackjack and card counting in the late 70's and early 80's.

Enjoyable and accessible

This book does NOT contain tips on playing blackjack. Instead it is filled with stories and anecdotes of how the infamous Ken Uston used Team Play to beat the casinos out of millions of dollars. Millions. At times laugh-out-loud, occasionally boring when the courts become involved, but is quite accessible even for those with little familiarity with 21. If you want to read about other casino shenanigans, like how some physics students put computers in their shoes and beat the roulette wheel (and still to this day receive royalty checks), grab a copy of the Eudemonic Pie. For the book that started it all: Beat the Dealer.If you're looking to become a card counter after reading this, check out the de facto standard for any serious counter: Million Dollar Blackjack, also by Uston. Do not waste time with the others, particularly Jerry Patterson's shuffle tracking scheme.

THE GENERAL

A GREAT BOOK FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THOSE EARLY DAYS. IT HAS A FEW GOOD TIPS ON COVER THRU STORIES HOWEVER THIS A REALLY DATED FOR ANY PRACTICAL USE IN CASIOS TODAY.

Stories of playing experiences and court battles

Ken Uston once again demonstrates why he was the world's foremost authority on the game of blackjack. His playing experiences were both varied and extreme. In this book, he tells stories (some told before) of his playing experiences, and details his ultimately fruitless attempts to get the Nevada Gaming Commission to stop the casino practice of barring card counters. Of note: in this book he disavows his previously touted Uston APC count, stating that it's just too difficult to use effectively, and that simpler systems are probably more effective in the long run. That piece of information alone makes the book worth having, and in this book he suggests which other systems should be used instead.