Beat the Dealer

Edward Thorp‘s book Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One is the book that began it all, and is a must-read for anyone considering professional card counting. Thorp used probability theory and computer simulations to prove that it is possible to beat the dealer at blackjack by counting cards and to devise card counting systems such as the Ten-Count, simple point count, and Thorpe Ultimate (which he removed from later editions of the book; it is a powerful and impossibly impractical 9-level(!) count). Thorp’s success and the success of Beat the Dealer shocked casinos into action. Rules were adjusted to reduce the edge the player gained by using Thorp’s strategies, but players refused to play by these new rules. Finally casinos opted for switching to 4-shoe blackjack, and when Beat the Dealer was revised in 1966 Thorp included the High-Low system to provide access to a count that would still result in a player advantage regardless of the number of decks.

Despite the specific nature of the book’s material it was a best-seller. Today there are more accessible books and more simple systems to learn, but this book is a classic and a cornerstone of card counting history. Though in a large part outdated by newer books and newer systems, Thorp’s genius still commands respect and admiration. This book was key study material for the MIT Blackjack Team.