The World’s Favourite Blackjack Books
By Alex J. Coyne © Great Bridge Links
The first written reference to blackjack comes from Miguel de Cervantes, famous for writing the classic of Don Quixote. Since then, there have been hundreds if not thousands of books about blackjack, famous players and winning strategies that promise to improve your skills at the table.
There are almost so many books about blackjack out there that it can be hard to find a gem amongst all of them, so we’ve collected some of the world’s best blackjack books for your reading pleasure.
Add these to your bookshelf or Kindle if you want to learn more about blackjack or give your playing skills and strategy a boost.
The Complete Book of Blackjack
TJ Reynolds
The Complete Book of Blackjack was first published in 2000, and has made it onto Amazon’s bestseller list for blackjack books overall. It’s great if you’d like a pocket reference book that contains all of the basics you need to know about the rules, plus some more tips for improving your play if you want to go from beginning play to something more advanced. Some might find it outdated, but it’s still a handy reference that’s stood the test of time.
The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book
Lance Humble
The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book really is one of the greatest out there – and it’s a classic for any serious blackjack player. Humble managed to turn his card playing professional, and this is his version of teaching skills that he’s learned by real playing – and it’s not filled with any jargon that you can’t handle: It’s as great for the beginner player as it is for the expert.
The Theory of Blackjack: The Compleat Card Counter’s Guide to the Casino Game of 21
Peter Griffin
The Theory of Blackjack was first published in 1971, which might lead some to think that it’s an outdated title – but it’s also one of our top five ever. This one has been reprinted through several editions due to sheer popularity, and has managed to inspire many players to pick up the game of blackjack for the first time – or improve their game. Think what you want about card counting, but this book also has some excellent strategy from a top blackjack player. (Yes, Peter A. Griffin is a professional blackjack player and not a cartoon character, just in case you were wondering…)
Playing Blackjack as a Business
Lawrence Revere
There are many books out there that cover blackjack strategy and tips for winning the game or beating the dealer – but how many books talk about the real financial aspects of professional blackjack? This one, and that’s why you need it in your book collection if you’re a serious blackjack player, or just interested in gambling and the financials behind it.
Then try your skills out online playing real money blackjack games as well, and develop your cash winning strategies..
Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One
Edward O. Thorp
The classic book on twenty-one and my own mother’s personal favourite. This book is downright fascinating. Get it – yes, even if math was one of the subjects you happened to flunk at school. It’s one of the top best-selling blackjack titles ever to be released, and there’s no denying that it’ll teach you a lot about the math that makes a blackjack game. It helps that this book was written by a professional math professor, and the information is conveyed in a way that’s not terrifying and won’t remind you of the endless a+b-c that everyone (okay, most…) people hated from school days.
Blackbelt in Blackjack
Arnold Snyder
Okay, so this one originally made it into our book collections just because the title sounds so cool – and it turns out that it’s a good read, too! If you’re into no-BS blackjack strategy and consider yourself a little past the beginner stages of playing, it’s worth checking out Blackbelt in Blackjack. You can also take a look at some of Snyder’s other books and articles – he served as the editor for the Blackjack Forum, and wrote many more books on improving your playing.
The Big Book of Blackjack
Arnold Snyder
The world’s greatest blackjack player, the legendary Arnold Snyder, updates a blackjack masterpiece, showing beginning and advanced players everything they need to know—and more—about the game of blackjack. This book was published in 2018 so will contain all the modern tips you need.
Bringing Down the House
Ben Mezrich
You can’t write an article without blackjack books and leave this one out: Most blackjack players have heard the story of the MIT players, and if you haven’t heard the story you’ve likely seen the movie by now. Here’s the book that’ll tell you more about the MIT team, their system and how they managed to pull one of the biggest card-counting operations the world has ever seen.
And finally, here’s a book that won’t be released until 2019 but it looks fascinating!
Repeat Until Rich: A Professional Card Counter’s Chronicle of the Blackjack Wars
by
“A literate and swaggering heist caper.” The New York Times