Review of Las Vegas Blackjack Diary

Title:

Las Vegas Blackjack Diary

Author:

Stuart Perry

Publisher:

ConJelCo

Date:

1997

ISBN:

1-886070-08-3

Pages:

212

Price:

$19.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

July 9, 1997

Las Vegas Blackjack Diary is an autobiographical account of an eight week excursion into the life of professional blackjack. Perry chronicles the highs and lows of his experiences during this time in great detail giving us a feel for what such an endeavor would be like.

The book starts with Forwards by two luminaries of the blackjack world, follows with some background about the author and his motivations for undertaking this adventure, and then launches into a section called "Card Counting Myths". This section is short and includes some information not often found even in the seminal blackjack works. The next section is a diary of the author scouting the casinos he'll play in over the next couple of months. Then follows a brief section titled "True Count Advantages in Various Games", not strictly necessary, but short, and then we're into the meat of the book. At the end are six appendices, Rules of Blackjack, Basic Strategy, the Hi-Opt Count System (which the author uses during the book), Shuffle Tracking, a chart of the author's total wins and losses against various casinos, and a list of recommended reading.

The "background" material in the book, such as the description of the Hi-Opt counting system, is kept brief. This isn't, nor is it supposed to be, a book on how to count cards. This information is sufficient to allow someone to understand what the author is doing without being overly long. Each section is well written in a clear style that reads very well and belies the author's lack of previous professional writing experience.

I liked this book, but there are a lot of people who won't enjoy it. For me, really getting into the head of a professional gambler was fascinating. Many other books talk about the up and down fluctuations that professional blackjack players face, but it's entirely different to be faced with it. Perry doesn't hold anything back on his results or his emotions and spins a fascinating blow by blow account of his experiences during these eight weeks. As a consequence, we're almost there when he experiences his inevitable highs and lows. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be a high stakes blackjack player, this is as close as you'll ever get without putting the money up yourself.

I have yet to meet a serious blackjack player who has read this book and doesn't highly recommend it.

Capsule:

If you like to read about counting cards or the experiences of a professional gambler moving from casino to casino, then you'll really enjoy this book. If not, you probably won't find it interesting. I found it absolutely riveting. If you think you might enjoy reading it, you will. It's certainly a "must add" to every serious blackjack player's library.