Review of Gregorian Strategy for Multiple Deck Blackjack

Title:

Gregorian Strategy for Multiple Deck Blackjack

Author:

Gregory Mannarino

Publisher:

Lyle Stuart Kensington

Date:

2003

ISBN:

0-8184-0633-X

Pages:

162

Price:

$12.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

October 26, 2003

A strategy that gives a 21 player an edge over the house without having to vary one's bets is the Holy Grail of blackjack. In Gregorian Strategy for Multiple Deck Blackjack, Gregory Mannarino believes he has uncovered a strategy that allows a player to gain an edge off the top when playing against multiple decks. If it works, this would be the most remarkable development in advantage blackjack since Edward Thorpe's classic, Beat the Dealer.

Mannarino's book begins with a couple of chapters which provide background into the author's credentials and insight into the game as well as information on how the game of blackjack is played in a casino. I must admit to being more than a little distressed from the start. The Author's discussions about the history and nature of blackjack basic strategy do not agree with either conventional wisdom or my own findings. Further, the author's writing style is clumsy and, at many times, infuriating. The book could use another pass by a skilled copy editor, and I can't count the number of times Mannarino admonishes his audience to "pay attention". I do know that at least as often as I read that line in the book, I wanted to yell at the author, "get to the point", although in a much less polite tone.

Chapter three is titled, "The Gregorian Theorem". Is the Gregorian Theorem proved? No, but there's a good reason for that. After multiple readings, I can't find any evidence that it is ever stated. The basic idea, of the Gregorian Strategy, though, is that by following a new strategy table, supplanting the familiar basic strategy tables of the blackjack literature, a player can achieve a 1% advantage over the casino. Mannarino makes the claim that the original basic strategy was geared toward single deck games, which is true, and that this issue hasn't been revisited in the intervening years, which is not true. He completely neglects the work done by many blackjack authors, especially by Peter Griffin in Theory of Blackjack and Stanford Wong in Basic Blackjack. The fact that these folks as well as many other authors have designed basic strategy charts specifically tailored for multiple deck blackjack games is not so much as mentioned in this book.

The author moves on to cover topics such as money management and casino comportment. With the exception of Mannarino's unorthodox strategy, these chapters contain about what one would expect, except that the author also introduces us to his theory of "biases". That is, tables where players have had recent success against the house are good, and other tables are bad. I doubt I can convince "true believers" of bias play that this is nonsense, but anyone who believes in such things should just stop reading my reviews right now, because we're not going to agree on much.

Next we are treated to a blow-by-blow diary of the author's (successful) use of the Gregorian Strategy during trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas. The book concludes with a description of "advanced strategies", which amount to the combination of the Gregorian Strategy with card counting. The author claims that this should give the player a 3% advantage over the house using a 2-to-1 betting spread at multi-deck games. I have to admit it, though, I just don't buy it.

The author makes a number of other statements that don't make sense to me. He states that casinos have a blackjack win rate of 6% of money wagered. His suggestions regarding bankroll size do not agree with those advocated by the Kelly Criterion. Regarding his system, the author makes the claim that it has been subjected to computer analysis and has been proven to work. I see no evidence that this is actually the case.

So, what's the bottom line? I simply don't believe that the strategy pitched in Gregorian Strategy for Multiple Deck Blackjack is a winning strategy. I doubt I could convince the author of this, and even if possible, it would almost certainly require more effort than I want to expend. Is this the great blackjack breakthrough we've all been waiting for? Nope. Is this book worth reading? Nope. My advice: Folks who want to beat the game of blackjack should stick with the classics.

Capsule:

To start with, Gregorian Strategy for Multiple Deck Blackjack is just plain annoying to read. The worse sin, though, is that it espouses a strategy that I just don't believe will work. The book is filled with a great deal of information that is at odds with the blackjack literary canon, and in my opinion, the reader should stick with the canon. If one acquires a copy of this book for free, I honestly cannot recommend that one take the time to read it.

Note: I received a free review copy of this book from the author. I have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in the success of this book.