What percentage of all the blackjack players would you say play reasonably sound basic strategy? Maybe 25%? And what percentage are card counters? I'm sure it's well under 1%. Why such a difference? I don't have to tell you it's because counting cards is much more demanding than just playing basic strategy. Yet, memorizing your basic strategy chart to a tee still can't give you the advantage in the game -- but counting just some of the cards can if you do things right.

The Ace/10 Front Count (from Chapter 7) was an extremely basic and borderline approach to winning play. If it had been placed here in the thick of the card counting section, players who don't wish to become card counters would probably never see it. But I wanted serious basic strategy players to at least have an introductory glimpse at what advantage play is about. As you know As amazing as this sounds, many supposed veteran blackjack players still don't understand how certain Betting options and rule variations can affect their play and chances for continued win opportunities.

They still believe that blackjack is blackjack, six, eight, single deck, whatever. Sure they know the game, but do they really understand the rule variations? Most of them don't. At any rate, the casino with the best options for play is where you want to plunk down your money. Lucky for us, these rule variations are becoming increasingly more important in casino marketing. Casinos now realize that blackjack players are smarter about the game and are looking for the most favor¬able conditions in which to play. This is becoming noticeable in, for example, the downtown Las Vegas casinos, which pro¬vide more favorable rules for playing to offset the fact that they are not in the mainstream of Las Vegas tourist flow.