Now that you have all the concepts of correct basic blackjack play under your belt, you can walk right up to any "21 " table and know just what to expect whenever you stand, double or split, right? Not really. Surprises abound in this game. I see it all the time; gamblers grimacing painfully or pounding the table.

It seems to happen a lot when they have maybe an awesome looking 11 against a wimpy 6 up. Sure, you've got to double down; you have the dealer backpedaling! But all too often it seems that you catch a baby, and the dealer pulls a three or four card 20. "How do they do it?", you gripe; "I'm supposed to win that one! What's going on here?"

There are professionals who will dispute the way i calculate the house edge, but I've been playing this game for more than twenty-five years and have seen many folks buy in to a table for a hundred bucks, last about thirty to sixty minutes, and poof, their money vaporizes. If that isn't a house edge com¬puted the way I just did it. I don't know NN-hat is! That's why it is imperative for you to utilize a playing and betting strategy that you feel comfortable with, whether outlined within these pages or developed on your own. You stand a much better chance of being successful by being consistent.

It is also why I place such heavy emphasis on discipline and patience. Here we are analyzing the game for effective playing and betting strategies, but you can see the human, or rather the emotional component, is equally, if not more important than all the rest. It's a cliché, but if you have all the tools and fix the problem (achieve your goal), but still keep tinkering (stay at the table), something else is bound to break (you'll begin taking losses), and it usually does.