Blackjack Bluebook II: The Simplest Winning Strategies Ever Published, April 2017; with 2021 Updates

I've written very few reviews on Amazon but I thought it was worth my time to give back to Fred Renzey for his great book, Blackjack Bluebook II.The fact is, the book reads like a high school textbook and that's a really good thing for people that really want to learn. It progressively starts with the basics, as well as simplest ways to tune your play and gradually evolves to more complex methods, going through more advanced strategy and intermediate modifications of play, all the way to a beginner's count. This evolves to an intermediate count and eventually an advanced count that rivals the capabilities of Hi Opt-II and Zen, all on the same foundation that Renzey started with.What makes the book different from other books I've read is that:1) It's readable. The book is almost conversational in nature. It's got just enough proof points in it without going all 'Grosjean' on you. (No offense to the mastermind that James Grosjean - another of my heros - is but I'm not the PhD Mathematician that he is, and I suspect, neither are you if you're reading this)2) It explains why things are important, what the benefit is in terms of the 'percentage edge' you get with every concept you learn, and it gives you concrete visual examples/scenarios with pictures of hands, and a discussion of each.3) It's evolutionary. Very rarely have I read a book that allows you to stop in the middle of the book and test your skills downstairs in the casino, then later read some more by the pool and learn additional tactics to evolve your game as you master the book's concepts.What I also found very useful was the section rehearsing certain key hands versus dealer up-cards. Frankly, I think Fred Renzey should create a card deck of 'difficult hands' and sell them has 'flash cards' to people to learn and practice with. It's frankly better than dealing cards yourself on that Southwest flight into LAS. [grin]I won't blow too much smoke up anyone's butts though: The section on Hand Interaction is a little much. I understand why he put it in there - after all, it appears to be the most opportunistic way to poach good hands at the table. But it takes a fair amount of balls to 'buy people's hands at the table' and 'fill up someone else's double down'. He advertises it as a differentiator for the book being that I'm sure he's correct that no one else has published much on this topic, but still, I don't consider this to be a real value: There's just too much superstition and too many barriers between players at the table to pull off some of the moves he recommends.That being said, I think his KISS count is pretty damn cool and although I haven't mastered it and still play with another count, his numerical evidence for the strength of the Advanced version of KISS count relative to Uston or more conventional counts is impressive.If you doubt the "student's text book" nature of Blackjack Bluebook II, consider that he dedicates a page or two to a list of bulletted 1-2 sentence summaries of every key point he's made at the end of each chapter. The only thing he's missing from making this ia true high school textbook is a "Test Your Knowledge" section where he quizzes you on important concepts after each section. [grin]Renzey's chapter on "15 hands to play incorrectly to camouflage your intellect" has been invaluable. I've been trespassed from two casinos and drawn heat from the eye more times than I can imagine, and I've recently seen pit bosses "drop me as a concern" when I pulled a couple of these hands like a drunk conventioneer. I was just at the New York New York and I think they even thought I had a computer based on the shake I naturally have in my leg but the moment I doubled down on what looked to be a reckless hand and started to play some of these gems, they started to waive off the black suits.I carry 3 Blackjack books with me whenever I go on a vacation or to Vegas and this is one of them. I consider Fred Renzey one of the people I would someday like to meet and shake hands with. Thank you for improving my play, Fred. Your book is worth much more than $16.50 on the basis of your authoring skills alone.

Blackjack Bluebook II is published by Blackjack Mentor Press which I thought was very appropriate name for the Publisher. When you read the book you get the feeling that you are being mentored or coached. I bought this book because the description of other blackjack books focused on card counting. I was not interested in card counting because I believed card counting would be difficult. I loved Blackjack Bluebook II because it was written with the awareness that not everyone is going to be a card counter. Basic blackjack strategy is emphasized at the beginning of the book with explanations and reasoning given to make the recommended play. I was a horrible blackjack player before I read this book. I made many of the mistakes documented in the "Commonly Misplayed Hands" section of the book. I now feel that I have an excellent understanding of basic blackjack strategy. I am kind of excited about it.If you want to go beyond basic strategy there is a chapter titled, "What comes after Basic Strategy". I enjoyed learning how to play a tough hand like a 16 vs the dealer 10 up card. There is a special rule that is easy to remember called the rule of 45. The rule gives you a better chance to win this tough hand. This chapter also includes adjusting how to play 7 hands (The Majestic 7) based on the other cards that you can see on the table (board layout). If you want to become a legitimate card counter there are 5 chapters that coach you, step by step, from basic card counting to advanced card counting. Before I read this book I did not think I was capable of counting cards, but I now I think I can. The first card counting chapter, "KISS Card Count", describes a basic card counting system and includes exercises to help you learn to count cards using this system. I liked the examples that were provided and I really liked the self check method of counting down a 52 card deck to 51 cards and using your newly learned skill to determine the value of the last unknown card. Is it a low card, a high card or a neutral card? It is very satisfying when you realize that you can reliably determine the value of the last unknown card.I bought 3 blackjack books when I became interested in learning more about blackjack. Blackjack Bluebook II was the best. The mentoring personality of the writer comes through clearly and makes the book very interesting to read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Blackjack Bluebook II and highly recommend it to beginners or blackjack players of any skill level.

There is no way a person can remember all the rules set up in this book

Pros:This book is great for people who want to perfect their blackjack gaming strategy--and I do mean "perfect" it. This writer really pours his heart into giving you every single advantage possible. There's also a lot of interesting stastical information offered on just how much it makes a difference if you hit or stay when you have a 16 and the dealer has an up card 10. I just loved learning that and it helps me make more informed dicisions when I play. So even if you aren't a gamble fanatic, this book will help you on some level, especially if you haven't already read a slew of other blackjack training books. Lastly, it's easy and fun to read and not too technical.Cons:I was a bit amused when I saw the tip on a specific hand that gives something like 2/3 of 1/10th of 1% advantage when you use it under a specific circumstance. I am not that much of a die-hard player to be excited about that. All in all, if you don't have the time to study basic strategy, advanced strategy, card counting, and then memorizing a new strategy according to the count, this book will only serve as a method to quench your curiosity, improve your play a little bit, and nothing more. If you do study it, your advantage is small no matter how much you learn, but it only works right if you make the right move on each bet to get that advantage. Make the wrong choice a couple times an hour and your advantage is gone. It just doesn't seem worth it to me personally because I only gamble once every 3 or so years. Still, it is still worth reading and I am giving it 4 stars because it actually delivers on what it promises.

buen libro que te explica muy bien la base del black jack mas alguna estrategia.

It looks at everything you need to play correctly and a number of counting methods. Excellent book indeed and all you need to review all known working methods and how to practice. So much better than much of the rubbish out there. This is a classic.

Very good!

Good book for anyone learning blackjack or wanting to increase their skills.

Most simple and useful book. Enjoy to read it. You can use the things you learnt immediately to play black jack.