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Introduction Blackjack: The War for the Money | |
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The Mystery History | |
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The Long, Slow Birth of the Most Popular Casino Card Game in the World | |
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The Birth of Blackjack | |
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In the Beginning... Vingt-Un, Napoleon's Favorite Game | |
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Before the Beginning... Quinze, Like Blackjack with Bluffing | |
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If You Cut Quinze in Half... Still Bluffing | |
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And as for Insurance... | |
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But Before Quinze... Trente-Un, and a Sixteenth Century Card Sharp | |
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The Bone Ace Connection... where the Ace Equals One or Eleven | |
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Vingt-Un Makes a Splash in Europe | |
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Blackjack in the Wild West, or How Twenty-One Became Blackjack | |
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House Rules Change the Game Forever | |
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Let the Games Begin... | |
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The First Twenty-One Pro was a Woman | |
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The Cheaters Thrived | |
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Canfield's Prophecy | |
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Twenty-One Becomes Blackjack | |
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Ed Thorp versus the World | |
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The Real Story of Ed Thorp's Attack on the Casinos | |
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Mickey MacDougall, the "Card Detective" | |
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John Scarne, "The World's Foremost Expert on Gambling" | |
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The Scarne/MacDougall Feud | |
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Scarne Triumphs | |
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Enter Edward Oakley Thorpe... | |
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Scarne to the Rescue! | |
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The Downfall of John Scarne | |
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Jacoby Claims the Credit! | |
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Meanwhile, Back at the "World's Foremost Gambling Expert" | |
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The $100,000 Challenge | |
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Scarne's Mysterious WWII "Ten-Card Count" Pamphlet | |
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Let's Get Ready to Rumble! | |
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How Did It Get This Way? | |
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More Mathematicians Get Involved | |
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Beat the Dealer, Second Edition | |
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The Griffin Agency is Born | |
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Enter Lawrence Revere | |
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The Birth of Team Play in the 1970's | |
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Electronics Enter the Players' Arsenal | |
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Enter Stanford Wong | |
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Did Ken Uston Betray His Mentor? | |
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Big Boom on the Boardwalk | |
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The Cops versus the Robbers | |
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Atlantic City, Here We Come! | |
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The "Experiment" | |
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The Party's Over | |
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Uston Continues His Media Hype | |
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An Expert Goes Down the Tubes | |
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The Inside Scoop on the Campione Case | |
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The Atlantic City Casinos Fight for the Rights of the Stupid | |
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Indians, Riverboats, Lawsuits, and Loot | |
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The Michigan Indians Lead the Way | |
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The Feds Put the Law on the Indians' Side | |
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The Indian Casino Expansion Begins | |
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Bye-Bye Welfare, Hello Wealth! | |
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But the Indians Keep Coming | |
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The Cowboys Challenge the Indians | |
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Fast Fun in Phoenix | |
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But More Casinos Open in Other States | |
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The Wackiness in Windsor: Hyland's Team Arrested | |
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Options, Options, Options | |
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As the Industry Grew, So Did the Opportunities to Exploit It | |
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The New Game Protectors | |
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The Game, The Rules, The Strategies | |
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Playing the Game | |
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The Deal | |
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The Basic Structure and Object of the Game | |
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"Hard" Hands and "Soft" Hands | |
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Playing the Hands | |
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Insurance | |
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Hitting and Standing | |
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Busting | |
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Doubling Down | |
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Splitting, Resplitting, and Doubling After Splits | |
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Surrender | |
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No Hole Card | |
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Multi-Action | |
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The Dealer's Hand | |
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Uncommon Rules, Bonuses, and Side Bets | |
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Playing the Game Right | |
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The Basic Strategy | |
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Why Basic Strategy Works... The "Odds" | |
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What is a Half-Percent Advantage in Dollars and Cents? | |
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How Basic Strategy Works... The Logic | |
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The False Logic | |
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Using the Basic Strategy Chart | |
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The Order of Decisions | |
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How to Practice Basic Strategy | |
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Simplified Basic Strategy | |
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Insurance? Never! (Well... Maybe Sometimes...) | |
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The Cost of Errors | |
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The Odd Truth About "Even Money" | |
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The Value of a Blackjack | |
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When the Dealer Has a 10 Up | |
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When the Dealer Has an Ace Up | |
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How the Casino Thinks of Even Money | |
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How the Professional Player Thinks of Even Money | |
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How Should You Think of Even Money? | |
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A True Story | |
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Meet the Cards | |
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Meet the Ace, the Player's Strongest Ally | |
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When the Dealer Shows an Ace | |
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What the Ace Means to the Player's Hand | |
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A Brief History of Aces | |
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Meet the 10, the Most Important Denomination | |
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Meet the 9, 8, and 7, the Invisible Cards | |
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Meet the 6, 5, and 4-the Cards from Hell | |
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Meet the 3 and 2-the Trouble Cards | |
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How to Count Cards | |
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The Red Seven Count | |
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How to Practice Counting Cards | |
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Setting Your Starting Count for Casino Play | |
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The Red Seven Betting Strategy | |
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Beating the Multiple-Deck Games | |
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The "Trip" Bankroll | |
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The "Total" Bankroll | |
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The Red Seven Playing Strategy | |
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Table Conditions | |
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Keep It Simple | |
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Rules, Rules, Rules, and More Rules | |
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So Why All the New Rules? | |
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The Number of Decks in Play | |
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The Soft 17 Rule | |
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Doubling Down | |
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The Pair-Split Variations | |
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Surrender | |
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The General Rule on Rules | |
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The Alton Belle Massacre | |
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Multi-Action | |
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The I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Blackjack Games | |
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How to Beat "Over/Under 13" | |
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How to Beat "Royal Match" | |
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A Bit of History | |
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But You Don't Need to Count the Four Suits | |
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The Simple Royal Match System | |
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What's It Worth? | |
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How to Beat "Super Sevens" | |
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How to Beat "Lucky Ladies" | |
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What's It Worth? | |
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A Word about those Damnable Flux | |
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Beware of the Big-Flux Bankroll Eaters! | |
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How to Beat "Spanish 21" | |
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The Big Trick | |
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Simplified Spanish 21 Basic Strategy | |
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The Full Strategy | |
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So How Do You Beat Spanish 21? | |
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How to Beat "Super Fun 21" | |
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The Big Trick | |
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Super Fun 21 Rules | |
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Super Fun 21 Basic Strategy (Compared to Traditional Game) | |
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Beating Super Fun 21 with the Red Seven Count | |
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How to Beat "Double Exposure" | |
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The Big Trick(s) | |
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The Basic Theory | |
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The Simplified Basic Strategy | |
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The Red Seven Betting Strategy | |
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The Red Seven Playing Strategy | |
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How to Beat "Blackjack Switch" | |
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The Gimmick | |
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The Big Trick | |
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The Rules of the Game | |
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The Switch | |
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Defining the Dealer's Upcard | |
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Defining the Player's Hands with the WLPC System | |
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The Two-Hand Set Ratings | |
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When Switching Does Not Change the Power Rating | |
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The Blackjack Switch Basic Strategy | |
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Beating Blackjack Switch with the Red Seven Count | |
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The Red Seven Betting Strategy | |
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The Red Seven Playing Strategy | |
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How to Beat those Weird California Games | |
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No House Bank | |
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How Much Does that Commission Cost? | |
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Target = 22 | |
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No Bust | |
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Wild Cards | |
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Dealer's Options | |
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How Can the Average Player Beat the California Games? | |
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Having Fun in a Combat Zone | |
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Like it or Not, You Are the Enemy | |
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Play versus Work, Us versus Them | |
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The Field of Battle | |
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The Customer is Always Suspect | |
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A Glossary of Surveillance Terms | |
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Winning is Dangerous | |
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Story #1 | |
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Story #2 | |
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The Moral | |
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Survival Tips | |
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"Barred" versus "Backed Off" | |
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Cheating? At Blackjack? | |
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Blackjack's Sordid Past | |
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Why Cheat? | |
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What Will it Cost You? | |
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Payout "Errors" | |
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Cheating in Single-Deck Games | |
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Dealing Seconds | |
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Stacking a Blackjack | |
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Marked Cards | |
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Other Peeking Scams | |
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Preferential Shuffling | |
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Cheating in Multi-Deck Shoe Games | |
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The Short Shoe | |
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My Experience with Short Shoes | |
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Cutting the High Cards Out of Play | |
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What If the Dealer Cheats to Help You? | |
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What If You Suspect You've Been Cheated? | |
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The Eye in the Sky | |
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The Important Things to Know About Surveillance | |
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Should You Be a Refusal? The Pros and the Cons | |
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Should You Get a Player's Card? The Pros and the Cons | |
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Team Play | |
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Why Form a Blackjack Team? | |
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Why Not Form a Blackjack Team? | |
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Guidelines for Forming a Team | |
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Hole Cards, Devices, Shuffle Tracking, and Nevada-Style "Justice" | |
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The Peek Freaks Win in a Nevada Court | |
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But "Video Front Loading" Gets the Shaft | |
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The Anti-Device Law is Tried and Found... Vague | |
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More Nevada Justice | |
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"Tell" Play Tested in a Reno Courtroom | |
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Shuffle Tracking | |
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Odds, Ends, and Other Weird Stuff | |
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The Blackjack Hall of Fame | |
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Julian Braun | |
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Al Francesco | |
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Peter Griffin | |
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Tommy Hyland | |
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Lawrence Revere | |
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Max Rubin | |
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Arnold Snyder | |
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Keith Taft | |
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Edward O. Thorp | |
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Ken Uston | |
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Stanford Wong | |
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Twenty-One Questions | |
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Poetry | |
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A Visit from St. Who? | |
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Aces (or 42.08%) | |
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Charge of the Count Brigade | |
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Do Not Go Gentle into That Back Room | |
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The Griffin | |
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Prowl | |
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Blackjack Reality versus Blackjack Hype | |
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Appendix | |