Blackjack Card Counter's Cafe'
One of the finest interactive free sites on the Internet for Blackjack players and Card Counters is Yahoo's
Blackjack Card Counter's Cafe'.
Yahoo is the #1 destination on the Internet
for good reason: it provides services to Internet users that are useful. Yahoo! Clubs number in the hundreds and cover almost
every topic the human mind can wander into. Each Club has a founder and is dedicated to helping people with like interests
communicate about their favourite subject. As of this writing, there are over 175 members here, and over 700 messages posted
for viewing and comment!
The Founder, John May of Baccarat for the Clueless fame, has this message for prospective members:
"This is a forum for the discussion of card-counting and count-related strategies such as backcounting and shuffle-tracking. Professionals and recreational counters are welcome. Discover, contribute, enjoy!"
The site seems to be "teaming" (pun intended) with skilled Counters. Though the site is founded by John May, it seems to be moderated and well maned by "Zen Grifter". ZG, as he is known to the members, is a mentor to many, and a well read, well spoken, experienced Blackjack player. ZG recommends the Red 7's count found in Arnold Snyder's book Blackbelt in Blackjack : Playing 21 As a Martial Art as a good starting point for new counters that can be improved as they gain skill.
The club picture is none other than the cover of Don Schlesinger's
"Blackjack Attack: Playing the Pro's Way". Since I have become a member ( blackjackpro2000 ) I thought I should
purchase this book, and it is on it's way as I write. The 2nd Edition of this book will be available May 1, 2000. Updated with
an additional 32 pages of information, you may want to order the 2nd Edition in advance.
The other books often recommended in the messages are Professional Blackjack
by Stanford Wong, and The Theory of Blackjack : The Complete Card Counter's Guide to the Casino Game of 21
by Peter Griffin. There are so many great books on Blackjack I can't mention all of them, but you will be able to see what other players
have to say about these books in the postings on the site.
What you won't find here is the katty superiority complex that so often comes with masters of the not-so-well-known arts. Members show their professionalism in their knowledge and skill AND their behaviour. A quick look through the newsgroups unmoderated Blackjack area will give you a taste of what the BJCCC is NOT about. It's great to see people actually helping each other up the ladder of creating advantages for players.
Yahoo! really makes the Club an enjoyable interactive tool. Each member is given their own information page for instance. You can see mine at http://profiles.yahoo.com/blackjackpro2000. A member can put as much or as little information about themselves here as they wish. Favourite links, favourite quotes, and E-mail address are just a few of them. You can also add other players to your "Buddies List" and use an easily downloaded messaging program. Probably the best feature, and least used is a real-time chat area. I am sure as the members become as skilled with their PC's as they are with cards and chips this chat area will really begin to shine.
There is a calendar that can be used by the members to schedule events. For instance, if I were to host a chat session live at 8 P.M. every Thursday evening, I could put this information there and log into the chat area to participate in live conversation with the other members that decided to drop in. I'm sure it will not be long before we are having chats with some of the world's greatest Blackjack player's right here!
The main function of the Club is threaded messaging. Here are links to 10 of the postings I have made on the Yahoo! Blackjack Card Counter's Cafe'.
Re: Playing Strategy (Red 7's / Hi Opt II) - Message #676
Defying Standard Deviation? - Message #616
Re: Optimal Betting/Kelly Criterion - Message #594
Re: Optimal Betting Strategy - Message #567
Re: How to Count - Message #564
Re: 2 Hands vs 1 - Message #552
My Late Introduction - Message #540
Re: Counts within 10ths of a % - Message #474
Re: Casino Surveillance - Message #452 - My First Post!
If you are interested in joining The Blackjack Card Counter's Cafe', just click the Yahoo! picture below and it will take you there. I look forward to working with you on our game, and sharing a great resource available to Card Counters all over the Web, World Wide.