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Blackjack is hugely popular in casinos worldwide. This book analyzes the game in depth, covering its optimal strategies and its financial performance in terms of expected cash flow and associated risk. It is accessible to readers at all levels of skill.

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For decades, casino gaming has been steadily increasing in popularity worldwide. Blackjack is among the most popular of the casino table games, one where astute choices of playing strategy can create an advantage for the player.

RISK AND REWARD analyzes the game in depth, pinpointing not just its optimal strategies but also its financial performance, in terms of both expected cash flow and associated risk.

The book begins by describing the strategies and their performance in a clear, straightforward style. The presentation is self-contained, non-mathematical, and accessible to readers at all levels of playing skill, from the novice to the blackjack expert. Careful attention is also given to simplified, but still nearly optimal strategies that are easier to use in a casino. Unlike other books in the literature the author then derives each aspect of the strategy mathematically, to justify its claim to optimality. The derivations mostly use algebra and calculus, although some require more advanced analysis detailed in supporting appendices. For easy comprehension, formulae are translated into tables and graphs through extensive computation.

This book will appeal to everyone interested in blackjack: those with mathematical training intrigued by its application to this popular game as well as all players seeking to improve their performance.

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Preface.- Introduction.- Part I: Strategy.- 1: The Game.- 2: Playing the Hand.- 2A: Basic Strategy.- 2B: Composition-dependent play.- 3: Tracking the Cards.- 4.- Betting.- 4A: Yield, Risk, and Optimal Bet Strategy.- 4B: Betting Proportional to Current Capital.- 4C: Back-counting and Table-hopping.- 5: Playing the Hand When the Count and Bet Vary.- 5A: Play Strategies that Vary with the Count.- 5B: Counter Basic Strategy for the Variable Bettor.- 6.- Synthesis and Observations.- 6A: A Practical, Nearly-optimial Strategy.- 6B: Blackjack as a Recreation vs a Profession.- Part II: Analysis.- 7: Play Strategies.- 7A: Basic Strategy, Large Number of Decks.- 7B: Basic Strategy, Small Number of Decks.- 7C: Play Parameters Dependent on Identities of Initial Cards.- 8: Card Counting.- 9: Bet Strategies.- 9A: Risk and Capitalization.- 9B: Betting Proportional to Current Capital.- 9C: Back Counting and Table Hopping.- 10: Play Strategies with Card Counting.- 10A: Count-dependent Play Strategy.- 10B: Counter Basic Strategy.- References.- Index

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