The Ultimate Edge

The professional blackjack scene in the 1980's was something never seen before or since. Card counting was rising in popularity, and the cat and mouse game between card counters trying to make a living and the casinos trying to hold on to their money created a real battle of wits. This book brings you there.

I ordered this book several months ago and finally got around to reading it. I wish I could go into the way back machine and kick myself for waiting so long. What a incredible story! I spent most of the last weekend finishing it up. The book is a great history lesson on the early pioneering days of advantage blackjack gambling. I don't think this information can be found anywhere else.The author goes out of his way to explain why the team did certain things and the math involved. Without this foundation I don't think the reader can appreciate what they went through.Highly recommended.

This book is of historic value for "Advantage Players" (especially Professional Blackjack Players)The reason that it is historic is that it takes place about 30 years ago.At that time Blackjack was a much much easier game to win at.Today's game is very difficult for anyone to beat.The characters in this book travel Europe and the U S A playing with hidden computers and hidden cameras.These days, such methods will result in a prison sentence, as mere possession of these items are felonies.On the plus side, somewhat surprisingly, the writing style is very very good.

This book way exceeded my expectations. It was well written and interesting, and showed the coevolution of casinos and professional blackjack players trying to play with an edge through the seventies and eighties. What I found especially interesting was the amount of work involved in attaining an edge, and how casinos constantly upgraded their games to make it all the more difficult for professionals, who in turn had to figure out how to counter the changes to the casinos' games. Learning perfect basic strategy and how to count cards isn't sufficient in modern games.

This book won't teach you anything about how to play blackjack, but it will open you mind to the what is possible when some very smart people put their mind to something. I recommend the book and you will have a tough time putting it down.

One of the best books ever on advantage play

My brother in law was Pop in this book. Also friends with a few of the others. Pop was an amazing person. Rest in piece. 9/11/2017

Tremendous book. I read it twice (I never read anything twice), and saw many things I missed the first time. The story is great, but it's the writing that puts this book in a league of its own. There are dozens of little asides that are snarky, snide, rude, and just damn funny. It's hard to put this book down!!I also learned a lot about blackjack. One thing; I used to think the guy at third base (the last spot on the table) controlled the table, but Billings has convinced me that that isn't true. Billings explains this really well: about a third of the time, a bad play will hurt me, a third of the time it'll help me, and a third of the time it won't matter what the hell he does,. I never would have believed this, but the way the author explains it, it makes perfect sense. I'm a convert. I will definitely ready it again. Highly recommended. I literally don't know anyone who wouldn't like this book.

Just a phenomenal account of professional blackjack given by a fantastic storyteller. Factual interludes and an interesting plot, anyone who likes blackjack will love this book.