The Theory of Blackjack Writen by Peter Griffin

Peter Griffin

Peter Griffin was one of the first seven original inductees of the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Peter Griffin was best known for his book The Theory of Blackjack which is considered a classic in analyzing and understanding behind blackjack. He had studied at the Portland State University and had received a Masters from University of California. Peter Griffin had taught various equations, calculus and statistics at the California State University since 1965 till his death in the year 1998.

His first encounter with blackjack had been in the year 1970 when he had proposed introducing a course on the mathematical side of gambling and went to the casinos in Nevada in order to do research. His trip gave him quite a lot of understanding on the subject and he decided to do some serious research on blackjack. He had collected extensive data on the players in the Atlantic City and had compared their patterns against the players in Reno and Las Vegas.

Peter Griffin is considered to be a master of disguise and subtlety and he preferred his visits to the casinos to be incognito. For twenty years, he had struck terror into the hearts of the bosses of the Nevada casinos.

The Theory of Blackjack

The Theory of Blackjack by Peter Griffin is considered as one of the classics in the world of blackjack. The book is not really an introduction to the game. Rather it is for those players who already have a basic understanding of the game. Neither is the book an introduction to the strategy of card counting. Players who already have a basic idea of what card counting is or preferably know a card counting method would find this book interesting.

The book explains in great details why exactly card counting works in blackjack, how the systems had been derived. Also, the book explains how the various card counting systems can be compared to see which ones are efficient and which ones are not. The Theory of Blackjack also explains players how to calculate the probabilities which can be used in order to determine the values or the expect return from the different hands. This information can then be used to design a tool which can be used for optimal play.

The Theory of Blackjack is ideal for anyone who is already comfortable playing blackjack in casinos and has an understanding about the difficulties of card counting. It provides various derivations and mathematical formulations though there is a lot of valuable information which can also be understood without a background in mathematics but a lot more can be got out of the book if the derivations are followed.

Once the book is read and followed, players would be able to derive their own system for card counting which works out the best for them as well as calculate the expected values and probabilities for any given hand. The Theory of Blackjack in essence is a valuable read for any blackjack player who is looking for a better understanding of the game.

You can buy the book of The Theory of Blackjack here.