Blackjack Ace Prediction
Copyright © 2004  ISBN: 1-879712-10-5 ( ISBN: 1879712105 )   MSRP: $19.95

A book by David McDowell
Foreword by Michael Dalton
Cover art by Abigail Kamelhair

Reviews and Reader Comments

NOTE: David McDowell's book is also the center of some controversy within the AP blackjack community.  For information on a major critique of the book click here.

"David McDowell has written the best book of the new millennium on blackjack advantage play, by quite some distance. The book is a rare combination of creative innovation and intellectual rigor, qualities found in some of the more talented gambling authors but very rarely both together. In time I believe it will be held up as a blackjack classic second only to Thorp's seminal "Beat The Dealer".

"The book covers the art of blackjack sequencing, a dark art that even very few gambling professionals truly understand, let alone have mastered. The basic method involves memorizing a string of cards hoping that their order will be partially maintained by the shuffle. Under optimal conditions, this can give you an advantage a card counter could only dream of. The method is both completely legal [and] very difficult to detect."

"Although writers like myself, David Morse and Arnold Snyder have hinted at the possibilities of sequencing, McDowell is the first writer to completely explain all of the fine detail required to predict aces successfully, and in a stroke render all other writings on the subject obsolete. Every piece of information you could possibly need to use this extremely powerful technique is contained within. There is no waffle, though the book also uses some entertaining stories by way of illustrating the techniques therein, and is surprisingly readable given the scientific and dry nature of the basic subject matter. The book is worth several hundred times its cover price, and is an essential purchase for the intelligent gambler, particularly those who like to travel, where ace prediction techniques can be used with devastating effect."
--- John May -- author of the books Baccarat for the Clueless and Get the Edge at Blackjack

“With his compelling Blackjack Ace Prediction, David McDowell, a relative unknown in the blackjack world, bursts onto the scene in impressive fashion. His scholarly approach to the subject, replete with enlightening illustrations and copious footnotes, is a joy to read. I have a feeling that the relatively small group of players already aware of the techniques that McDowell describes are not going to be happy that he has gone 'mainstream' with the information. This is a well-researched treatise, and I'm happy to recommend it to serious students of the game.”
--- Don Schlesinger – author of the book Blackjack Attack: Playing the Pros' Way

“Thorp didn't want to publish on Ace location, and my chapter on the subject is short for the same reason.  Nevertheless, here it is, 160 pages in plain English, and worth its weight in flawless diamonds.  Blackjack Ace Prediction is the fire from the dragon's mouth, bound to burn unsuspecting tables around the world.  This book is a total must-have for the serious blackjack player.”
--- Rob McGarvey - author of the book Aces and Faces Blackjack

“There is no doubt that the basic Ace location strategy discussed in the book was the “secret” of many of the successful blackjack teams of the 80s and 90s. As such, there will be many players that will be unhappy that this information has finally been published in detail. But I believe the time has finally come to let the world in on the big secret. ... According to research I performed for my Encyclopedia of Blackjack (Twenty-One), there are over 200 books that have been published on the game of blackjack, not to mention over 150 technical reports on the subject. But to be perfectly honest, there are only a handful of books that are worth your time and effort to study. In my opinion, this is definitely one of those books.  Many will consider David’s work as the final chapter in advantageous blackjack play – as the cat has finally been let out of the bag.”
--- Michael Dalton – author of the Encyclopedia of Blackjack (Twenty-One) and editor of the Blackjack Review Network

“Blackjack Ace Prediction offers a scholarly treatment of the subject with pragmatic potential for increasing profits for the serious blackjack player. David McDowell, the author, and Michael Dalton, the publisher are to be congratulated for this important addition to our knowledge of blackjack.”
--- Lance Humble – senior author of The World's Greatest Blackjack Book

“Blackjack Ace Prediction is a winner.  It will, no doubt, prove to be the best work on ace tracking published to date.”
--- Steve Forte – author of the book Read the Dealer and the Gambling Protection Series videos

“Does shuffling a deck of cards put them into random order? Not exactly. This book explains how to follow particular cards through the shuffle to have a much-better-than-guessing chance of predicting when they will be dealt. This skill is particularly valuable when used to predict aces at blackjack. David McDowell discusses the work that has already been done on ace prediction by other people, and makes his own contributions to the topic.  All in all, an interesting work.”
--- Stanford Wong – author of the book Professional Blackjack

“McDowell's book is well researched and represents a wonderful compendium of all the important work relating to non-random shuffling and its effects on the game of blackjack. Probably the best book on Ace prediction today, and an interesting read to boot.”
--- Robert Hannum, Ph.D. –  Dept. of Statistics & Operations Technology, University of Denver

"David McDowell provides an interesting example of how the game of blackjack can still be exploited by the knowledgeable player. He does an excellent job integrating statistical inference with advantage play theory, and interesting gaming stories. This book is a must read for any player interested in assaulting the casinos by locating and tracking those valuable aces."
--- Bill Zender – author of the book Card Counting for the Casino Executive

"Against my better judgement -- an endorsement.  Within moments of opening this book for review, I was overwhelmed by two conflicting sentiments, both expressed by the same words: 'Oh my god, he's giving away the secrets!'  On the one hand, the information in this book was material I had always hoped to figure out myself some day. Here it all was, laid out in plain and easily understandable terms. The other side was that once out, casinos would take counter measures to insure that these techniques would no longer work. Such information is rarely made public. Please note that we are NOT selling this book, and do not stand to benefit in any way from its sale."

"Among its multitude of gems, it gave a very powerful explanation of tracking aces through two common shuffles. As I recall, these were a 2 pass R&R and the stepladder shuffle (used everywhere). There is so much to recommend in this book, that it is an absolute must for every serious advantage player looking to move beyond counting towards much larger advantages.  Again, this site gets nothing from recommending this book (it is not even in our store). I am recommending it because it is the first really great new book to have been written in a long time.

"The book is fantastic... An immediate classic."
--- Eliot Jacobson (aka "The Mayor") - http://www.CardCounter.com

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