| INTERNATIONAL
BLACKJACK CLUB

In the early
seventies, I found myself meeting a number of other
serious players. There was no pattern or purpose;
we just met through mutual interests, friends, at
conferences, or by noticing each other using similar
methods at the tables. Stories were eagerly passed
around about how particular players did and about
what playing conditions were at the popular casinos.
I found these discussions immensely valuable, particularly
when the infor-mation covered changes in rules or
suspicions of cheating at vari-ous casinos.
But
I was frustrated at the lack of real details or any
assurance that the stories were reliable. There was
no method of com-munication on a regular basis that
was detailed or accurate. In fact, there was no communications
of any type except for players' paths crossing randomly.
These are the reasons I decided to found the International
Blackjack Club (IBC).
The
IBC was designed to provide a central source for playing
information and answers to questions, the club newsletter.
The IBC Newsletter currently comes out four times
per year and con tains the latest facts and news about
Blackjack from member and myself. For example, the
early-surrender Basic Strategy giver in Chapter Six
first appeared in the newsletter. Member com-ments
are passed on as well as general news of the game.
Over thE first four years of its publication, the
newsletter published report; of player surveys showing
winning and losing session results. Th( goal was to
determine if there were significant differences fron
casino to casino in skilled-player win rates.

The
surveys indicated a wide variety of card-counter win
rate: over hundreds of sessions. Unfortunately, there
seemed to be nc year-to-year consistency. A casino
would be very highly rated, ther appear in the bottom
ten the following year. Most serious player: now track
casino playing conditions and rule variations. Thesc
factors are the most important in choosing a casino
in which tc play.
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