Wild Cards : A Year Counting Cards with a Professional Blackjack Player, a Priest, and a $30,000 Bankroll

Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Introduction; Part One: The Feel of Money; Chapter 1: Learning the Count; Chapter 2: Blackjack Basics; Chapter 3: I Meet the Pro; Chapter 4: The Big Player; Chapter 5: A Rookie Move; Chapter 6: The Hook Is In; Chapter 7: Blackjack in the Andes; Chapter 8: Scouting the Indian Casinos; Part Two: Coast-to-Coast Blackjack; Chapter 9: The Extraterrestrial Highway; Chapter 10: On the Road; Chapter 11: Inside the Zen Mind; Chapter 12: Gambling Fever; Chapter 13: My Lucky Day; Chapter 14: A Divine Bankroll; Chapter 15: Casino in the Woods.;Philip Reed is coasting toward retirement, looking for one last adventure, when he meets Bill Palis, a professional blackjack player and former member of the legendary MIT team that took the casinos for millions. At a blackjack table in a strip casino, Phil sees Bill win 1,600 in 20 minutes of play#x97;and he's intrigued. Initially, he plans to write the book as a spectator, but Bill encourages him to overcome his fears, learn to count cards, and get a piece of the action for himself. The two men form a friendship and begin traveling and playing blackjack together, often with Father Andy, who kick. Philip Reed is coasting toward retirement, looking for one last adventure, when he meets Bill Palis, a professional blackjack player and former member of the legendary MIT team that took the casinos for millions. At a blackjack table in a strip casino, Phil sees Bill win $1,600 in 20 minutes of play—and he's intrigued. Initially, he plans to write the book as a spectator, but Bill encourages him to overcome his fears, learn to count cards, and get a piece of the action for himself. The two men form a friendship and begin traveling and playing blackjack together, often with Father Andy, who kicks in money so they can play out of a $30,000 bankroll. Phil, who has adult ADD, and flunked math in high school, adopts the challenge of card counting as a way to banish the old ghosts of his poor self-image and build new synapses in his aging brain. With Bill as his tough mentor, Phil struggles to learn the game and secretly track the cards. As Phil's play improves, Bill teaches him to disguise his wins and avoid scrutiny from casino security and the Orwellian “eye-in-the-sky" security cameras. Philip Reed punctuates My Piece of the Action with short, funny, informational sections on various gambling-related subjects. These sections step outside the main story and add depth by investigating different card counting systems, the danger of gambling addiction, interviews with memory experts, and secrets of dealers, pit bosses, and casino surveillance specialists. Throughout, he takes a humorous look at casino characters, even as he begins to sink into the gambling world himself. Philip Reed is coasting toward retirement, looking for one last adventure, when he meets Bill Palis, a professional blackjack player and former member of the legendary MIT team that took the casinos for millions. At a blackjack table in a strip casino, Phil sees Bill win $1,600 in 20 minutes of play--and he's intrigued. Initially, he plans to write the book as a spectator, but Bill encourages him to overcome his fears, learn to count cards, and get a piece of the action for himself. The two men form a friendship and begin traveling and playing blackjack together, often with Father Andy, who kicks in money so they can play out of a $20,000 bankroll. Phil, who has adult ADD, and flunked math in high school, adopts the challenge of card counting as a way to banish the old ghosts of his poor self-image and build new synapses in his aging brain. With Bill as his tough mentor, Phil struggles to learn the game and secretly track the cards. As Phil's play improves, Bill teaches him to disguise his wins and avoid scrutiny from casino security and the Orwellian eye-in-the-sky security cameras. Philip Reed punctuates My Piece of the Action with short, funny, informational sections on various gambling-related subjects. These sections step outside the main story and add depth by investigating different card counting systems, the danger of gambling addiction, interviews with memory experts, and secrets of dealers, pit bosses, and casino surveillance specialists. Throughout, he takes a humorous look at casino characters, even as he begins to sink into the gambling world himself Title Page Copyright Contents Introduction Part One: The Feel of Money Chapter 1: Learning the Count Chapter 2: Blackjack Basics Chapter 3: I Meet the Pro Chapter 4: The Big Player Chapter 5: A Rookie Move Chapter 6: The Hook Is In Chapter 7: Blackjack in the Andes Chapter 8: Scouting the Indian Casinos Part Two: Coast-to-Coast Blackjack Chapter 9: The Extraterrestrial Highway Chapter 10: On the Road Chapter 11: Inside the Zen Mind Chapter 12: Gambling Fever Chapter 13: My Lucky Day Chapter 14: A Divine Bankroll Chapter 15: Casino in the Woods. Chapter 16: Standard Deviation RevisitedPart Three: Take the Money Chapter 17: Blackjack Brain Chapter 18: A Peak Experience Chapter 19: Confidence Builder Chapter 20: Blackjack Fortune-Teller Chapter 21: Tapping an Inside Source Chapter 22: Breaking Through Chapter 23: Sweet Revenge Epilogue: Leaving Las Vegas. "Philip Reed punctuates My Piece of the Action with short, funny, informational sections on various gambling-related subjects. These sections step outside the main story and add depth by investigating different card counting systems, the danger of gambling addiction, interviews with memory experts, and secrets of dealers, pit bosses, and casino surveillance specialists. Throughout, he takes a humorous look at casino characters, even as he begins to sink into the gambling world himself, "--Amazon.com