The Playing 21 Blackjack Program -- Why We Made it

Why We Made The Playing 21 Program
‘Obvious’ Is The Most Dangerous Word In Mathematics

It Was Obviously Clear

Looking back over the last few years it’s a wonder, truly amazing really, that we actually pulled it off. This program truly is earth shattering. When something starts out as a pipe dream, and everyone around you thinks you are in well over your head, it sure seems a lot easier to just throw in the towel, than to see it through.

There is a quote we often repeat, but obviously do not live by. It says, “If the hole isn’t big enough, get a bigger shovel. If you get in over your head, stop digging.” To Jr. and I, even when in over our heads, the hole never seemed big enough. It seemed no matter what we accomplished, there was more to be done. Blackjack turned into one of those holes that we just couldn’t stop digging.

We both realized early on that the game was based totally on mathematics. Being ideas people who loved challenges, problems, controversy and venturing into uncharted waters, we knew there was far too much confusion in the world of Blackjack. It was impossible for 100s of different books and theories to all be correct, when mathematics and logic dictated otherwise. Who was right and who was wrong? Your guess is as good as ours, and quite possibly better. After all, we disagreed with the person we admired most, Edward Thorp.

What Would You Like To Know?

Jr. and I both agreed we had had enough of taking other peoples’ word as fact. The final blow likely came from a meeting in Las Vegas, when a very influential person in the gaming business, fancy title and all, slighted us in person. He made us see that we truly were just “nobody's”. Let me rephrase that; he made us see that we were truly “nobody's” in his eyes.

We had been taught that in life, you never look down on somebody unless you’re helping him up. We had been taught to be leaders, not followers, and that one person’s opinion is just that, one person’s opinion. Respect is 50 times easier lost than it is earned. If we were going to be “somebody's”, respected by anybody, we had to work 50 times harder, and go 50 times further than those before us. We then decided, to be on the safe side… we’d go a thousand times further.

For the better part of a year we asked ourselves questions about the game. We spent the entire time recording them, thinking and rethinking them, over and over. After we stumped ourselves and were unable to think of any more questions to ask about the game Blackjack, we had one last steak at the Comstock and began our journey. We searched for, and found, a team of programmers who owned a software development company in Ontario. Once we shared our dream with them, plans were laid to once again turn one of our dreams into a reality.

Three Years And 20,000 Man Hours

The Playing 21 Program was developed. It easily proved that every single person, who had a theory, was right or wrong. Every book and article, ever written on the subject, was at our mercy. There was nothing we couldn’t find out, and we did indeed make many shocking discoveries along the way. We proved that the casinos could not win at the game Blackjack as it is currently being offered. Yes, you read that right! The casinos could not beat the players, if the players simply did as the program showed them. Also, arguably as startling, many casinos had been handing out mathematically incorrect information to their very customers.

The Playing 21 Program broke a 400-year old game that many found confusing, wide open. Obviously, even those before us who wrote books didn’t have all the answers. Many were, and some still might be, quite confused.

As far as our inspirations, we have acknowledged those worthy here in the web site. We admire and respect Edward Thorp, and his work on Blackjack.

We are pissed off at the casinos and the gaming commissions, especially when they laugh when we tell them that many casinos have been handing out misleading information to their customers. Anyone near booth #3820 during the world’s largest gaming show, the Global Gaming Expo, in Las Vegas, September 2003 heard it first hand. Here is a $30 billion annual industry laughing and still taking advantage of the player’s confusion with regards to how the game is played.

The Last Laugh

Things won’t turn around in a hurry. You need to do you part as a player and share this site with all your friends, and people you meet in the casinos. Better still, right now, cut and paste this link and send it to your Blackjack buddies. They don’t need, or deserve, to be slighted and looked down upon. We know all too well how that feels. Make a difference and Voice your opinion. You can do both, and to us, they both matter!