A Look at the Blackjack Apprenticeship Boot Camp

Colin Jones is a former leader of the “Holy Rollers” blackjack team and has founded blackjackapprenticeship.com as a way of helping players learn to play. He’s been a guest on GWAE a number of times.

Several times a year, Blackjack Apprenticeship runs a two-day “boot camp” in Las Vegas. This is a $3,000 intensive training over two days. Players come out of there with the knowledge to count cards profitably. They are supposed to know perfect basic strategy when they arrive. Most do. Some don’t.

I thought it would be interesting to check this out. I last played blackjack professionally some 26 years ago and I am not interested in becoming a working blackjack professional again. But I was interested in seeing how good players can become in one weekend.

On a personal basis, I used the Uston APC count way back when — a poor choice in retrospect — and they use the HiLo count at the bootcamp. I know the HiLo count in general (2-6 each count as +1, 7-9 count as 0, and tens and aces count as -1), but I’ve never played it and never have memorized the indices for strategy deviations.

Day One of the bootcamp (a Saturday) was about becoming as profitable of a blackjack player as possible. They discussed ways to maximize EV, comps/cover/travel, and bankroll management. I skipped this. I was not interested in becoming proficient myself, but rather seeing how others progressed through the training.

On Sunday, which I attended, were checkouts, advanced stuff, and celebrity speakers. (Tommy Hyland, who has been leader of a blackjack team for 40 years, told his stories. Andy Bloch, former MIT blackjack player and WSOP bracelet-winner poker player told his. And I spent some time talking about whether it makes sense for blackjack players to also play video poker.)

There were levels of checkout. At a minimum, the players were tested as to whether they could keep the count and move their bets accordingly. That is, when the count moves up, could they increase their bet appropriately. This skill requires paying attention to the cards and being able to figure out how many cards are left. For some players, this is as far along as they got.

The next step is to use the index number deviations. That is, when you have 16 versus a dealer ten card, it’s a close play whether to stand or hit. Many other plays have index numbers as well. Mastering all of them is more difficult, but some players were up there.

A third level of checkout included all the above, plus somebody asking you questions, such as: “Where are you from?”; “Have you seen the show here?”; “Have you tried our steak house?”  These questions weren’t mean or unusual. They were merely to see if you could walk and chew gum at the same time. You will certainly face this in a casino, and competent players need to be able to handle this kind of thing. A few players had the game down at this level.

During the checkout, you could see which players had practiced hard in preparation for the boot camp, and which ones hadn’t. Several of the students came out ready to play. Others needed a lot more work. You simply must put in the work (before, during, and after the boot camp) before you’re ready. The students were pretty unanimous that they got their money’s worth and came away inspired to keep working.

There were some students who flunked the checkouts — even the most basic one. Some of these students will conclude that this is not for them. It simply requires too much work to become good at this game. Others will use this as a wake-up call and apply themselves. There is another bootcamp in a few months, and some of these people will be back (at a reduced price, I assume) to see how much they’ve improved and if they are any closer to success.

You certainly don’t need a certificate to play. Any player of age can go to any casino and bet away. But if you can’t pass checkouts, you probably don’t have the skills to succeed. Blackjack is a pretty cut and dried game mathematically.

I was asked several times if returning to blackjack is something I’m considering. The short answer is “No”. My traveling days are largely over, and my face is too well known by casino employees. Getting good again is within my capabilities, I believe, but it’s not how I want to spend the rest of my life.

I was also asked if I wanted to create a video poker weekend boot camp — and right now my answer is “No.”

Video poker is way too difficult to master in one weekend. In blackjack, once you learn basic counting skills, the adjustments for different rules and deck sizes are relatively minor. In video poker, you play Deuces Wild considerably differently than you play Double Double Bonus. And one pay schedule in Deuces Wild is played considerably differently than other pay schedules. Players are certainly capable of learning one game (or maybe two) in a weekend, but with more than that, they would be overwhelmed.

Also, the best game differs from casino to casino. The best game in one place is often not the same as the best game elsewhere. Starting out with 9/6 Jacks or Better might be good for players in some areas, but many parts of the country don’t have that game.

Finally, a major part of the video poker game is learning to deal with slot clubs and promotions. That’s a several-hour course in and of itself. And while I’m generally familiar with the casinos in Las Vegas, if someone lives in St. Louis, Tunica, Pennsylvania, etc., I just don’t have the depth of knowledge to explain how the casinos in each of those areas differ from each other.

Colin Jones joked that he was going to reserve the web address www.videopokerapprenticeship.com. If he does, I’ll be happy to work with him and help him on the course. But I don’t predict a lot of success for it.

If you’re interested in becoming a competent blackjack player, www.blackjackapprenticeship.com is a good place to start.