This book is exactly what I hoped it would be: a simple explanation of “universal basic strategy” for blackjack. Jensen’s book is much shorter and less complicated than the other books I skimmed through.
He’s able to do this in part because he includes no card counting strategies; his focus is entirely on playing the best possible blackjack without counting. I am told that even card counters must play strictly by the rules of basic strategy if they are to benefit from counting.
With counting out of the picture, Jensen goes to work with the basic strategy rules and gradually adds the nuances that comprise the canon of universal basic strategy, offering helpful repetition along the way. Once these rules are learned, the decisions in blackjack become pretty much black and white, except, I suppose, for how much one bets. Every single situation demands a particular decision, one that produces the best odds of beating the dealer over the long haul.
This book is clearly for the novice rather than for an advanced player, but for novices Jensen’s book may be one of the easiest to read as well as one of the most useful books out there.