Knock-Out Blackjack: The Easiest Card-Counting System Ever Devised

by Olaf Vancura, Ken Fuchs

The Knock-Out card-counting system eliminates the mountain of mental arithmetic necessary to win at blackjack. The scientifically devised unbalanced K-O count can be used profitably anywhere blackjack is Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Mississippi, riverboat casinos, Native American casinos, the Bahamas, and on cruise ships.

This second edition, revised and expanded, is now easier to use than ever. Step into the ring and learn

Implement an abbreviated system—the “K-O Rookie”— that’s powerful enough to yield a player advantage and simple enough to be mastered in a few hours.
Advance to a profession-level system—the “K-O Preferred”—which performs on par with the most sophisticated systems on the market.
Win the cat-and-mouse game between the casinos and the players.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a professional blackjack player, and I am never going to be. I have no intention of putting in the work for it either. I am a recreational player, and I'm never going to pay off my mortgage gambling. What I do is I want to win a little, and enjoy myself. What I do is read a few books (20+), on a subject I like (blackjack) with 2 hopes... 1. Master the Basic Play enough to get my odds almost even with the house, and then 2. Find a simple enough system to help me recognize when I have the advantage, so I can bet bigger and win.

This is what I like about this book. In very simple terms, it lets you know the basics of several other popular methods, and why this one is different (simpler). It also explains a few things (Initial Running Count, True Count, etc.) in very easy terms for the layman to understand. It also gives you a few simple tricks on how to actually count the cards (go through 1 deck, then start recognizing and counting pairs, then go through 2 decks, etc).

For a layman, or entertainment player, this is a book I found very helpful. If you have read a lot of books, and are attempting to be a professional gambler this book might be too simple for you. However, if you are like me, and just want to hit the casino on vacation but play with a significant advantage, this might be the book you've been looking for!

[Barney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used Vancura’s KO count when I first started playing blackjack. I didn’t win much but didn’t lose much either. I don’t like using it for multiple deck shoe games because you have to count off some really big numbers (“-20,-19,-20,-21, etc.) which gets tedious especially if you’re talking with the dealer and other players.

And it’s not too good for insurance betting, so I switched to a balanced count system. It contains some good charts for dealer busting and strategy play rankings.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written, in-depth introduction to counting cards for blackjack. Quite educational.

[Zach Opsitnick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Told me nothing that I already didn't know and it did so in a very confusing manner.

[Randy Reichenfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good but don't expect to quit your job and count cards. It's kinda miserable

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

best blackjack book with a system you can actually follow