The Blackjack Apprenticeship Podcast

Colin chats with Gina Fiore, professional gambler and longtime advantage player, about her new memoir Advantage Player: A Memoir of Blackjack, Backrooms, and Beginnings, out October 27. Gina has played on and run teams that have beaten casinos for millions, and she's the latest nominee to the Blackjack Hall of Fame. She says she wrote more about how to actually win in a casino than any book she's...

Joe748 and SD1 return for another Mailbag Q&A; about the costs and challenges of life as a card counter, from keeping travel expenses in check to handling requests for advice at the table. They discuss when expanded deviations are worth learning and why thorough records and professional tax guidance matter. They also share candid reflections on losing streaks, isolation, and casino burnout—and...

Johno returns to the BJA Podcast to join Colin and SD1 after winning another $100,000 playing blackjack part-time. The retired teacher shares what changed in his second 500 hours, from bigger bets and better game selection to having his fiancée join him at the tables. They discuss handling painful downswings, navigating casino back-offs, and learning when to walk away from a bad game. Johno also r...

What can casinos legally do after they identify a card counter, and where do they cross the line? Attorney and Blackjack Hall of Fame member Bob Nersesian returns to explain what has changed for advantage players in Nevada, why he believes regulators are increasingly siding with casinos, and what players need to know about trespass warnings, facial recognition, backroom detentions, surveillance fo...

Colin and SD1 sit down with BJA member Parcero to trace his path from a decade in nursing and casual basic-strategy play to disciplined advantage play. After months of rigorous training and a successful BJA Bootcamp test-out, Parcero says he grew an approximately $50,000 starting bankroll into the low six figures in just over 150 hours of play. Parcero explains how strict game selection, deck pene...

SD1, and Joe748 sit down to answer a wide range of listener questions covering blackjack strategy, side bets, travel, casino heat, facial recognition, and bankroll management. They discuss emphasize relying on mathematical analysis rather than intuition, caution against chasing unproven side bets or strategy updates, and explain the tradeoffs between maximizing EV and avoiding casino attention. Th...

Colin sits down with SharpCookie, she shares how she went from discovering card counting almost by accident to becoming a full-time advantage player with more than $300,000 in profits. She discusses the intense training, emotional swings, team support, casino cover tactics, backoffs, and trespasses that have shaped her career. She also explains how her background in competitive sports prepared her...

Sitting on your phone all day is a waste of time, right? Not if you're BJA member Magnum Wordsmith. In this episode, Colin and Joe748 are joined by the aforementioned Magnum Wordsmith. They discuss topics such as transitioning from playing in a band at casinos to playing blackjack, developing his own system to beat a mobile app, becoming a full-fledged casino AP, the importance of taking care of o...

Colin and Joe748 are joined by BJA member Gilgamesh to share how a lucky first trip to Las Vegas led him from casual blackjack player to full-time advantage player. After training with BJA, attending a boot camp, and counting cards part-time while working long hours as an engineer, he left his $128,000-a-year career and committed to life on the road. He discusses the successes and failures of play...

John Mehaffey co-founded Vegas Advantage in 2018 with his wife, Kristina. The site covers Las Vegas table game minimums and rules, including where to find the best blackjack games and which ones to avoid. John and Kristina survey at least a dozen Las Vegas casinos every month to find the latest game conditions for their Patreon members. You can find their Las Vegas blackjack information here: http...

Joe748 and SD1 are back for a new mailbag episode to answer more questions from socials and the BJA community! They're discussing bankroll expectations, heat management, chip cashouts, wonging, ID requests, bet sizing, and whether advanced count systems are worth learning. Emphasizing that many decisions are situational: the mathematically optimal play is not always the best real-world move once h...

Colin and Joe748 sit down with BJA member Jaw5reaker to talk about how he went from a rough first Vegas trip to winning over $100,000 counting cards in less than 300 hours. They get into his early training, what changed after joining BJA, learning to handle backoffs, bankroll decisions, playing above EV, splitting 10s, sleeping cheap on the road, and why the human side of advantage play matters on...

Colin, SD1, and Joe748 discuss professional card counting income, burnout, team play, finding Stand 17 games, “flow of the cards” myths, superstitions, wonging in and out, and how new players should get started. They compare solo play and team play, emphasizing that teams can pool bankrolls and reduce variance but also create trust, conflict, and accounting problems. The guys also push back agains...

Joe748 and SD1 talk with Australian advantage player DoubleAny2, who explains how he adapted when continuous shufflers made traditional blackjack harder to beat in Australia. He describes finding a major edge in electronic blackjack machines by combining card counting with creative ways to estimate deck depth, exploit promotions, and avoid attention, ultimately winning well over $700,000. The conv...

Colin sits down with Max Rubin who share stories from a lifetime in gambling, tracing his path from growing up around casino cheating to becoming one of the most respected figures in advantage play. He talks about learning legal advantage techniques, discovering how casinos overvalued player losses in their comp systems, and turning that insight into the ideas behind Comp City. Max tells wild stor...

Steven Bridges is a UK-based professional Street Magician turned Blackjack Card Counter. We had the pleasure of meeting Steven back in 2018 when he attended one of our Blackjack Bootcamps. Since then, he has taken on the exciting challenge of going from beginner to pro in the world of professional card counting. Steven has documented the entire process from the beginning training to getting kicked...

Joe748 and SD1 interview “Fish,” a surveillance agent with an AP background, about how casinos actually identify and evaluate card counters. Fish explains that most surveillance departments focus heavily on table games, mispays, weak dealers, and obvious AP indicators like refusing a name, taking key deviations such as insurance, mid-shoe buy-ins, and unusual chip behavior. He also describes how r...

How do the trials of a married card counting duo compare to the endeavors of the typical solo card counter? Joining Colin and Joe748 are BJA member Flewster and his wife and they discuss: The heat difference between husband and wife, The flexibility of full time, The effect of card counting on their marriage, Getting in local hours, Second thoughts after losing half their bankroll, and more!  

SD1 and Joe748 are joined by Colin to answer questions about bankroll requirements, optimal playing conditions, and advanced strategy decisions in card counting. The discussion covers whether a $10K bankroll is realistic, why bet spreads—not just deviations—drive most of a counter’s profit, and how casino conditions like table crowding or payout rules dramatically affect expected value. They also...

Colin, SD1, and Joe748 talk with Blackjack Hall of Famer Darryl Purpose about how he got his start in card counting as a teenager after reading Beat the Dealer, eventually joining Ken Houston’s blackjack team. Darryl shares stories from decades of advantage play, including team dynamics, international trips, and memorable casino moments. The conversation also covers how blackjack has changed over...

With 450 hours and counting in at the blackjack tables so far this year, BJA member and full-time card counter CurlyFry joins Colin and Joe748 to discuss: Betting $250 on a $2500 bankroll, Getting a cruise ship casino to change their rules, Getting backed off on a first date, Playing in Monte Carlo, the advantages and disadvantages of being a female AP and more! **Originally aired Nov 9th, 2022**

SD1 and Joe748 kick off the first mailbag episode of 2026, answering a wide range of questions from the BJA community. They dig into topics like deck estimation, one hand vs. two hands, advanced counting systems, session length, loss limits, CTRs, new tax laws, and whether double‑deck is worth playing with crowded tables. They also talk about comps, resizing bets mid‑session, and the reality of pl...

Joe748 and SD1 sit down with longtime card counter JoeMiner, who shares his 30‑plus‑year blackjack journey—from his early days in the 90s to his modern approach as a retired AP. Joe talks about how the game has changed, transitioning from double deck to 6 and 8 deck, how aging has affected his play, and how joining BJA reignited his passion. He recounts memorable backoffs, training challenges, and...

Joe748 and SD1 answer more questions form BJA Forums and socials about casinos not cashing your chips out, choosing the most profitable blackjack games, and whether other players’ decisions affect your results. They also explain how to handle back-room situations and the smartest ways to store or move money when you're working with large bankrolls. 

Joining Colin and Joe748 in episode 92 of the BJA podcast is full time card counter and Blackjack Apprenticeship member PirateAP. They discuss: Receiving pushback on going full time, Playing blackjack like a ploppy, Travel hacks, How to choose casinos when planning a trip, and more!