The Blackjack Apprenticeship Podcast

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...

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!

Joe748 and SD1 sit down with BJA member Bluejack to talk about his journey into card counting. Bluejack shares how he went from discovering  BJA, starting out slow, and eventually moving into high-stakes double-deck play. He discusses heat, avoiding ID, backoffs, huge wins, painful downswings, and the importance of networking with other APs.

SD1 and Joe748 discuss strategies for handling high-minimum games, managing chip inventories to avoid CTRs, how to approach betting spreads with small bankrolls and the future of card counting amid changing casino environments, and whether new technologies like AI or cashless systems might threaten the game.

In this episode, Colin and Joe748 are joined by full time card counter Markopolo212, and they discuss: Starting with a small bankroll, Almost losing his whole bankroll after hundreds of hours, Attending a bootcamp, Regrets from playing double deck, the midwest meetup, and more.

Joe748 and SD1 sit down with full-time APs and BJA Members 6FootShoe and FloorModelRolex to trace their paths from dealer/health coach to road-warriors and card counters. They unpack big wins and brutal downswings, team play and trips, the realities of heat and mid-shoe back-offs, and the systems, discipline, and teamwork it takes to turn EV into AV at the tables.

In this episode originally aired on 9/28/21, Colin and Joe748 are joined by a former casino employee and current AP that goes by 'Phantom'. Their discussion includes: The skill level of the average casino employee, What could trigger a call to surveillance, How he protected the game from card counters as a floor supervisor, Casino backoff procedures, and much more!

Colin and BJA pros Joe748, SD1, and Nickels answer community questions fresh off a bootcamp. They cover everything from bankroll management and avoiding heat when not playing negative counts, to side bets, player’s cards, and favorite blackjack books—all while sharing casino stories and lessons from their own experience.

Colin interviews legendary MIT Blackjack Team pro Mike Aponte about joining the team, rebuilding it after the failed “Strategic Investments” era, and how ruthless training, selective recruiting, and disciplined team play turned a $300k bank into multimillion-dollar wins. Aponte details his checkout gauntlet, cover tactics, and why intangibles (calm under pressure, “firing the bets”) matter more th...

Fresh off a BJA bootcamp, Colin sits down with Nickels, SD1, and Joe748 to tackle the question: What are the ethics of advantage play? They unpack ethics vs. legality, the role of deception and cover stories, and where “acting” at the table crosses a personal line. The crew debates dealer errors, shot-taking, whole-carding, and the Phil Ivey edge-sorting case, plus trespass/ID requests and how one...