Blackjack Legends: Arnold Snyder

Some blackjack players become legends for their unparalleled profits at the table, and quirky stories away from the felt. Others become blackjack legends because of their theories and contributions to the game. Arnold Snyder is of the latter variety because, while he’s definitely been a successful player, he has found even more success as an author. Since Snyder is such an interesting fellow, let’s dive a little deeper into his life and blackjack contributions.

Deck Penetration

As a card counter, Arnold Snyder was definitely ahead of his time since he developed the concept of deck penetration, or how far into the shoe a blackjack dealer is before cards will be reshuffled. Snyder shared this idea in his 1980 book The Blackjack Formula, which offered a number of other revolutionary concepts. Of course, deck penetration is the most noteworthy here because it’s still widely used by players today.

Blackjack Forum

Shortly after his ground-breaking book The Blackjack Formula was released, Snyder was quickly on to the next big thing as he released the Blackjack Forum. This was a very popular quarterly trade journal that talked about blackjack strategy, upcoming events, interviews with famous players, and profiles on blackjack legends. Interestingly enough, the Blackjack Forum is still around today as a website, and Snyder presides over the site.

Other Blackjack Books

Arnold Snyder has never stopped working as a blackjack author since he’s written multiple books over the years. Some of his other publications include Blackbelt in Blackjack, Big Book of Blackjack, The Blackjack Shuffle Tracker’s Cookbook, Blackjack Wisdom, The Poker Tournament Formula and How to Beat the Internet Casinos and Poker Rooms. Of these books, The Blackjack Shuffle Tracker’s Cookbook was really helpful to professional blackjack players since it was the first true analysis of various shuffle tracking methods.

Other Activities

As if Snyder hasn’t done enough in the blackjack world, he is also one of the biggest advocates of professional blackjack players. In fact, he made big news after testifying in favor of pro player Tommy Hyland, who was being prevented from playing in many casinos and blackjack tournaments throughout North America. Aside from Hyland’s case, Snyder has also been asked to testify in other big cases involving professional blackjack techniques and strategy. It’s also worth mentioning that he frequently pokes holes in and exposes phony gambling systems that are sold by crooked people trying to make money off of innocent players.

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