Target / Target 21 / T.a.R.G.E.T. ( blackjack)

Acronym for Table, Research, Grading and Evaluation Technique. An alternative system, originally formulated by Eddie Olsen and Jerry Patterson, to beat multi-deck Blackjack. TARGET's basic premise is that casino shuffling routines are non-random and tend to create biases in shoes, sometimes favoring the player (5% of the time) but mostly favoring the house (70%). The player must therefore identify and play in tables that show evidence of excess players' wins while avoiding tables which are "dealer-biased". A set of table-selection rules is provided, which focus on signs of players crowding the table (a lot of cigarette butts in the ashtrays, etc), for specific card sequences ("clumping") observed, etc. The system has been totally and convincingly shown to be pure snake oil, by a number of blackjack authors, through computer simulations, statistical analysis & logical arguments. [References: See Break the Dealer 1986 and BJ: A Winner's Handbook 1990, both by J. Patterson, for the system's presentation. Also see the comprehensive Sims on biased shoes in Blackjack Essays by Mason Malmuth, 1987. Also see Abdul Jalib's analysis of biases in his "In Search of Clumping" post archived in bjmath.com. See also Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong 1994, for simulations and exhaustive analysis of streakiness & bias resulting from various shuffling procedures.]