Reviews and More

A couple years ago someone gave me a book called Talking About Japan. It’s a bilingual book, which means that it has Japanese on one side and the corresponding English text on the other. I really like this book and have gotten a lot of mileage out of it.

First of all, this is a great way to improve your Japanese (or English, I guess) reading skills. You can obviously check your comprehension of the passages very quickly, and you’ll even learn some new kanji along the way. And second, the book covers a lot of interesting topics, so you’ll benefit from it even if you’re not studying the language. You’ll learn everything from the country’s geography to its crime statistics and fortune-telling beliefs.

This is one of my favorite books on Japan, so check it out!

I’m in the market for a new cell phone, but really don’t know much about all the different brands and carriers out there. It would take me forever to go from store to store in order to conduct a full comparison of phone features and contracts, and that’s obviously not a task that I look forward to.

So it’s a good thing I heard about Wirefly.com. They are the Internet’s largest authorized dealer for every major cellular company in the U.S., which means they’re in a position to offer the lowest rates around. In addition, Wirefly.com has a huge cell phone selection featuring all the latest models from leading manufacturers, and they’ll even help you find a service plan that fits your needs. In short, Wirefly really is a one-stop site for everything related to mobile phones.

With free shipping and 100% satisfaction guaranteed, it’s worth giving Wirefly a look!

About 10 years ago, I was very serious about playing blackjack. I memorized Basic Strategy, learned how to count cards, and generally wanted to take my game to the next level. So I purchased as many blackjack books as I could get my hands on, including Blackjack for Blood by Bryce Carlson.

In Blackjack for Blood, Carlson presents a counting strategy called the Advanced Omega II. It’s a Level 2 counting system and is supposed to give the player a 1.1% advantage in a four-deck game. (Get used to those small percentages; the thing about counting cards is that you do an awful lot of work for very slight gains.) Carlson provides all the usual charts about which plays to make in which situations, and you’re supposed to memorize these plays so thoroughly that they become second nature to you.

I’d been playing blackjack for a long time prior to studying the Advanced Omega II, so I wasn’t intimidated by all the charts. Most of the plays were intuitive, so I just had to memorize a few of the more unusual ones. Although I did pretty well in practice sessions at home (playing at a VERY slow pace), I could never keep track of the count under casino conditions, so the system ended up being worthless to me. Would a more seasoned player have better luck with the Advanced Omega II? Possibly; but to tell you the truth, I’ve never heard anyone talking about Bryce Carlson or his system, so who knows?

Besides presenting the counting system, Carlson gives some advice on how to be a successful pro blackjack player. Some of the tactics he suggests are hokey, while others are just downright cheating. For example, he tells readers to use wigs, fake mustaches, hats, glasses, etc. so that pit bosses don’t recognize you as a professional. Pretty cheesy, if you ask me. And he tells readers how to stack their chips on a double down instead of placing them alongside the original bet in order to get a chance at quadrupling their original bet.

Overall, I think there are better blackjack books out there than this one. I give it 6 stars out of 10 and recommend that beginners skip this book altogether.