I was recently invited to play in the Daily Invitational Blackjack Tournament at Foxwoods in Connecticut. Tournament blackjack differs a great deal from the regular version, and my tournament strategy would - at best - be considered a work-in-progress. I've played in a few in the past, though, and had a lot of fun time and again, so I headed up to 'The Woods' for the day.

Blackjack Basic Strategy, played perfectly in a game with favorable rules, will reduce the edge against you to about one half of one percent, the best odds of any game in the casino. But still - it's a negative edge. While you can win in the short term on any given day, in the long term that one half percent edge against you will eventually grind you down if you play long enough and frequently enough.