80
Friday, April 20, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
What's Singer's secret? It's in the cards
Detroit native finds that winning at the blackjack tables here and
abroad is no penny-ante stuff
BY HEIDI PRESS
Local News Editor
Bobby Singer. Sounds
like the name of a guy you
went to high school with,
right?
Maybe you grew up with
him on Dexter.
If you went to Bagley and
Mumford and are in your
early 40s, then you might
know Bobby Singer.
I fofgot to add he's gorge-
ous. I mean GORGEOUS!
So what's the big deal
about Bobby Singer? Par-
don the pun, but the big deal
is what made Bobby Singer
a millionaire. He's a profes-
sional blackjack player.
We're not talking
penny-ante poker here.
We're talking the big time
— Vegas — where Singer
has parlayed a method for
winning at blackjack into
megabucks. It also has
earned him the ire of casino
owners who have barred -
him from playing at their
tables. If he wants to play
blackjack, he has to go out of
the country.
Singer was in Detroit last
week to share the wealth, so
to speak, to share with
others "The Bobby Singer
Method" of winning at
blackjack.
You'd think a man who's
made a career of winning
the big bucks at cards would
be flashy. Hardly. Meeting
for the interview, Singer
was dressed casually —
sweater and jeans. He's un-
pretentious in his dress in in
his manner. Several times
he turns a conversation
away from himself to learn
something about the person
speaking with him.
Singer prides himself on
neither smoking nor drink-
ing, and is particularly
proud of the fact that he has
been married for 24 years.
He smiles at wife Judy sit-
ting across from him at the
table as he says this. His
eyes shine when he speaks
of his children, two sons and
a daughter. And on top of
that, he's proud to be a Jew.
(At home in Phoenix he goes
to services every day.)
He is a far cry from the
stereotypical picture of the
gambler one's imagination
conjures up. Yet, since the
1950s, this man's only job
has been playing blackjack,
not only playing, but win-
ning at blackjack. (Asked
what he put in the "Occupa-
tion" space on his 1040 tax
form, he said "Gambler." He
laughed when he recalled
that after a recent Internal
Revenue Service investiga-
tion he was sent a refund
because he overpaid.)
What is The Bobby
Singer Method" and why
are people saying wonderful
things about it?
According to the promo-
tional materials, the Singer
method requires no memory
skills or special math apti-
tude. Rather, it employs a
five-part system aimed at
Singer emphasizes a point to the many who came to his
seminar at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
I
Photo by Benyas-Kau man
Bobby Singer demonstrates some of his strategy at a recent Detroit appearance.
helping the amateur or pro-
fessional blackjack player
beat the odds, in a manner
of speaking.
The system's components,
based on a pyramid plan,
are basic strategy, card
counting, money manage-
ment, casino awareness and
team play. The basic
,strategy centers around a
set of computer-derived per-
centage plays, the promo-
tional literature states. In
card counting, the player
assigns values to high and
low cards. On teaching
money management,
Singer offers a simple for-
mula which allows players
to place what he calls the
"correct" bet for each hand.
Casino awareness is a
two-part strategy. Part I
tells the player how to play
and win undetected, the ad-
vertising literature states,
while Part II deals with
"tricks of the trade." Basi-
cally, it has to do with keep-
ing one's wits about him,
ignoring the parade of beau-
tiful women and the steady
flow of alcoholic drinks.
Team play is the top level
of the pyramid, the portion
of the Singer strategy that
educates the players "how
to extract the largest sum of
money from the casino in
the shortest amount of
time."
Apparently his strategies
work. He has been so suc-
cessful that he has been
barred from casinos in Las
Vegas, Monte Carlo, South
Africa, the Caribbean and
elsewhere. He can go to
Haiti as a tourist, but must
stay away from the tables. If
he wants to play at any of
these locations he must be
disguised.
Singer has hit the
$100,000-plus mark in one
day's playing more than
once. What's the longest
he's ever played a game?
His longest sitting, or
rather standing — he
stands when he plays — is
25 hours.
Because of the large
amounts of his winnings,
Singer must take special
precautions. He explains:
"On leaving the table
with a tremendous victory, I
would never remove the
chips. They would stay and
the security would take
them to the casino cage
where they'd be transported
to a piece of paper and I
would leave with slips of
paper as opposed to dollars."
In foreign countries, "I
leave with drafts."
He prides himself on what
he calls the uniqueness of
his system. "We have an ex-
tremely unique program,
unique in the fact that there
are very few people that did
what I do and, therefore,
there are very few people him.
"I continued on with it,
that can, let's say, be com-
petitive in the marketplace headed out for Vegas and
with the sharing of informa- had the attitude that this is
tion legitimately to the con- going to be what I wanted to
do the rest of my life. It's a
sumer so they can, in effect,
learn. The American lot of fun. It's a fairytale
Academy of Blackjack, life."
How did his parents feel
which is a foundation I
created, is an Arizona non- about his newfound avoca-
profit corporation for creat- tion? "It didn't matter." He
ing a network of informa- speaks fondly about his par-
tion for the consumer and ents. His mother, "a
the program is an over- Feldman," moved to
Scottsdale, Ariz., about 1 1/2
whelming success."
The Detroit native goes years ago. About his father,
on a grueling 40-city North who died in 1977, he is emo-
American tour each year. In tional. "He was an ex-
addition to his North tremely important factor in
American tour, he visits my life . . . My father and I
Australia, Scotland, Lon- were a team. He was a
don, Mexico. Last year he really nice person."
Has success spoiled
appeared on morb than 500
radio and TV programs and Bobby Singer? Don't bet on
gave more than 175 lec- it. When he visits a new
tures. Does this schedule city, rather than go the
tire him out? "It makes me swanky, expensive, hotsy
tick. I enjoy it. I'm not a totsy restaurants, he looks
sleeper. I never was. It's a for a Friday's, a more
family-oriented dining spot.
lot of fun."
When he speaks 'to
What kind of people come
to learn about the Singer .groups, rather than accept
method? According to an honorarium he'll tell the
Singer, people from all organization to donate his
walks of life, young and old, fee to a local children's
employed and unemployed. cancer center.
The program is in its
Even TV presidents have
attended his seminars. fourth year, and Singer says
"They were tired of losing in he'll probably continue for
casinos and being intimi- another four- or five more.
"It's so much fun, it's unbe-
dated," he said.
How does a nice Jewish lievable."
About his plans for the fu-
kid from Detroit become a
millionaire master ture? Don't be silly. It's in
blackjack player? In the the cards.
For information about
early 1950s Singer said he
The Bobby Singer Method"
played a game that was a
derivative of blackjack, and call his toll-free number,
figured that was the life for 1-800-528-2803.