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.