Blackjack Trainer vs Blackjack Apprenticeship
Blackjack Apprenticeship is a membership site that teaches card counting through a video course, drills, coach-graded certification, and a members' forum. Blackjack Trainer is a free web app with graded Courses, a training table, a betting calculator, and Ranked Play. Premium adds the other seven counting systems, the trip planner, the Coach, and the session logbook.
Comparison
| Feature | Blackjack Trainer | Blackjack Apprenticeship |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $39/year or $4.99/month, founding price (2026-09-12) | $397 Starter, $597 Apprentice, $997 Elite for the first year; all renew at $299/year (2026-09-12, plans and pricing, store) |
| Free tier | Everything Hi-Lo: the Basic Strategy and Card Counting Courses, Counting Exercises, the training table, the betting calculator, strategy charts, and Ranked Play | Strategy charts, a how-to-count guide, basic drills, and a mobile trainer app |
| Courses | Basic Strategy and Card Counting Courses. Each Lesson ends in a graded Checkpoint that records the EV Delta of every mistake | Video course |
| Trainer and exercises | Training table with a persistent shoe, bots, count spot-checks, and bet-ramp grading. Counting Exercises for tags, speed, deck estimation, true count, and deviations | Drills and a mobile trainer app |
| Counting systems covered | Hi-Lo free. KO, Red 7, Hi-Opt I, Hi-Opt II, Omega II, Zen, and Wong Halves with Premium, each with its own Course, exercises, and validated Index Plays | Hi-Lo |
| Index Plays | Illustrious 18 and Fab 4 for Hi-Lo, graded at live in-hand counts. Validated Index Plays for the other seven systems | Deviation training with coach-graded certification |
| Betting math (EV/hr, SD, risk of ruin, N0, optimal spread) | Betting calculator with EV/hr, SD/hr, risk of ruin, N0, optimal spreads, SCORE, Desirability Index, and Certainty Equivalent across a 256-config rule grid. Methodology published | Pro Betting Software (members) |
| Simulations | House edge measured at 20M rounds per config. Back-Counting profiles at 20M rounds per config. Custom rules run in the browser at 2M rounds | Not listed |
| Trip planning | Trip planner with P(profit), P(down half), Trip Ruin, Walk-away Goal probability, and a P5 to P95 band (Premium) | Not listed |
| Back-Counting | Path-simulated Back-Counting for all eight systems with Entry and Exit Thresholds and Shoe Abandonment | Not listed |
| Session logbook | Casino session logbook with expected-vs-actual analysis, career and game ranking views, trips, expenses, and CSV export (Premium) | Results tracker |
| Coach and mistake analysis | EV Delta on every graded decision. Coach with casino readiness, error-adjusted real EV, weekly trends, a leak list, and session debriefs (Premium) | Coach-graded deviation certification |
| Community, video, and coaching | None | Video course, members' forum, coach grading, and bootcamps |
| Platform | Web, no install | Web plus a mobile trainer app |
What they have that we don't
Most of what Blackjack Apprenticeship sells is not software. The video course puts the founders on camera. The members' forum is where counters compare notes on casinos and conditions. A human coach grades the deviation certification, and the company runs in-person bootcamps. We have none of that and do not plan to add it.
What we have that they don't
Our Courses grade every Checkpoint and record the EV Delta of each mistake, so a wrong play shows what it cost in expected value instead of a right-or-wrong mark. The betting calculator publishes its method and runs across 256 rule configs. We path-simulate Back-Counting at 20M rounds per config instead of estimating it. The engine models ENHC and double restrictions, with charts and Courses for European games. Ranked Play deals from a server-held shoe and ranks players by Ranked Net. The logbook compares each casino session's result with the expected value for its rules and spread. Seven counting systems beyond Hi-Lo each have their own Course, exercises, and validated Index Plays.
Who should pick which
Pick Blackjack Apprenticeship if you want a video course, a human to grade your deviations, a forum, or a bootcamp, and the first-year price of $397 to $997 (2026-09-12) fits. Pick Blackjack Trainer if you want graded Courses, a betting calculator, and a training table for free, and the other seven counting systems, the trip planner, the Coach, and the logbook for $39/year (2026-09-12). Both teach Hi-Lo. Neither changes the odds of the game.
Sources
- plans and pricing (reviewed 2026-09-12)
- store (reviewed 2026-09-12)
Prices checked 2026-09-12.