WVU, why do you back the books when theres story after story of people losing there asses off to this. Do these books have software that says they have to pay out a certain amount, etc.
I have played many millions of hands of blackjack online. Most of these hands were through the use of a bot. Every card was recorded and analyzed. I tested dealer down card, dealer up card, player dealt cards, hit cards, etc every way imaginable. I compared card frequencies and dealer and player BJ frequencies. Every major software platform passed the test to at least 99% confidence levels. The data does not lie. You will always hear stories of rigged games and sessions, but unless you know, you don't know. I can assure you that I know.
I would not have been as successful doing what I was doing for all those years if the game RNGs did not operate randomly. You would be surprised to know how accurate my profits were to the expected value. My spreadsheet profits were almost always within 1/10 of 1% of where they should be given the house edge of the game by year's end.