About Ken Smith – Sweet Tea, No Lemon

Hi, I'm Kenneth R Smith.

After years in Mississippi plus a few more in the Dallas TX area, my wife and I finally took the plunge for real. We are slow-traveling the world with our two cats. That's right, we are officially homeless now. :-) Some of our favorite trips in the last few years include Istanbul, Ecuador, Peru, France, Italy, Germany, Albania, and Montenegro. As of late 2025, I'm up to 37 countries visited, and maybe more surprisingly, our cats have been to 18!

We have made our nomadic travel a full-time lifestyle, living in interesting places for a month or two instead of just visiting them. I haven't updated the blog here in years, preferring to share my travels with friends only on Facebook. But you'll find a few older photos and insights from our travels here at Sweet Tea, No Lemon.

Tournament Blackjack Expert

Many of you may know me from my history in the blackjack world, especially in blackjack tournaments. I began playing serious blackjack in the early 1990s when casino gambling arrived in my home state of Mississippi. In 1994, I participated in a blackjack tournament for the first time. After that, I spent a couple of decades on the tournament trail, competing all over the US and in Canada and the Caribbean as well.

I was on the cover of All In Blackjack magazine during the boom of tournaments, where they nicknamed me "King Ken", a fact I had a little fun with when I won a Mercedes in a casino drawing later that year.

Television Appearances

Tournament blackjack appeared on television for a few years starting in 2004, and I was a participant on most of the shows. On GSN's World Series of Blackjack I made the final table in the premiere season finishing in sixth place. I went on to appear in WSOB II, III, and IV over the next few years, as one of only three players who appeared in every broadcast season of the show's run on GSN. After four seasons, the series was cancelled, and at this time there is no longer a World Series of Blackjack competition.

I also appeared on the Travel Channel in 2004, competing in the Las Vegas Hilton's Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament II. In the semifinal round, I needed one last winning hand to advance to the final table of seven players where the winner received one million in cash. My luck ran out with one hand to go and I missed making the final table.

In September 2006, the Ultimate Blackjack Tour was broadcast on CBS. In that show's premiere episode, I won the event with a first place finish worth $50,000. I also competed in the "Legends of Blackjack" special event for UBT, though my sixth place finish at a table of seven players was far from legendary!

Televised blackjack was an absolute blast for me, especially the events that were filmed in Aruba and St Kitts.

My Writing

After gaining a reputation as a leading tournament strategy expert, I wrote monthly magazine columns in both Blackjack Confidential and All In Blackjack magazines during the run of those publications.

I authored two books on blackjack tournament strategy: "How to Win More Blackjack Tournaments" and "How to Win Even More Blackjack Tournaments - Volume II". Both are available only as e-books. They are packed with strategy tips for players of any skill level from newbie to pro, including several groundbreaking ideas that have never before appeared in print. Click here for a special package deal that includes both books.

I also created one of the most popular websites about blackjack at BlackjackInfo.com, and a sister site about tournaments at BlackjackTournaments.com. In 2016, I sold those sites to a new owner and I am no longer affiliated with them.

My Strategy Cards

To see all the details of my popular blackjack strategy card products, visit StrategyCard.info.

You can purchase the cards at Amazon. (The links here are my affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Get the entire Set of Six Blackjack Strategy Cards, or just get the most popular card for the 6-deck H17 game.

I also published an Advanced Strategy card set that adds card counting index number details to the usual strategy cards. That product is also at Amazon: Blackjack Advanced Strategy Cards.

In 2017, I added a new option to my card offerings, a larger size card that is easier to read. Now you can choose between the convenience of the original wallet-size cards mentioned above, or try out the new pocket-sized cards here: Set of Six Blackjack Strategy Cards - Large Edition. There are individual cards available in the larger size as well.

VerbMaestro

In 2020 I launched a new project, a tool for learners of Spanish focusing exclusively on what I found the most important yet difficult task in becoming fluent... Verbs.

Visit VerbMaestro.com to learn and practice all the verb tenses in Spanish. Originally a subscription-based site, I quickly decided I'm far better at creating than promoting. I switched to a totally free model with no ads, just because I think the site is a useful resource for learners. Check it out with all content now available completely for free.

Online Casinos in the US

I continue to write about the casino gambling world, especially the legal and regulated US online gambling market. I have individual sites for several states, focusing on the online casinos in that state. Visit my sites for New Jersey and Michigan.

Interviews

I was a guest on Richard Munchkin and Bob Dancer's excellent podcast Gambling with an Edge. You can listen here: Ken Smith on Gambling with an Edge.

And here are links to a couple of interviews with me:

Contact Details

You can contact me via email at sweettea@bh3.net. If you are looking to correspond about BlackjackInfo.com, note that I am no longer the owner.