Blackjack Articles

Hall of Famers

Return to Blackjack Article Index

Al Francesco: Al introduced an important, some might say the most important, aspect to the concept of blackjack teams.  He created the “Big Player” concept, and thus the ability to combine a team’s counting efforts for maximum profit, and minimum chance of getting caught.  He also taught the legendary Ken Uston how to count cards.

Stanford Wong: ‘Stanford’ (aka John Ferguson), a former finance teacher, wrote the book “Professional Blackjack”.  With the help of his amazing analytical math skills, and excellent game theory, he became a pioneer of electronic blackjack hand modeling.  His computer program "Blackjack Analyzer" was one of the first commercial blackjack programs on the market.

Peter Griffin: Peter was a Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at California State University, Sacramento.  He was known for using mathematical shortcuts that were developed by statisticians to compare card counting systems in blackjack.  He was also the author of “Theory of Blackjack”, a book that is considered the bible of blackjack mathematics.

Ken Uston: Ken (aka Kenneth Senzo Usui) was a high stakes professional blackjack player.  His toolbox was huge.  He was able to proficiently count cards, detect and destroy weak dealers, play with the biggest teams, and utilize technology to his advantage.  He wrote “The Big Player”, sharing his winning secrets as they applied to team play.  Later he authored “Million Dollar Blackjack”, revealing his non-team play secrets.

Edward O. Thorp: A math professor who wrote one of the greatest blackjack books of all time: “Beat the Dealer”.   He used an IBM computer while developing his blackjack game theory, based on the Kelly criterion.  Oddly, though he made a fortune in both the stock market and gambling, he considered the whole experiment an academic exercise!

Tommy Hyland: Tommy has been running the most successful blackjack teams in the world for over 25 years now.  It was the judge of his court case in Ontario, Canada, with the help of expert testimony from Arnold Snyder, which first ruled that advantage play was not cheating, but merely the use of intelligent strategy.

Arnold Snyder: An amazing author, Arnold wrote “The Blackjack Formula”, “Blackbelt in Blackjack”, and “The Blackjack Shuffle Tracker's Cookbook” and more, covering damn near every aspect of professional blackjack play. He has been the editor of Blackjack Forum, a quarterly trade journal for professional gamblers, for over 25 years.

Keith Taft: Keith built some of the first high-tech blackjack counting and analysis devices. He also created some amazing miniature hole card cameras and audio-visual devices to aid blackjack teams in their quest to beat the house.

Max Rubin: In 1994, Max’s book “Comp City: A Guide to Free Gambling Vacations” introduced the world to the wonder of casino comps. The book shows gamblers how to maximize casino perks while doing very little actual wagering. Max has also appeared as a gambling analyst for various television programs.

Julian Braun: Julian was the father of the Hi-Lo Count system, a more accurate and much simpler version of Thorp’s first counting systems. He also refined basic blackjack strategy to a razor’s edge. His book, “How to Play Winning Blackjack”, is a must read.

Lawrence Revere: Lew (aka Griffith K. Owens, Leonard "Specs" Parsons, and Paul Mann) wrote “Playing Blackjack as a Business”, and developed the Revere counting methods, some of the most intricate and accurate systems to ever be published.

James Grosjean: James wrote “Beyond Counting : Exploiting Casino Games from Blackjack to Video Poker”. He is also known for winning lawsuits against casinos on the grounds of civil rights violations, and bankrupting the (some might say ‘evil’) Griffin Detective Agency.

By Bill Ricardi
Blackjack Expert