Almost every casino visitor wants to achieve a positive result and turn playing into a source of income as much as possible. Such dreams appeared before gambling got more or less distinct forms.
Usually, the vast majority of players do not go further ephemeral fantasies. Small part of them try to use some systems and strategies in practice. But only a few rise to the level that gives the opportunity to gain an advantage over the casino.
Probably the most well-known, common and effective method is counting cards in blackjack. Thousands of professional players successfully use it for decades, constantly improving and modifying existing techniques, and creating new ones.
Main principles and provisions of key systems are explained in articles on Casinoz, so there is no use to repeat them. We will just say that this technique determines the ratio of large and small cards remaining in the decks. Based on the current situation, the counter changes the bet amount, increasing it at more favorable alignment.
Of course, casinos do not want to players counting cards, and they are trying to prevent it. They blindly burn cards from a shoe, cut off too much of the decks, install shuffle machines, tighten the rules and just expelled clients who, in their opinion, counts cards from casino walls.
Of course, the opposition of card counters and gambling operators will continue until the casino close. And we will try to trace where it started and how the professional history of blackjack developed. We will describe its most popular experts, starting with the pioneers of this area and ending now practicing players.
Jess Marcum - the starting point
Physicist and mathematician Jess Marcum (real name Markovitch) is considered the first player who has managed to apply his scientific knowledge to blackjack and achieve a success in this field.
He was born in 1919 and at about the age of thirty visited one of the casinos in Las Vegas. A little after watching a game of blackjack, he came to the conclusion that he can not rely on intuition, and decided to start developing his own strategy.
Without access to expensive and rare in those days computers, Jess took a pencil and a piece of paper, that was enough for him to make necessary calculations.
So he created the foundation of what then later called the basic strategy and card counting system that gave him about three-percent advantage over the casino. Not limited by theory, he proceeded to the practical use of the methods. He "trashed" with it casinos in the U.S. and other countries and evolved into a true star, his name often appeared on the pages of major newspapers and magazines.
Security service of casinos suspected Marcum of cheating, but he did not use any technique they knew, and almost no one knew card counters then. However after a while Jesse was not permitted to enter any casino in Las Vegas. Later, the same happened in Reno and other U.S. states. He was also banned in foreign casinos, but he soon fell into a "black list" even in the Bahamas and Cuba.
It is believed that Marcum shared the secrets of his new-invented system with no one. He also never said how much money he won. When thousands of players started to count cards, he abandoned this occupation and quietly lived up to seventy-two years and died in 1992.
"The Four Horsemen of Aberdeen" - underappreciated geniuses
This is a nickname of four mathematicians Wilbert Canty, Roger Baldwin, James McDermott and Herbert Meyzel. They took up the study of blackjack, for exclusively scientific interest. None of them had real experience of playing for money, but that did not prevent them from creating the basic strategy they published in a specialist journal of the American Association of statistics.
In 1957 they also published a book about blackjack, but their work was unnoticed by the general public then and was recognized later. All four of them are in the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
Edward Thorp - transition to a new level
In the early sixties, a book "Beat the Dealer" was published. It was perhaps the most significant book in the development of a professional approach to the game. Its author was a young scientist Edward Thorp, known as one of the most influential experts in blackjack.
It all started when Edward got interested in the studies of "Four Horsemen of Aberdeen." He decided to check their calculations and try to learn practical benefits from it. Thorpe could work on an IBM computer and wrote several programs for more accurate basic strategy and card counting system.
The book "Beat the Dealer", where Edward described his technique in detail was a huge success and became the basis for many further developments. Regular players realized that they can beat the casino.
Of course, casino owners also realized this and immediately tightened the rules, afraid of a lot of card counters. It got to the point that people were dissatisfied with too unfavorable conditions and simply stopped playing blackjack and casino owners had to make major concessions.
Thorpe's achievements were marked by his inclusion in the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
Julian Brown - simplifying
Beside many advantages of the system of card counting presented by Edward Thorp, it had a significant disadvantage. It was very complicated, and did not allow the average player to actively use it in real games. It was clear that it should be simplified.
A mathematician and programmer Julian Brown did it. He was not a professional player, but he was fascinated by the idea ofobtaining a mathematical advantage over the casino, and he decided to make the method of Thorp accessible to each client.
Brown formulated the basic provisions of Hi-Lo, and wrote the book "How to Play Winning Blackjack" (which, however, did not become one of the masterpieces and is not very popular). Book Thorpe already includes the explanation of Hi-Lo, which made them even more popular. Julian made calculations on the most powerful computers of that time, later used by other experts.
Further simplification of card counting
Later, the system of gaining mathematical advantage over the casino became more simple and accessible. Now players have access to computers, and can do calculations impossible before.
In later years, new simple card counting techniques were presented by Lawrence Revere, Stanford Wong, and other professionals. Previously existing techniques had significant changes and revisions.
In the late seventies Al Francesco created the first truly successful team of blackjack players who "bombed" numerous casinos, using experience of predecessors and tricks of his own invention.
One of the members of his group was Ken Aston, who became famous for a few interesting books on blackjack and win a lawsuit against Resorts International Casino in New Jersey. His victory over the casino prohibiting counting cards, legalized activity counters, but has led to a tightening rules in this state.
He also began to actively use microchips hidden in clothing, it helped his team members to exchange signals and beat the casino. When some of them were caught, it turned out that in fact they have not violated any law, so they could not be brought to justice. And only later, the U.S. Supreme Court passed a law which prohibiting usage of computing devices in the game.
Conclusion
The fight between card counters and casino operators continues to this day, although the creation of online casinos lowered a degree of confrontation. Tricks of professional players and gamblers become more sophisticated, and casinos are forced to spend more money on the numerous security personnel.
Read more about the most famous professional players and experts of blackjack in articles on Casinoz.
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