Ken Uston - taking on Atlantic City casinos
One of the most prolific winners the game of blackjack has ever seen, Ken Uston
is described by
Blackjack Hall of Fame member Max Rubin
as 'the most famous professional blackjack player of all time'.
He popularized the concept of team play through his books Million Dollar
Blackjack and The Big Player, while at the same time taking many
millions of dollars from casinos around the world.
The big player
Uston's blackjack career started with a chance meeting with
legend advantage player Al Francesco, who is
widely credited with inventing the team play concept as a means of avoiding
count detection. Uston became a member of Al's blackjack team which
successfully worked American casinos from 1971 until 1977. He was promoted
from counter to Big Player within weeks of joining the team.
A key component of the team play approach was the 'Big
Player'. Also the brainchild of Francesco, the big player was the member
of the team who, at the prompting of other team members placed strategically at
blackjack tables solely to keep a running count, would join the table and bet
big from the get-go. Because bets were large from the first bet to the
last, no bet spread pattern could be detected by the casino and betray a
counting methodology being employed.
When Uston wrote his tell all book The Big Player,
detailing the concept to masses....including the casinos, Al's team became
casino enemy number one and received too much heat in Vegas to continue playing
effectively. The books gave some insight into the extent of Uston's
winnings (although some claims were refuted subsequently by other team members),
including bets of $12,000 per hand and single session wins of up $350,000.
Suing Atlantic City casinos
Like many other successful advantage players, Uston very soon
found it hard to gain entry to most large casinos. In 1979, after a
successful stint plundering Atlantic City casinos, the Resorts International
Hotel in barred him from entry. Uston sued the casino claiming they had no
right prohibit patronage of players simply because they were skilled and in a
landmark case, won.
The New Jersey Supreme Court held that Atlantic City casinos
did not have the authority to bar skilled players, and this precedent stands to
this day. Of course the casinos took plenty of other measures to diminish
the effectiveness of counters, including changing deck numbers, shuffle points
and house rules. But the fact remains that advantage play is perfectly
legal.
The bet spread and counting camoflage
Known for his aggressive and flamboyant playing style, Uston
also became a master of counting camoflage. A typical count by a single
player is reasonably easy for the casino to detect because of the associated bet
pattern. Small bets initially followed by large bets when the running
count is high. Many players considered Uston a genius at disguising his
bet pattern while still managing a wide bet spread during a deal.
His reputation and considerable profits at the table earned
Uston a place as one of only 7 foundation members of the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
He was the subject of a 1981 60 minute story and the subject of the Discovery
Channels documentary 'The Black Jack Man'.
A true legend of the game.
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