greatest blackjack player

who would be considered amongst the top five of all great players .. the bill gates and warren buffet of bj?
..int terms of
1.money made
2.technical knowhow.. books,websites,schools,computer sims,seminars,schools...syndicates teams..
3.and commands the respect of the community amongst other criteria..
..say ken huston,stamford wong..??
i need some enlightenment.. probably someone low profile!!??
heard someone made 6 million from korea alone ..
so would the total made say exceed 100 million for a single player??

4.seems a shame someone like me does not know the answer when asked who the best in my profession is .. a magician worth his salt would give his utmost respect if he meets david copperfield!!!

The very best stay the best because they operate in the shadows. It is simply an occupational hazard.

This isn't a normal field. If you consider the best in the business as the ones who have made the most $ then you will never know them. These people are simply not known, especially by their real name and face. The bj players that have made the most money are probably not the ones making their money from books, seminars, lawsuits, and wsobj on tv.

Well, I'm going to put a bit lesser emphasis on money made here and focus a little more on historical. (This gets rid of the "blackjack ninjas" and Tommy Hylands and such.) These are the people I'd like to meet and those who opened the doors for everyone else and impacted the game the most. I suppose the top five would probably be:

1. Edward Thorp (Granddaddy of 'em all)
2. Lawrence Revere (Creator of HiLo, RPC)
3. Ken Uston (Uston APC & +-, no AC barrings, BP play)
4. Stanford Wong (Halves, contributions to knowledge innummerable both literary and online)
T5. Don Schlesinger (Ill. 18, BJA, ROR)
T5. Arnold Snyder (BJ Forum, Zen)

Honorable Mention: Vancura & Fuchs (KO creators), Ian Andersen, Bryce Carlson (Omega/OmegaII), Julian Braun, Peter Griffin)

These are by no means their only accomplishments, just the one's that came to mind immediately. I'd probably come up with a different order tomorrow, but these people would definitely be on the list.

Revere may have been the first to put a set of indices to it(although not that accurate), but he didn't create the count.

I like and agree with your list (although I'd have it in a bit different order), except for your #2. I never knew the guy, but everything I know of him, I think Revere was a worthless piece of dog Sh*t. That's just my humble opinion though.

Fred Renzy
Dr. Edward Thrope
Stanford Wong
Bill Gates
MJ

Mathboy and Mathprof. I know that from first hand experience, not by what I have been told by those with a penchant for hero worship.

I do not say this because of my great love for either of them, but I will give credit where credit is due.

Iggy.

I agree with Kris that few of the best players have stepped out from the shadows. Also, it is difficult to come up with an acceptable criteria for best player. Many have contributed enormously to the game (like Thorp and Braun), but hardly played and made any real money. There are also a number of brilliant math minds (like Griffin), but again that doesn't translate into great player.

I based a notorious character in my novel on the person whom I consider the most successful player in the history of blackjack. He won over a million in one Asian casino, but I seriously doubt any one person made 6 million in Korea or any number close to that.

There is no way in hell I can be considered one of the best two blackjack players ever. I would imagine that MathProf would say the same thing.

Do I know you?

Math Boy

a guy who goes by the handle of AJ. He seldom if ever posts on the free pages. He's made his living at BJ for over 20 years, starting with very little, never got financing or played on a team. He is a professional in every sense and is highly respected by all high stakes pros. He succeeded in the old casino world and has evolved with the changes the whole way. He's been in Griffin for 20 years and it hasn't slown him down a beat.

DD'...i mean really! From what i read on here, in terms of winnings AND knowledge of the game, i'm not sure there are many close to you. Keep up the good work!!!

table

You'd have to give the pre-Thorp players credit for figuring it out before the advent of computers. They also likely won more than would be possible now due to the better playing conditions. Arnold Rothstein would probably be up there.

The best players are usually one horse length behind the guy with the big mouth (that means me too). There are team players that have been around since day 1 that still team play. The Old Boys Club gets it's due respect, but there is a new breed of player out there. As Ken Uston lived in the era of Packman, the new player lives in the PS2 era. The 4gig era. This will be a story that never gets published.

but it takes a different style. Most of the player of old have not successfully adapted to the new casino world and how to attack it. It takes a far different approach. Trying to milk a relatively few casinos out of lot over a long time doesn't work any more. In the old days they didn't even have computer data bases to track your long term win/loss results.

Of course, 21 wasn't that popular outside of Nevada or even inside it in those days, so the massive expansion of the game has helped raise the profit ceiling.
I must confess to some bias here: the old count players are far more romantic than their present-day businesslike counterparts.

not for thoroughly understanding all aspects of the game, but for the way I used the information available. Presently checking everything out, and it could take some time, as there isn't a non-counting simulator available that meets my needs. Roger Harris's simulator gives me 80% of what I need and is a great help and is easy to use.

I've even toyed with the idea of asking Mr. Reid if his career needed a boost(Jokingly), as there is some theory involved.

Presently playing 150 hours a month besides my regular job. Made a few mistakes and took some unneccessary chances, but overall, happy with the results.

Recently had a life-threatening event, which is causing me to reconsider how important is this endeavor and the amount of time I'm spending at it. A team approach might be the answer, to free up some personal time while keeping me in the game. Still deciding.

why do you need a non-counting simulator? as far as I know, most simulators can be set for non-counting, what am i missing? PV

I don't think I'm even the top guy on my team.

John Imming's Universal Blackjack Engine, for one. What is it you want to simulate that your software can't do?