There is a handful of talented individuals who made the grade of being famous blackjack players due to their contributions, exploits and winnings in blackjack. Their efforts proved to be helpful as through them theories and practices in playing (and winning) blackjack were revealed to the gaming and non-gaming public.

Four Horsemen of Aberdeen

 

Wilbert Cantey, Roger Baldwin, James McDermott and Herbert Maisel were collectively called the four horsemen of Aberdeen. They did not beat the house and win millions but they developed the first basic blackjack strategy that showed a player how to play in any given game situation. This feat was made in the 1950s sans the help of computers. The basic strategies they developed became the groundwork of other blackjack geniuses to come up with more advanced strategies.

Tommy Hyland

 

Tommy Hyland and his team of professional blackjack players have been avid gamers since 1979. He and his team are famous for employing techniques such as ace sequencing and shuffle tracking to gain edges against the casino. Their methods landed them into a legal battle against Casino Windsor but the judge ruled that Hyland’s methods were not cheats.

Lawrence Revere

 

He is behind the Revere card counting system and the author of Playing Blackjack as a Business which is all about various strategies for card counting that are still being used today by blackjack players.

Edward Thorp

 

Edward Thorp authored the book Beat the Dealer in 1962. The book dealt mainly on how to beat the house advantage through card counting. His method was so successful that he was banned from many casinos in Las Vegas.

Stanford Wong

 

Stanford Wong is the pseudonym of John Ferguson. He wrote several books on blackjack and other casino games. He presented another card counting system to gain house edge. He had a tendency to watch the start of a shoe being played and only joins the blackjack table when the count is in favor for the player. This style was nicknamed “wonging” in honor of Ferguson aka Wong.

MIT Blackjack Team

 

The MIT Blackjack Team is probably the most famous (infamous) blackjack players of all time. Composed of alumni and students from MIT, Harvard and other top universities, the team employed card counting and other strategies to beat large casinos from 1979 to the early part of the 2000s. The team was led by J.P. Massar (Mr. M) and Bill Kaplan, John Chang and Bill Rubin, and had a turnover of various members recruited and trained. The team used classic card counting, advanced shuffle and ace tracking techniques. They played all over the world.