The fascinating story of Ken Uston - THE BLACKJACK HERO
Ken Uston is a legend of the Blackjack world whom everyone calls "The Master Of Blackjack".
Traveling over casinos in Nevada and Atlantic City, Ken and a number of teams of fellow programmers developed unique Blackjack strategies that basically made them rich. Using miniature computers hidden in their shoes for card counting and statistical analysis, fascinating team play and absolutely awesome mathematical layouts Ken and his people used to earn hundreds thousands of dollars in less than a month. Ken then wrote a book called "Million Dollar Blackjack" that is considered sacred by players. The book describes simple and effective means of playing with the Basic Strategy and manipulating bets to achieve awesome results.
His other book “Ken Uston On Blackjack” remains one of the most popular Blackjack bestsellers today. Ken tells his story and provides anecdotic tell tale about his team. While short on the real Blackjack strategy advice, the book tells of an exciting spirit of the “old casino days”. Named the “Blackjack Player of the Century” by Blackjack Confidential Magazine, featured in national TV shows, Ken was insanely successful.
There is little doubt that Ken Uston is one of the most avid Blackjack players to ever be seen by the player community. His short gambling career quickly became a legend. Since giving up his senior position as a Senior Vice President of Pacific Stock exchange, having degrees from Yale and Harvard, Ken quickly achieved what many deemed impossible. Challenging casinos both on blackjack tables and in courtrooms (as casinos tried to bar him and the card counters from playing games), he consistently succeed to be adored and hated by his fellow players. Always open minded and always persistent, Ken swept through the casinos even when they tried to bar him, cosmetically disguising himself . His legal team was combating the casinos is their attempts to persuade the gambling commission that the card counting was nothing but cheating. He was beaten and threatened several times and generally described the early years of his Blackjack experience as horrid because the casinos were treating him and his people as criminals and shown none of the respect that a player can expect in a casino today. Uston's game was big money, and casinos weren't about to just give it up.
Even today some players still think that with his bold act and books that reveal the professional secrets of the gamblers Ken Uston has ruined the “professional” Blackjack scene and made the casinos employ various limitations and rules on Blackjack that made formerly enjoyable and profitable gambling impossible. In his interview with Arnold Snyder Ken Argued that all of the methodics that he disclosed in his works were developed either by him or his people, and that Blackjack is not a trade as so called professionals try to present it.
On September 19, 1987, Ken Uston, then 52, was found dead in his rented apartment in Paris. Apparently it was a heart attack that killed him... French police did no investigation as no foul play was suspected. Ken's body was cremated and no autopsy was ever performed. It's being said that his alcohol and drug habits have finally finished him off.