There have been many great blackjack players along history. To start with, we can mention famous Count Sandwich. This famous Count was a compulsive player and wouldn’t leave the table, not even to eat. This was the reason why he had to invent a fast, practical food he could eat while he was playing, and we have to thank him for the fabulous invention of the sandwich. Recent studies show that he may have invented the snack for his never ending political, social and artistic meetings, or it may have been his brother in law who taught him how to prepare it.

Now, we’ll see the story of a famous conman who really caused a lot of trouble with his endless bets. We are talking about William Crockford, an Englishman born in 1775 and he’s a clear example of what money can cause, even in a sensible person. After wining a hundred thousand pounds in a card game, Crockford decided in 1827 to open the most fabulous gaming room in Europe. There he cleared out the best of the British nobility; it’s said that Crockford won huge fortunes inherited from the British crown. When he retired, he saved in the bank one million pounds.

Finally, to end with this brief story of well-known blackjack players, we’ll leave you with the story of one of the most famous blackjack players in history, Ken Uston. His real name was Kenneth Senzo Usui and he was born in New York, the son of a Japanese businessman and an Austrian woman. His IQ was 169, which helped him get a university degree at Harvard.

He worked in San Francisco as the vice-president of an important telephone company when a friend invited him to play cards, play blackjack to be more precise. Ken started playing and was never able to stop and when a friend invited him to join a group of players who counted blackjack cards, he left all behind and left.

First, they won several thousand dollars, but after discussing with his friend, Al Francesco, they betrayed each other telling that they counted cards, something that is forbidden in blackjack. After that, no casino in Las Vegas allowed them to enter, they split and Uston had to wait some time, until in 1976 gambling was regulated in Atlantic City and good times started again for Ken.

Supported by a group of blackjack players he organized and trained himself, they won thousands of dollars until they were discovered and forbidden to play in casinos, both in the United States and the rest of the world. He sued casinos and won, but gained a lot of enemies. He acted in disguise and after he retired he wrote several books about blackjack.