Stanford Wong
Stanford Wong's Reputation Profile Not the right Stanford Wong?View Others. Stanford Wong 1044 Redway Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229 Age: 79. AKA: Info Pending. See 1 Profile Searchers. Previous Addresses: Cincinnati, OH.
View the profiles of people named Stanford Wong. Join Facebook to connect with Stanford Wong and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to. Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time. By Lisa Yee Apr 1, 2007. 4.3 out of 5 stars 28. Paperback $6.99 $ 6. Get it as soon as Tue, Jul 7. More Buying Choices $0.25 (85 used & new offers) Kindle $3.99 $ 3. Library Binding $14.99 $ 14. Temporarily out of stock. Stanford Wong wrote the single best volume for the beginner to intermediate sports bettor (with an emphasis on football). The book teaches the basics of sportsbetting, terminology, understanding odds, and methods to make bets that should win in the long-term. This is an excellent primer on someone who is serious about making money from sports. BJ21 is the premier source for information on blackjack, craps, sports betting, poker and other casino games from expert Stanford Wong.
Stanford Wong - Blackjack Author of Professional Blackjack, Sharp Sports Betting, Wong on Dice, and More
Stanford Wong was actually born John Ferguson in 1943. And even though his name might have changed along the way, his love for games has always remained the same.
When he was about six years old, he learned the rules for tic tac toe. While his friends were jumping right in and playing the game, Stanford was figuring out the best strategy. He never lost a game of tic tac toe.
12 Years Old and Counting Cards
At the age of twelve, Stanford developed an interest in blackjack and set about using an office calculator to figure out the expectations of the game. He read numerous books on the subject and mastered the art of card counting. Then, it was all a matter of waiting until he turned 21 and could put his knowledge to practical use.
He began gambling professionally in 1964, while still pursuing his undergraduate degree from Stanford University. He would go on to attain a PhD in Statistics from Stanford and receive his well-known pseudonym in the process. A friend in the PhD program dubbed him Stanford Wong, taking his alma mater as the first name and an Asian last name to capture the 'mystique of the Orient.' Wong became a member of the university's faculty and continued to hone his skills at gambling.
Vegas blackjack was originally dealt from a single deck, but as time passed, the casinos made things tougher by introducing four-deck blackjack. The calculations which Wong had made as a young man no longer applied, and he found himself needing more complex statistics to remain competitive against the house.
Working on an early college computer, he developed strategy numbers for four-deck blackjack games and published his first book, Professional Blackjack, in 1975. The success of the book was undeniable. It has become the cornerstone of the blackjack industry and many have gone so far as to label it 'the bible of blackjack.'
Stanford Wong, Gambling Author
Wong has written numerous other books dealing with various casino games. They include:
- Winning Without Counting (1980)
- Professional Video Poker (1991)
- Basic Blackjack (1992)
- Blackjack Secrets (1993)
- Sharp Sports Betting (2001)
- Wong on Dice
He started a sports gambling website (www.sharpsportsbetting.com) and remains a frequent contributor. He also runs a blackjack website (www.bj21.com) which provides a newsletter dealing with information about various blackjack games in casinos in the United States and some other countries. But, surprisingly, Wong does not actively play blackjack professionally today.
In an article published in the October 16th, 2003, issue of the Las Vegas Mercury, the grandfather and resident of La Jolla, California, explained his absence from the game which has made him a legend. 'I found the game to be a huge challenge when I was young. But, today, I've mastered the challenge, and I no longer need the money. That's the thing about blackjack, you have to be hungry to win at it. You have to go to casinos at four in the morning when the tables are empty, and you have to go for it. I no longer have the desire to do that.'
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Stanford Wong
Stanford Wong (born 1943) is the pen name of John Ferguson, a gambling author who is best known for his book Professional Blackjack, which was first published in 1975 and is still in print. Wong's computer program 'Blackjack Analyzer', initially created for personal use, was one of the first pieces of commercially available blackjack odds analyzing software. Wong has appeared on TV multiple times as a blackjack tournament contestant or as a gambling expert. He has his own publishing house, Pi Yee Press, which has published books by other gambling authors including King Yao.
- Blackjack1
- Current Blackjack News1.1
- Website1.2
- Craps2
- Personal life3
- Books4
- Notes5
- References6
- External links7
Blackjack
Wong began playing blackjack in 1964[1] while teaching finance courses at San Francisco State University and getting his Ph.D in Finance from Stanford University in California. Not content with the teaching life, Wong agreed to be paid a salary of $1 for his last term of teaching at the school in order to not attend faculty meetings and to pursue his gambling career.
Stanford Wong
The term 'wong' (v.) or 'wonging' has come to mean a specific advantage technique in blackjack, which Wong made popular in the 1980s. It involves watching the play of cards in a game without actually wagering your own money, until the count becomes advantageous, and then stepping in and playing only while the count remains in the player's favor, and then stepping out again. 'Wonging' is the reason that some casinos have signs on some blackjack tables saying, 'No Mid-Shoe Entry,' meaning that a new player must wait until exactly the first hand after a shuffle to begin playing.
He has reviewed or acted as a consultant for blackjack writers and researchers, including Don Schlesinger and Ian Andersen.
Wong is known to have been the principal operator of a team of advantage players that targeted casino tournaments including Blackjack, Craps and Video Poker in around Las Vegas. At the beginning of the teams operation Wong was the primary financier providing the travelling expenses and buy in stakes for the other players.[2] Among the players on this team were now owner of the Las Vegas Advisor Anthony Curtis.
Wong is a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
Current Blackjack News
In 1979, Wong began publishing monthly newsletters on the subject of blackjack.[3] These grew into one of the major journals for professional blackjack players, Wong's Current Blackjack News, ranking with Arnold Snyder's Blackjack Forum. As of 2007, Wong's newsletter is published via Wong's official website.
The journal contains information about rules and conditions of blackjack games in casinos in the United States and some other countries.
Website
Stanford Wong's BJ21 has been online since 1997. It contains a free area and a restricted, subscribers-only area, called Green Chip. Every month, one message from the restricted area is selected by Wong as Post of the Month and its author wins a prize of $100.[4]
The record holder for most Post of the Month awards won is the blackjack expert known as MathProf, with a total of 16 wins.[5]',
Craps
Stanford Wong Blackjack
Wong wrote Wong on Dice which purports to show how the game of casinocraps can be beaten through controlled dice throwing. Many blackjack experts are skeptical of Wong's craps claims, and this is a hotly disputed issue—unlike card counting in blackjack, which can be mathematically proven. Wong himself was initially skeptical of the proposition that dice can be controlled in craps.
Personal life
The name 'Stanford Wong' is a pseudonym; the author's real name is John Ferguson. His first choice for a pen name was 'Nevada Smith,' but that name had been taken. 'Stanford Wong' was selected by a friend in the PhD program by taking his alma mater as his first name and an Asian last name to provide the 'mystique of the Orient'.[6][7]
Wong resides in La Jolla, California with his wife. They have two grown children who are both college graduates and married. Wong's company Pi Yee Press is now based in Las Vegas.[8]
Books
- Professional Blackjack (1975)
- Professional Video Poker
- Wong on Dice (2006). Pi Yee Press (pdf). ISBN 0-935926-26-7
- Blackjack Secrets
- Basic Blackjack (1992). Pi Yee Press, ISBN 0-935926-19-4
- Tournament Blackjack
- Tournament Craps
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing your T
- Optimal Strategy for Pai Gow Poker
- Vegas Downtown Blackjack
- Sharp Sports Betting
- Casino Tournament Strategy
- Betting Cheap Claimers
- Winning Without Counting
- Complete Idiot's Guide to Gambling Like a Pro
Notes
- ^BlackjackInfo.com Interview with Stanford Wong
- ^'ThePOGG Interviews - Anthony Curtis - Owner of the Las Vegas Advisor'. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^Basic Blackjack, p. 4
- ^Green Chip information BJ21.com
- ^'Post of the Month wins $100 for MathProf' BJ21.com, 2 July 2011
- ^Cooper, Marc (29 August 2007). 'Gambling on the spread: sports betting Las Vegas-style'.
- ^Bourie, Steve. 'Meet Stanford Wong - The 'Guru' of Blackjack'. American Casino Guide. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
- ^'Stanford Wong Biography'. BJ21.com.
References
- Stanford Wong (1992). Basic Blackjack. Pi Yee Press.
External links
- Official site
- Stanford Wong's Sharp Sports Betting
- 'Blackjacked - Card counters decry casinos' rough tactics' by Bob Shemeligian, Las Vegas Mercury, October 16, 2003
Stanford Wong Blackjack Newsletter
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