Blackjack is without a doubt one of the most popular card games in history. Those who become skilled at the game have, at times, made millions from playing. It’s so popular that it has featured in countless films, TV shows, and has even had professional tournaments be formed as a result.

You can start your journey to becoming a pro by playing Blackjack online. Who knows, maybe you’ll become as famous in the Blackjack community as the five people we have featured on our list. Let’s kick things off with the “godfather of card counting.”

Edward Thorp
Such was his talent at playing Blackjack, or rather, card counting, Edward Thorp wrote a book called Playing Blackjack to Win, which was released back in 1962. His book made history in that it was the first published work that mathematically proved that card counting could be used to beat the house in Blackjack.

He wasn’t just an author, he also played Blackjack using his own techniques, which won him an impressive £7,500 in one weekend. His achievements in the game also earned him a spot in the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

Thomas Hyland
Thomas Hyland’s Blackjack team was the longest-running in history, and it was also one of the most successful too. Despite there being no exact figure of how much Hyland and his crew have won in their time, the initial team each put $4,000 into the first team bankroll. This eventually grew to approximately $50,000 within just a handful of months.

In 1994, members of his team were arrested for using a shuffle tracking method that is generally considered cheating. Thankfully for the players, the judge ruled that the players’ conduct wasn’t technically cheating, instead merely an intelligent tactic. For all his success, Hyland was eventually elected as one of the original inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
 
Ken Uston
Another person considered a pioneer in card counting in the Blackjack world, Ken Uston, born in New York, rose to prominence in the 1970s for using his incredible skills to earn him a fortune.

After being banned from countless casinos due to his ability to consistently win, Uston became a master of disguise, allowing him to continue to play under the radar. He eventually sued a number of casinos for banning him, ultimately getting the bans overturned.
 
John Ferguson
John Ferguson, better known by his pen name Stanford Wong, was a Blackjack player and author. He started his professional life as a tutor, but it was a career in gambling that he really wanted to pursue. He agreed to allow Stanford University to pay him a miniscule $1 as a salary for missing his work meetings in his last term of teaching at the school.
 
His talent helped develop the peculiarly titled strategy known as “wonging”. Although currently banned from the majority of casinos, the technique involves the player only joining a game when the decks are favourable, then immediately stepping away once the odds decrease. This tactic is why casinos brought in the “No Mid-Shoe Entry”, prohibiting a player from joining a game before the first hand after a shuffle.