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Al Francesco Pioneered Team Play Blackjack
Al Francesco is one of the most well-known names in the world of professional Blackjack. It was Francesco who invented the concept of team-play Blackjack, a Blackjack strategy that implemented simple card-counting in a multi-player format. Francesco's system provided blackjack players with a way to count cards while remaining undetected by casino management. It was used by many now-famous Blackjack players to win consistently on the casino floor.
Al Francesco's Blackjack Beginnings
Unlike many other professional gamblers, Francesco showed an interest in cards and gambling games even in his youth. He started his career at nineteen, playing Greek Rummy and Craps in his hometown, Gary, Indiana. But it was only in 1963 that Francesco read Beat the Dealer, by Edward O. Thorp, and developed an avid interest in the game of Blackjack.
After reading Thorp's book and thoroughly studying his blackjack card counting techniques, Francesco decided to put the theory to the test. And, amazingly, it worked. Francesco was hooked. He began to play with blackjack card-counting strategy on a regular basis, and encountered consistent success.
But after a year and half of playing in the same places, the casinos began to recognize him as a blackjack winner, and repeatedly sent him away. Discouraged, Francesco decided to give up playing professionally until he could come up with a better method.
Team Play Blackjack
A few years later, Al Francesco was in Lake Tahoe with his family. One evening, they headed to a nearby casino while waiting for their dinner reservations. Francesco's brother, who was familiar with blackjack card counting strategy, was playing Blackjack while other family members chatted. Although Francesco was not paying attention to the blackjack game, he started to throw in a $100 bet whenever he saw his brother bet high and nothing when his brother bet low. It seemed to the dealer that Francesco was an unskilled wealthy blackjack player, and when it came time to leave, he attempted to convince Francesco to stay and play. That was when the idea of Team Play Blackjack was born.
How Team Play Blackjack Worked
Francesco realized that if he could organize a team of skilled blackjack card counters, he could implement card-counting strategy in a way that would be difficult to detect. Francesco began with a team of several "spotters", players who would spend long periods at the Blackjack tables placing consistently low bets and counting cards. When the count was favorable, these players would call in a "Big Player", someone imitating the role that Francesco had played in Lake Tahoe. The big player was supposed to appear to the dealer like a wealthy player who was not playing according to any blackjack strategy, but in reality, a big player would only bet at a table with a favorable count and leave when the spotter indicated that the count had diminished.
This strategy enabled Francesco's team to enjoy amazing returns at the game of Blackjack without being discovered by the dealers, who at this point, were trained to look for signs of a classic blackjack card counter.
Al Francesco Becomes Blackjack hall of Famer
After several years of success, Francesco's strategy was publicized in The Big Player, a book written by blackjack team member Ken Uston. Francesco went on to become one of the first gambling professionals inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. After giving so much to the field of Blackjack, Francesco decided to retire from playing blackjack professionally. Now, he's discovered a new gambling pastime - horse races and sporting events.
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