Stanford Wong
Stanford Wong is the alias for John Ferguson, a well known Blackjack expert who also contributed to the early days of video poker strategy. Over the years Wong has changed around from college professor to professional Blackjack player to professional Video Poker player to gambling author to consultant to publisher. His influence on the gambling world is immeasurable, but we'll attempt to cover his achievements here.
Wong's Gambling Career
Wong was born in 1943, and began his gambling career in 1976. At the time he was teaching finance courses at San Francisco, but realized that the teaching lifestyle wasn't for him. To free up his time Wong agreed to be paid a $1 teaching salary in exchange for not attending meetings, which freed up his time to pursue gambling as a full time career.
Blackjack
With his analytical mind and persistence, Wong quickly became one of the most successful Blackjack players in the world. He used tactics like card counting, "wonging" (when he would sit at a table and card count until the deck was hot, then start betting, then stop once it went cold), and expert strategy. In fact, because of "wonging" most casinos have implemented a rule that players are no longer allowed to enter a game mid-shoe.
Wong has now consulted for many Blackjack writers and is a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame. He's widely regarded as one of the best Blackjack players ever.
Craps
After Wong had mastered the Blackjack tables he then proceeded to start playing Craps. At the time almost all professional gamblers believed that the house edge in Craps wasn't something you could overcome, so no one played the game. However, Wong was able to use dice control to beat the game. By throwing the dice in a specific fashion he was able to control the outcome, and he detailed this in his book Wong on Dice.
Video Poker
Being a professional gambler, Wong was always one to look for an edge. Although he had already made a ton of money and mastered Blackjack and Craps, Wong realized that the new video poker machines that were showing up in casinos could actually be beaten.
He quickly used his computer to devise solid strategies for each game of the time, including 8/5 Progressive Jacks or Better and 9/6 Full Pay Jacks or Better. Although his strategies weren't mathematically perfect, they were good enough to beat the game. Wong released his secrets in Professional Video Poker, his first and only book on the game. In fact, Wong's first video poker reports were what helped Bob Dancer get started in the game.
Pi Yee Press
Nowadays Stanford Wong doesn't do as much gambling, and prefers to instead write about the game and help other players share gambling knowledge. He does this mainly through his publishing company, Pi Yee Press. The company has released quite a few gambling related books that are all considered necessary reading in their respective fields.
Wong currently resides in La Jolla, California with his wife. The couple has two grown children who are currently graduated and married.
