Stanford Wong: a brief biography
A Blackjack Hall of Fame member, John Ferguson is also known as Stanford Wong, the “guru” of Blackjack. In 1964, Wong began playing Blackjack while teaching finance courses at San Francisco State University.
As he was not satisfied with his teaching career, he decided to take up gambling. In 1975, he published his first book, Professional Blackjack. Additionally, Wong created a computer program called Blackjack Analyzer for personal use. The software was, however, one of the first programs in the market to analyze Blackjack odds.
In addition to participating in televised Blackjack Tournaments, Stanford Wong has appeared on many television shows. Moreover, he owns a publishing house, Pi Yee Press, based in Las Vegas, and has published books by other authors about gambling.
Accomplishments
In 1964, Wong began playing Blackjack, and in 1980 he coined the term “wong” or “wonging”. This term has come to refer to an advantage technique in Blackjack in which you observe how the cards are played without betting your own money until the count turns in your favour. Due to wonging, many casinos have signs on some of their Blackjack tables that say “No Mid Shoe Entry.”
In addition to writing about Blackjack, Wong has served as a consultant to Blackjack writers and researchers, including Don Schlesinger and Ian Anderson. Additionally, Wong published a book titled Wong on Dice, which purported to reveal how to win at Craps with the aid of controlled dice throwing. Additionally, he has an official website Stanford Wongs BJ21, which has been around since 1997 and contains a subscribers-only section called Green Chip.
There has been no greater devotee of Blackjack than this man. He has authored several books on various casino games, and Stanford, his alma mater name combined with Wong, create a flair of the Orient, adding to his allure.