History of Card-Counting

Edward Thorp is considered to be the father of card-counting as he invented the modern methods of counting cards at blackjack game. In fact many players tried to count cards before the book Beat the Dealer by E. Thorp was published and sometimes the card-counters managed to get advantage over the house.

When it All Began

The first official information about card-counting appeared in 1957 when the book Playing Blackjack to Win was published. The book explained the idea of card-counting strategy and it contained 16 recommendations on how the cards had to be exposed. To tell the truth, this first card-counting system was raw and it influenced the player’s advantage in no way. Moreover, it didn’t give the recommendations on how to vary the betting size at different situations based of the card count.

First Card-Counting Systems

Many other players tried to invent their own card-counting systems aimed at beating blackjack. Most of them were quite interesting but in fact they were approximate and couldn’t improve the game. For example, the "System Smitty" and "Greasy John" were among the first card-counting systems that lost in history as they turned to be not very successful and now it is even impossible to determine the idea of each one.

Jess Marcum is one more professional gambler who tried to invent the card-counting system in 1949. To reach good results in gambling he even quitted his career at the Rand Corporation and spend the rest of his life at blackjack table.

Harold Smith, the owner of the casino in Reno, also counted cards and he was the man who offered to bet bigger in case the deck is rich in Aces. In 1961 he published the book I Want to Quit Winners that preceded the great E. Thorp’s book.

Edward Thorp's Beat the Dealer

E. Thorp’s book Beat the Dealer published in 1962is the first explanation of the mathematically proven card-counting system. This book is considered to be classic manual for the card-counters of all times. Edward Thorp popularized the system of card-counting and was the first who turned card-counting into a serious blackjack strategy. Today Edward Thorp is a legendary person in the history of blackjack.