As with any highly popular activity, the most popular of all classic table games blackjack over the years built its share of legends and legendary characters. They were in part responsible for the development of new rules, new variations of the game, new strategies, and generally each simply made and contributions to shaping the game into the current format now enjoyed by millions throughout the world.

One of these legends of blackjack is a certain fictional but also very real Stanford Wong, it is the pen name for John Ferguson who attained legendary status throughout the length and width of the blackjack universe for his writing of numerous game changing books on Blackjack. He also became renowned for his creation of computer programs that prompted him to develop techniques that advanced blackjack strategy immeasurably.
Like numerous other great blackjack players, Wong proved to be a very intelligent gent having earned his PhD from Stanford where he later taught classes. Between studying and teaching started enjoying casino blackjack at which he proved to be so proficient he turned professional through his prolific card counting enterprises.

In his period as a blackjack pro he wrote and his first successful publication called Professional Blackjack, which assisted him in achieving a great part of the respect he earned within the no-nonsense Blackjack community. Four years after the fact he initiated a monthly newsletter publication named Current Blackjack News wherein he dissected the rules of blackjack as well as events that took place in casinos throughout the world. The newsletter reached a similar level of popularity comparable to that of his book and it remains in print to this day.

His computer program Blackjack Analyser came at point in time where not too many articles letters on Blackjack were made available to average Joe blackjack. The software proved to be particularly assistive to blackjack players just starting out who were not yet fully au fait with the math behind the game. His technique exploits gave rise to the term “Wonging”, which involved card counting at the table without actually participating in the game, he would then quickly join a game only once the cards were counted until the deck favour swung his way.

This practical technique of his prompted a great number of casinos to refuse players access to a game mid shoe. Wong went on to publish a number of other books that attained fame in the written annals of blackjack such as Basic Blackjack, Blackjack Secrets, Tournament Blackjack, Downtown Vegas Blackjack, Winning without Counting, and numerous others.

One would expect a stereotypical blackjack player to be a middle-aged gent with a receding hairline and displaying a dress sense that leaves a lot to be desired to cover a paunch. Erica Schoenberg misses all these identifiable market traits by a long way, having and herself the nickname “Blackjack Babe” due to her modelling career and stunning looks. She started working on her blackjack and poker skills from the age of five, only to further enhance the skills by befriending one of the members of the famous MIT Blackjack Team who tutored on the intricacies surrounding card counting.

At approximately the same time the Blackjack Babe collected a first major win in her initiating blackjack tournament that netted her a neat $2000 in winnings. The two events combined convinced her to pursue a more serious card counting and blackjack career in conjunction with her modelling. This brought to being a participant on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, which brought further exposure prompted a invitation to participate in the World Series of Blackjack in both the second and third seasons.

She gave a good account of herself during the second season by moving into second place which are maintained for a period, but Erica eventually busted from the tournament in its middle stages. One of the surprising aspects of this brilliant female blackjack player is that she gained even greater notoriety during her days as a purely poker player. She found her footing by establishing herself during the 2006 World Poker Tournament Championship where she took 16 position, which she followed up in 2007 at the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship where she finished in first place taking $105,875 in prize monies.