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Al Franceso will always be remembered as the brains behind the team play concept for blackjack games. It was also Francesco who was responsible for the unique concept known in casino gaming circles as the Big Player. The team play concept became extremely famous during the time when card counting was introduced. This play concept has been cited and extensively discussed in numerous books on blackjack. Al organized his own team of blackjack players and his group used a counting strategy to gain substantial leverage in their games in casinos. His team has strung up substantial winnings right under the very noses of casino security and dealers.
Al started his career in gambling in Indiana. He began to make a name in the gaming circle as a professional and successful Greek Rummy player, earning around $5,000 annually. In 1963, Al started experimenting on card counting systems after reading the book of Edward O. Thorp entitled “Beat the Dealer.” Al initially had a hard time using a card counting system and on several occasions, Al would leave the game without even a single win. Through sheer determination and persistence, Al was able to learn a counting system and started beating the dealer as it was described in the book of Edward O. Thorp.
However, Al’s career in gambling hit a brick wall after casino operators got wind of his card counting activities. He was constantly harassed and banned from the casino floor after getting himself into an amazing winning run to the chagrin of casino operators. Al became a marked man, and he had no other choice but to devise a solution that would get him back to the casino floor and do his card counting without being detected.
It was during this time that he decided to organize his own team of players to help him out in applying Thorp’s card counting system on the casino floor without being detected. Al got the Francesco brood to form the core of his team, and he started teaching them how to use the card counting system of Thorp. Each of the members of the team had a specific assignment or role. One member of the team would sit at the blackjack table and count cards. This player will only make small bets that would not exceed $5. Another member of the team would nonchalantly place a big bet to go with the small bet placed by the first member. Dealers and pit bosses would not raise any alarms and dismiss it as just a lucky hit. The system was further refined and perfected by Al and this paved the way for the creation of the concept of team play and Big Player.
The team of Al was usually composed of 7 members – 6 are in charge of card counting and 1 member assumes the role of the Big Player. The 6 card counters take their assigned places in different blackjack tables while the Big Player places high bets as he moves from one table to another where the card counters are positioned. Al and his team of blackjack players successful strung up an astounding number of winning runs, and they were able to rack up winnings worth millions of dollars in just a few years. Ken Uston also learned this system under the tutelage of Al Francesco.
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