Al Francesco the Professional Gambler

Long before being introduced to card counting, Al Francesco was a professional gambler who made a living playing various gambling games. When he discovered Edward Thorp's best selling book titled "Beat the Dealer", he realized that he could use his skills to win far more. Unfortunately, Al's success was too great. He was soon spotted and barred from playing at various casinos for being too successful. This did not deter Al and he returned to playing professionally several years later. It only took a few months for the casinos to bar him again. At this point he realized that the only way to keep playing would be to devise a system that would overcome the casinos' surveillance.

Al Francesco and Blackjack Team Play

The plan introduced by Al was that of a blackjack team using what was known as the "Big Player". The idea was to get several card counters to work as a team and watch a blackjack game until an opening was found. At this point the "big player" would step in and wager large sums promptly leaving as soon as it was no longer profitable. This scheme of blackjack team play worked very well for some time and is still employed in one way or another by teams today. The team is purported to have won at various occasions sums of several million dollars. Nonetheless Al's blackjack team suffered serious setbacks when they were "sold out" by a team mate - Ken Uston. Ken published a book which described the blackjack team system and thus exposed Al's system to the world. This enabled casinos to increase their awareness and fight back. Francesco has often said that he never held a grudge against Uston, nonetheless other members of the blackjack team certainly did.

Al Francesco Today

Today, Al who is one of the original seven members of the Blackjack Hall of Fame is retired from professional blackjack playing and no longer organizes or runs teams. He has not ignored other avenues of gambling and has expressed an interest in horse racing as well as sports racing.