Ken Uston - Fraud or Pioneer?

[PierceNation]

I know a lot of people have negative opinions about Uston, and I have read in more than one place that he took credit for ideas that weren't his own, and he wasn't actually a very good blackjack player at all.

However, after reading the interview about 'Grifters Gambit', ZG notes that he revived the idea from Mason Malmuths Blackjack Essays, but I wanted to quote MDB...

Pg 153.
Card Eating
..by periodically spreading in negative decks, you will move the game towards the shuffle faster...each of our three hands will eat up cards.
When the deck is positive, you want to "spread vertically", as we call it. Your using up less cards and are likely to play more hands from the favourable deck.

Considering Malmuth references MDB every other page (those who have the book will know what I mean) Would it not be fair to credit Uston for the original concept of card eating as opposed to Malmuth?

I also wanted to quote his section on French casinos:

pg.290
Working the cut
In some French clubs, dealers shuffle in a manner that allows the observant player to know where the high and low cards are located, with this knowledge, the player can ensure that the 10's rich portion will come out at the beginning of the shoe.

He goes on to explain that he notes where the high cards are, replicates the shuffle with chips, and cuts to the good cards, betting big off the top.
This is the earliest mention of Shuffle Tracking I have personally read, although my Blackjack library consists of only 10 books.

So really my question is Ken Uston - Credit where Credits due? What does everyone else think?

Pierce.

 

[QFIT]

Like all of us, Uston had his flaws. But I would not use the word fraud.

 

[zengrifter]

Uston was not a fraud per'se, nor was he a pioneer in the sense that Revere
was a pioneer. Uston was an innovator and a promoter and a good writer. zg

 

[Wookets]

In Richard Munchkin's interview of Al Francesco you'll hear about several things Uston wrongfully took credit for: http://www.richardmunchkin.com/search/label/Interviews.

 

[zengrifter]

In Richard Munchkin's interview of Al Francesco you'll hear about several things Uston wrongfully took credit for: http://www.richardmunchkin.com/search/label/Interviews.

It wasn't "wrongly" any more than Francesco taking "full" credit for the BP concept that Revere actually "invented". zg

 

[SecurityRisk]

He was also a good Pac-man player.

 

[Lonesome Gambler]

Mastering Pac Man is a great book, and very cool if you can find an original Pac Man (with the boards that Uston provides strategy for).

 

[Richard Munchkin]

Ken Uston threw a player off his team for shuffle tracking. He didn't believe that a player could be accurate enough to have an edge.

Uston wouldn't be the first or the last author to write about techniques they weren't really familiar with.

 

[PierceNation]

Like all of us, Uston had his flaws. But I would not use the word fraud.

Im not suggesting that he is a fraud, just posing the question based on the negative opinions alot of respected posters hold of him.

Ive always enjoyed reading his books, as zg says he is a great writer. Just wondering what everyone else felt.

He should definately get credit for the origins of grifters gambit, MDB was written at least 5 years before Malmuths book IF im right with the dates of publication.

 

[PierceNation]

Ken Uston threw a player off his team for shuffle tracking. He didn't believe that a player could be accurate enough to have an edge.

Uston wouldn't be the first or the last author to write about techniques they weren't really familiar with.

Thats interesting. He clearly states in the late 70s he used Shuffle Tracking in France. Leows to be precise. Maybe thats an example of the hypocrisy that everyone talks about coming through...

Ive read the Al Francesco interview. He does suggests Kenny talked a bigger game than he played.

 

[QFIT]

He didn't believe that a player could be accurate enough to have an edge.

Perhaps he was right in that case.

I seem to remember from one of Uston's newsletters they pounded a shuffle in AC (the Claridge if my creaky mind remembers correctly). But, it was a really awful shuffle.

He should definately get credit for the origins of grifters gambit, MDB was written at least 5 years before Malmuths book IF im right with the dates of publication.

A lot of ideas are bounced around and used well before someone writes about them. Sometimes hard to nail down the original sources. And some claims about Uston may have actually come from Sludikoff. But whatever the case, Uston wrote some great stuff.

 

[zengrifter]

Ken Uston threw a player off his team for shuffle tracking. He didn't believe that a player could be accurate enough to have an edge.

Neither did JonnyC's MIT team. zg

 

[zengrifter]

He should definately get credit for the origins of grifters gambit, MDB was written at least 5 years before Malmuths book IF im right with the dates of publication.

Uston didn't nail the consolidation betting accurately. Malmuth gets the credit.
Uston's emphasis was on the card-eating and NOT the consolidation itself as camo.
Nor did Uston recognize its power. zg

 

[BJLFS]

BTW have any of you seen the documentary on Uston?

Starts here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahgxK-tWtU&feature=related

 

[Solo player]

Uston

His books make for very good reading. Million Dollar Blackjack, One Third of a Shoe, and The Big Player. True or not I don't know, but very entertaining and inspiring.

 

[Gamblor]

Ken Uston threw a player off his team for shuffle tracking. He didn't believe that a player could be accurate enough to have an edge.

Uston wouldn't be the first or the last author to write about techniques they weren't really familiar with.

Even Snyder doesn't think STing can be done by the vast majority of people, he thinks you need a special aptitude. So Uston wasn't too way off.

 

[zengrifter]

His books make for very good reading. Million Dollar Blackjack, One Third of a Shoe, and The Big Player. True or not I don't know, but very entertaining and inspiring.

Uston on BJ is my favorite. zg

Zzone exclusives with commentary from Bethany Uston -

The "Truth" about Ken Uston's Death

The white stuff in Ken Uston's nose​

 

[Dyepaintball12]

Ken Uston is the man.

 

[Sucker]

I have read in more than one place that he took credit for ideas that weren't his own, and he wasn't actually a very good blackjack player at all.

There are almost NO books that have been written on blackjack - or just about anything else for that matter - where the ideas were actually invented by the author himself. It could easily be argued that almost all authors are not innovators, but nothing more than snitches. (Don't ask me to name names, please)

Even the great Lawrence Revere did not reveal any of his real secrets, though there IS one sentence in his book where he says: "Don't play unless you can see ALL of the cards". It took me several years before I realized that he was dropping hints about HC play! :laugh:

Think about it: If you discovered a gold mine, would you tell the world?

 

[tthree]

There are almost NO books that have been written on blackjack - or just about anything else for that matter - where the ideas were actually invented by the author himself. It could easily be argued that almost all authors are not innovators, but nothing more than snitches. (Don't ask me to name names, please)

Even the great Lawrence Revere did not reveal any of his real secrets, though there IS one sentence in his book where he says: "Don't play unless you can see ALL of the cards". It took me several years before I realized that he was dropping hints about HC play! :laugh:

Think about it: If you discovered a gold mine, would you tell the world?

I was thinking the same thing. He had a bad or at least sketchy history at playing the game. He took credit for others ideas while outing important AP techniques for profit in the form of books. Grosjean saw the problem with this and changed his marketing. I don't think this will stop the dark side from getting sensitive information but it at least makes it harder.