Ian Andersen
2012
Expert, professional player and author of two classic books for high stakes card counters.
Ian Andersen
Ian Andersenis one of the most private of the professional players. His name is a pseudonym and he has never come out of the shadows. Although he was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame in 2012, he has never attended one of the annual invitation-only Blackjack Balls where the professional players vote and the awards are announced. He is primarily known for his two books, Turning the Tables Las Vegas (1976) and Burning the Tables in Las Vegas (1999).
Turning the Tables was the first book to discuss in great detail the necessity for high stakes card counters to use camouflage to disguise their skillful play from pit bosses, floor men and surveillance.
He believed in creating an entire act in order to be able to take advantage of the generous comps available to high rollers.
This was also the first book to mention the possibility of reading dealer tells to get an edge on the house. (Standard casino procedure back then included the dealer physically peeking at his hole card when he had a ten or ace upcard.)
Burning the Tables, published more than two decades after Andersen’s first book, is similar in scope, again concentrating more on the necessity of having a good non-threatening act in order to maintain your welcome in the casinos.