John Ferguson, famous blackjack player

John Ferguson is a professional blackjack player that goes by the name Stanford Wong in the gambling world. He is the owner and operator of Pi Yee Press. The main blackjack related site started by this company is BJ21.com, a popular blackjack forum. This is a place where expert blackjack players congregate to discuss strategy, game conditions and new games. Other potential advantage plays are also discussed on the forum. Many of the expert forums require a paid membership to access.

One popular product produced by Pi Yee Press is a monthly newsletter available for purchase. This contains information about blackjack conditions across North America. Pi Yee Press is also a book publisher. Ferguson's Professional Blackjack was published in 1975. It is still a popular blackjack guide for players. His computer program 'Blackjack Analyzer' was the first commercially available software pertaining to the strategy of the game.

Ferguson started his career as a professor at San Francisco State University while earning his Ph.D in finance from Stanford. This is where the Stanford portion of his alias came from. The Wong name is synonymous with a blackjack advantage play. This consists of a player scouting the conditions or count before taking a seat at the table.

Ferguson led advantage player teams in Las Vegas. In addition to blackjack, he has been able to beat video poker and table game tournaments. He also claims to have a technique of dice control in craps that allows him to beat the house. Many advantage players doubt these dice control techniques. It is one of the hottest debates in the community. Anthony Curtis of the Las Vegas Advisor is a famous member of his former advantage play teams.

Ferguson has since been discovered as an advantage player and is unable to find favorable action. This motivated him to pursue other business interests within the gaming industry, including the BJ21 website and related products.

Another play he invented was the Wong Teaser. This method was released to the public in a 2001 book titled Sharp Sports Betting.

A Wong Teaser is a play where a bettor chooses two or more teams on a 6 point football teaser card. These are common in Las Vegas and offshore sportsbooks. The key numbers are a favorite of 7.5 or 8.5 points and underdogs of 1.5 and 2.5 points. The point of teasing these plays into a 6 point teaser is to move the number across both 3 and 7. Nearly one quarter of all football games will land on either 3 or 7.

At the time of publishing, Wong Teasers were profitable plays. One could take a two teamer for +100. This created a positive expectation. Sportsbooks nowadays require laying -110 or -120 on these cards. Playing three or four teams can create a positive return, but good luck finding enough games on the card that qualify.

Pinnacle Sports still uses the old school teaser payouts. They block Wong Teasers by not publishing lines on numbers that can be played in this way.