Blackjack Ball History

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BLACKJACK

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ

SPECIAL SECTION

According to Max Rubin, “The Blackjack Ball is a double secret party that he has hosted since 1997, that pits the world’s most dangerous blackjack players in a battle for the coveted “Blackjack Cup“, a trophy which proclaims them to be that year’s ‘World’s Greatest Blackjack Player’.” Entry to the Ball is by invitation only and each guest is required to bring one chilled bottle of premium champagne ¹⁾Yes, this only includes “full” bottles of chilled premium Champagne. You know… advantage players will try to get away with anything. 🙂 For the 2018 Blackjack Ball, I brought a nice bottle of Tsarine Cuvee Adriana… a fancy looking gold bottle of French Champagne. Beginning in 2019, each guest must also pony up $100 to help mitigate the cost and help support the longevity of the Blackjack Hall of Fame and the Blackjack Ball. to get past the security at the door. Voting generally occurs at this event for new inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. See Blackjack History Database.

WORLD’S GREATEST BLACKJACK PLAYER
BLACKJACK CUP PAST WINNERS

1997 Wally Simmons
1998 “The Hobbit”
1999 “MIT Ted”
2000 “Cassie” aka Maria “The Greek”
2001 Bradley Petersen
2002 Bradley Petersen
2003 “Mr. Lucky”
2004 James Grosjean
2005 “The Hobbit”
2006 “The Moray Eel”
2007 James Grosjean
2008 James Grosjean²⁾James Grosjean was barred from winning any more of these contests in 2008. But they named the prize after him! 🙂 Check Max Rubin’s site for more information.

GROSJEAN CUP PAST WINNERS

2009 “Honcho”
2010 “Big Player”
2011 Michael Shackleford
2012 “Mr. Yuk”
2013 Richard Munchkin
2014 “Smoke”
2015 Rick Blaine
2016 Lee Jenson
2017 Anthony Curtis
2018 “Wahoo”
2019 “Tony S.”
2020 Arnold Snyder
2021 Event canceled due to Covid-19³⁾The 2021 Blackjack Ball was canceled, however, on March 21, 2021, the first annual(?) “Blackjack Call” was attempted. A Zoom session of 50 or so participants was gathered to discuss various items including the possibility of creating a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization for the Blackjack Ball and Blackjack Hall of Fame.
2022 TBD⁴⁾In March of 2022, the Blackjack Hall of Fame became a 501c3 non-profit corporation. This year, all proceeds and donations from the Blackjack Ball were donated to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to help establish the UNLV Center for Gambling Policy and Health. The 2022 Blackjack Ball was the 25th Silver Anniversary of this event.

DATABASE ENTRIES⁵⁾Database entries above may be incomplete. I am looking for exact Blackjack Ball dates to complete 1997 – 2010. Did you attend? Know the date? Let me know!

Event Date	Event Name
01-05-1997	On this day (approx) in 1997, Max Rubin held the 1st annual Blackjack Ball - an event to celebrate the greatest blackjack players, experts and authors. Wally Simmons won the Blackjack Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player.
01-02-2008	On this day in 2008, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott were officially inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame. Collectively they were known as "The Four Horsemen of Aberdeen". While serving in the U.S. Army in the 1950s, they discovered and published in the Journal of the American Statistical Association* the first accurate basic strategy for blackjack, using only desk calculators. [ Encyclopedia of Blackjack ]
01-04-2008	On this day in 2008, Max Rubin held the 12th annual *Blackjack Ball. James Grosjean* won the Blackjack Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. The Four Horseman of Aberdeen were inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
12-31-2011	On this day in 2011, Max Rubin held the 15th annual Blackjack Ball. Michael Shackelford won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Zeljko Ranogajec was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
01-28-2012	On this day in 2012, Max Rubin held the 16th annual Blackjack Ball. "Mr. Yuk" won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Ian Andersen was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
01-26-2013	On this day in 2013, Max Rubin held the 17th annual Blackjack Ball. Richard Munchkin won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. There was no voting for induction this year into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
01-25-2014	On this day in 2014, Max Rubin held the 18th annual Blackjack Ball. "Smoke" won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Bob Nersesian was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
01-24-2015	On this day in 2015, Max Rubin held the 19th annual Blackjack Ball. Rick Blaine won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Don Schlesinger was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
01-30-2016	On this day in 2016, Max Rubin held the 20th annual Blackjack Ball. Lee Jenson won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Bill Benter was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
01-28-2017	On this day in 2017, Max Rubin held the 21st annual Blackjack Ball. Anthony Curtis won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Don Johnson was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
04-21-2018	On this day in 2018, Max Rubin held the 22nd annual Blackjack Ball. "Wahoo" won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Wally Simmons was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
02-09-2019	On this day in 2019, Max Rubin held the 23rd annual Blackjack Ball. "Tony S." won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Rob Reitzen was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
02-22-2020	On this day in 2020, Max Rubin held the 24th annual Blackjack Ball. Arnold Snyder won the Grosjean Cup trophy this year for World's Greatest Blackjack Player. Anthony Curtis was inducted into the *Blackjack Hall of Fame*. [ Blackjack Review ]
03-21-2021	On this day in 2021, and because the 2021 *Blackjack Ball* was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first annual(?) “*Blackjack Call*” was attempted via Zoom.

2017 Grosjean Cup (on ice) — 2017: The 89 pound Grosjean Cup for the World’s Greatest Blackjack Player was won by “Anthony Curtis”. Finally opened at the 2020 after party. Unfortunately, the champagne had gone bad. New Grosjean Cup rule #1: Drink it within one year!

2020 Grosjean Cup — 2020: The Grosjean Cup Award for the World’s Greatest Blackjack Player was won by Arnold Snyder. The Munchkin Award was won by “Dunbar”.

PODCASTS

MORE INFORMATION

[ Max Rubin ]
[ Past Winners ]
[ Richard Munchkin 2014 Ball ]
[ Forbes Magazine 2016 Ball ]
[ Cigar Aficionado 2017 Ball ]
[ Henry Tamburin 2019 Ball ]
[ Las Vegas Advisor 2019 Ball ]
[ Blackjack Review 2020 Ball ]
[ Las Vegas Review Journal 2020 Ball ]

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
↑1	Yes, this only includes “full” bottles of chilled premium Champagne. You know… advantage players will try to get away with anything. 🙂 For the 2018 *Blackjack Ball, I brought a nice bottle of Tsarine Cuvee Adriana… a fancy looking gold bottle of French Champagne. Beginning in 2019, each guest must also pony up $100 to help mitigate the cost and help support the longevity of the Blackjack Hall of Fame* and the *Blackjack Ball*.
↑2	James Grosjean was barred from winning any more of these contests in 2008. But they named the prize after him! 🙂 Check Max Rubin’s site for more information.
↑3	The 2021 *Blackjack Ball* was canceled, however, on March 21, 2021, the first annual(?) “*Blackjack Call” was attempted. A Zoom session of 50 or so participants was gathered to discuss various items including the possibility of creating a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization for the Blackjack Ball* and *Blackjack Hall of Fame*.
↑4	In March of 2022, the *Blackjack Hall of Fame* became a 501c3 non-profit corporation. This year, all proceeds and donations from the *Blackjack Ball* were donated to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to help establish the UNLV Center for Gambling Policy and Health. The 2022 *Blackjack Ball* was the 25th Silver Anniversary of this event.
↑5	Database entries above may be incomplete. I am looking for exact Blackjack Ball dates to complete 1997 – 2010. Did you attend? Know the date? Let me know!

Blackjack Review

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BLACKJACK

Blackjack Ball (BB, BJB)

WORLD’S GREATEST BLACKJACK PLAYER
BLACKJACK CUP PAST WINNERS

GROSJEAN CUP PAST WINNERS

DATABASE ENTRIES⁵⁾Database entries above may be incomplete. I am looking for exact Blackjack Ball dates to complete 1997 – 2010. Did you attend? Know the date? Let me know!

PODCASTS

MORE INFORMATION

The World Blackjack Portal!

<img class="alignleft lazyload" title="Blackjack Ball Grosjean Cup" src="https://static.bjrnet.com/images/BlackjackBallTrophy2013_s.jpg" alt="Blackjack Ball Grosjean Cup" width="45" height="87" data-popupalt-original-title="null"/>Blackjack Ball (BB, BJB)

<img class="alignright lazyload" title="Blackjack Ball 2020 Cake" src="https://static.bjrnet.com/images/blackjackball/2020/BB2020_Cake_Attendees_s.jpg" alt="Blackjack Ball 2020 Cake" width="125" height="165"/>GROSJEAN CUP PAST WINNERS

DATABASE ENTRIES5)Database entries above may be incomplete. I am looking for exact Blackjack Ball dates to complete 1997 – 2010. Did you attend? Know the date? Let me know!

PODCASTS

MORE INFORMATION

The World Blackjack Portal!

Blackjack Ball (BB, BJB)

GROSJEAN CUP PAST WINNERS

DATABASE ENTRIES⁵⁾Database entries above may be incomplete. I am looking for exact Blackjack Ball dates to complete 1997 – 2010. Did you attend? Know the date? Let me know!