ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BLACKJACK
SPECIAL SECTION
Blackjack Ball (BB, BJB)
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.
DATABASE ENTRIES4)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 |
|
| 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 |
|
| 12-31-2011 |
|
| 01-28-2012 |
|
| 01-26-2013 |
|
| 01-25-2014 |
|
| 01-24-2015 |
|
| 01-30-2016 |
|
| 01-28-2017 |
|
| 04-21-2018 |
|
| 02-09-2019 |
|
| 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. |
On this day (approx) in 1997, 
PODCASTS
- 24th Blackjack Ball 2020
- 23rd Blackjack Ball 2019
- 22nd Blackjack Ball 2018
- 21st Blackjack Ball 2017
- 20th Blackjack Ball 2016
- 18th Blackjack Ball 2014
- 17th Blackjack Ball 2013
- 16th Blackjack Ball 2012
MORE INFORMATION
[ 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
| ↑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 | 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! |