Stanford Wong is a pseudonym for John Ferguson, but a great blackjack player by any other name will still be as brilliant. Wong is widely considered to be one of the foremost experts on the subject of blackjack and blackjack strategy. He was duly honored as one of the seven charter members of the Blackjack Hall of Fame inducted in 2003.

Like many other blackjack stars who were educated in mathematics and economics, Wong got his PhD in Finance and taught the subject at San Francisco State University. He began pursing professional blackjack in earnest in 1976, sometimes as part of a team. Wong claims he was introduced to playing blackjack through Edward Thorp's book, "Beat the Dealer," from which he learned to count cards.

But Wong he waited until he was 21 and of legal gambling age to put Thorp's words to good use in the casinos. Stanford even has a word named after him — to "wong" means to gain an advantage using a specific Wong-created technique (whereby the player goes from table to table). Just that alone could have gotten him into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

Wong is no longer a professional blackjack player. He is a renowned author and blackjack analyst. His masterwork is "Professional Blackjack," which was published over 30 years ago and is still in print today.

Also a computer expert, Wong developed the program, "Blackjack Analyzer," which was first meant for his own private use but which was publicized and became leading odds-analysis software. More recently Wong published "Wong on Dice," which introduces a somewhat controversial system for winning at Craps. He has written about a dozen other gambling-related books, as well. In addition, he publishes an online report called, "Current Blackjack News," that features up-to-date information about blackjack games in land-based casinos and online casinos around the world.

Some of Wong's books are considered valuable collector's items; his second book, "Blackjack in Asia," for instance, is valued at over $2,000 today (if you can find an available copy). Similarly, Wong's 1980, "Winning without Counting," is rare and hard to find and is valued at hundreds of dollars. Esoteric blackjack terms, like warping, spooking and front-loading are credited to Wong and are mentioned in this controversial book written with the wry sense of humor that Wong has become famous for. If anyone deserves to be a Blackjack Hall of Famer, it's Stanford Wong.