Every blackjack-history buff knows the name Ken Uston; he is considered one of the all-time great blackjack legends. But if Uston is considered mythical, then the person who taught him all he knows has got to be even greater and that person is Al Francesco.

Al Francesco is the guy who invented the concept of blackjack "team play" (as in MIT Blackjack Team), particularly the "big player" approach to team play. Francesco was one of the first great card counters and many subsequent successful team leaders and members owe him a debt of gratitude. Ironically, it was Ken Uston's book, "The Big Player," published in 1977, that brought Al Francesco's groundbreaking ideas into the public arena and under the watchful eyes of casino owners. Until then, from the early 70s, Francesco's big-player teams were hitting the Vegas casinos for millions of dollars, completely undetected. The publication of Uston's book angered many theretofore invisible team players as it shed much light on their blackjack strategies and methods and secrets. It also created a rift between Uston and Francesco that took years to mend.

Like most professional blackjack players, Al Francesco's card-counting days began in earnest after he read Edward O. Thorp's book "Beat the Dealer." Francesco was a successful gambler at that point, but Thorp's book, which detailed the basics of blackjack card counting, changed his life and his approach to the game of blackjack forever.

Initially, Francesco found that solo card counting was not particularly profitable; it was easily detectable and he was banned from casinos time after time. He even gave the game up for a while, but he never stopped trying to figure out a way to beat the house. Francesco came to the conclusion that team play was the way.

Francesco started small — he actually kept his team to a few family members — but he won consistently and, because he was not the one actually doing the card counting (which is the whole idea behind team play), the casinos didn't catch on to the strategy. Ken Uston's book inadvertently blew the whistle on Francesco's approach but it also led to some of the greatest teams in blackjack history, including the MIT Team. These teams, who rake in millions every year (and are still partially in operation), have Al Francesco to thank. He is considered a pillar of blackjack and in 2003 he was one of the first seven Blackjack Hall of Fame inductees, thus getting the recognition he deserves.