Tommy Hyland
Many blackjack players would rather play a game that is easy than a game that feels comfortable. Of course, that is the methodology behind the basic strategy: to have the odds as even as possible. One exception to this rule, however, is Tommy Hyland, who has been playing blackjack full-time since April of 1979.
Tommy began gambling during his college years in Ohio, yet his eyes were really opened to the opportunities that gambling and blackjack in particular provided after reading Lawrence Revere’s “Playing Blackjack as a Business.” From this point, it only took a few months until Hyland was playing blackjack full-time. It was in this first year of playing that Hyland organized his first ever blackjack group.
Hyland was playing in the same town as fellow blackjack legend Ken Uston, and approves of the many court trials Uston went to, attempting to gain more rights for casino patrons. Uston has been quoted as saying that he would rather play a game that has slightly worse odds than play in a place where he may be threatened by someone.
Hyland is a man who has seen the best and the worst of the casinos. He has walked away with sizable amounts of cash from the casinos, and has also been threatened by the casino personnel. His picture has been in the Griffin book more than any other gambler in history. He has, at times, worn disguises to play in casinos from which he was barred, and on one occasion even disguised himself as Santa Claus to play in an Atlantic City casino.
|
