Ken Smith – A Very Young Legend
A brief history of competitive Blackjack players shows that many professional players took a strong interest in the game only after casinos became legalized or were built in their home areas.
For example, there are many New York and New Jersey players who started to learn many casino games, including Blackjack, in the late 1970s after casinos came to Atlantic City.
Others, like Ken Smith, all ready had skills and interest in the game of Blackjack, but took a more serious approach when gambling and casinos were legalized in his home state of Mississippi in the early 1990s.
By the mid-90s he was all ready competing in tournaments, and eventually began travelling far beyond his home state to play against other enthusiasts. Since 1994 Smith has won more than thirty professional Blackjack tournaments.
He soon turned his efforts to sharing what he had discovered with as many players as possible, and in 1995 was able to write and sell articles about tournament strategy and tactics to “Blackjack Confidential” magazine.
His reputation as a Blackjack expert has only increased over the course of the past few decades, and in addition to tournament play and information rich articles for professional journals; Smith also has formed his own company.
Bayview Strategies, L.L.C. is a consulting and web site development company that Smith uses to help other companies develop gaming software and web sites as well as to share and publish his own Blackjack theories and strategies. His web site (BlackjackInfo.com) has grown tremendously and is today the most popular Blackjack web site on the Internet.
Smith’s web sites offer Blackjack enthusiasts and players information about everything from card counting to tutorials in basic Blackjack strategy. Guests can purchase his e-books and other publications from expert players, and read the many message boards and blogs at the site. Smith also provides links to online gambling options and encourages guests to also visit his Blackjack Tournaments web site (BlackjackTournaments.com) to learn all about the world of tournament play and many of the gaming and betting strategies that have helped Smith to be so remarkably successful.
With the increasing popularity of competitive gambling many casinos and television networks have created alternative tournaments, and Smith was invited to join in the “World Series of Blackjack” over the course of several seasons, as well as being a regular finalist in the exclusive and highly competitive “Las Vegas Hilton’s Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament”. This particular tournament requires a great deal of preliminary winning and success in order to get to the finals, and though Ken has yet to win the big jackpot it seems to be only a matter of time before he does!
Ken Smith’s web sites and e-books are among the most popular in the Blackjack world. He speaks to amateur and experienced players alike and shares the knowledge he has gained from his own studies and experiences in the Blackjack tournament, casino and online world.
Unlike many professional Blackjack players, especially one who makes a business around the game, Smith does not live in Las Vegas, but is still a resident of Mississippi where he spends his time reading, playing classical guitar and studying astronomy.