Lawrence Revere (born Griffith K. Owens; November 5, 1915 – April 23, 1977[1]) was an author, casino pit boss, and professional blackjack player best known for his book Playing Blackjack as a Business. Revere played under multiple aliases, including Leonard "Speck" Parsons and Paul Mann.[2]

Lawrence Revere
Born
Griffith K. Owens

(1915-11-05)November 5, 1915
DiedApril 23, 1977(1977-04-23) (aged 61)
EducationUniversity of Nebraska
Occupation(s)Author, blackjack player

Education and personal life

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Revere had a degree in mathematics from the University of Nebraska.[3]

He died of cancer on April 23, 1977.[citation needed]

Card counting

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Revere promoted the following card counting strategies developed with Julian Braun, which were detailed in Playing Blackjack as a Business:[citation needed]

  • The Revere Point Count
  • The Revere Five Count Strategy
  • The Reverse Plus-Minus Strategy
  • The Ten Count Strategy

Revere Point Count was highly popular in the early days of counting and is still considered a benchmark strategy. His book only gave the single-deck version. He sold the multi-deck version and it is still sold decades later by relatives. He also sold high-level strategies referred to as Revere Advanced Point Count (RAPC.) These are now generally considered obsolete due to unnecessary complexity – although they are still valid and in use today.[citation needed]

Revere was a controversial figure as he worked both sides of the game at once (casino and player), advising both sides. But he was also known as a master of avoiding detection by casinos, and as an early proponent of composition-dependent strategy and floating advantage.[4] And he trained many of the early counters, some of whom use his strategies to this day.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "United States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch. Retrieved July 18, 2018.[better source needed]
  2. ^ "The Encyclopedia of Casino Twenty-One". blackjackreview.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  3. ^ "The official website of Lawrence Revere". reverebj.com. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  4. ^ Schlesinger, Donald "Blackjack Attack." 3rd edition, March 2, 2005, RGE Publishing.
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