 |
 |
 Julian
Braun
Julian Braun was author of the acclaimed book, "How to
Play Winning Blackjack." He began his fascination with
blackjack while working for International Business Machines
(IBM). He began to examine the writings of Edward Thorpe who
had blown open the door on blackjack strategies.
Braun found several items in Thorpe's studies which he felt
were miscalculations so he wrote to Braun and asked for his
computer program. Braun then took the results and ran them
through his computer (which, compared to today's standards,
was quite archaic) and was able to both condense and simplify
Braun's work into a Basic Strategy. In fact, in a revised
version of his "Beat the Dealer", Thorpe lauded
Braun's work as "the most accurate in existence"
and added that "the results of the first edition have
been sharpened and improved by the extensive researches of
Julian Braun."
Braun was able to combine his astonishing skills as a
computer programmer with the more capable, high speed
computers at IBM to come up with a more precise tool
for calculating blackjack strategies for winning.
Some of his theories included the fact that an excess
of 9's, 10's, and aces favored the player while an
excess of smaller-value cards favored the house. He
also developed strategies via which he assigned a plus
or minus value to each card, and played the game of
blackjack accordingly.
Braun later collaborated with Carl Cooper and Lance Humble
in the celebrated work, "The World's Greatest Blackjack
Book". After retiring from IBM, Braun worked in the stock
and commodities markets. He died in September, 2000 of Parkinson's
Disease. |
|
|
|
|
