Contrary to what some people believe, Max does not control who gets into the Blackjack Hall of Fame, although he does have a lot of influence (since he created it).
Each year, the (living) members of the Hall -- to date, in order of induction: Al Francesco, Peter Griffin, Tommy Hyland, Arnold Snyder, Edward O. Thorp, Ken Uston, Stanford Wong, Keith Taft, Max Rubin, Julian Braun, Lawrence Revere, James Grosjean, Johnny Chang, and Roger Baldwin, Will Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott (also known as The Four Horsemen of Aberdeen, who developed the first accurate blackjack basic strategy) -- are asked to submit a list of prospective new inductees. They then have vigorous discussions about the qualifications and merits of the various submissions and try to come up with a consensus on seven qualified contenders. Those seven contenders’ names are then put on a ballot.
Then the fun starts. At the Blackjack Ball, an annual secret gala attended by about 50 denizens of the blackjack underground (and a few who are in the limelight) and their guests, the pros with bona fide blackjack chops vote and their votes are tallied, along with a few dozen absentee ballots (from some of the world’s top players who can’t make the party). The one blackjack player with the most votes is added to the membership.
At the first Blackjack Ball, seven members were voted in; two were added in the subsequent couple of years. In order to keep the Hall exclusive, only one new member is now added each year.
There was a bit of controversy the second year when Max was elected, along with Keith Taft: Max counted the secret ballots and claimed that he won (the jealousy and back biting among the notable and lesser lights in the professional blackjack world is legendary). But as one wag succinctly put it, "Hey, Max invented the Hall of Fame, and just for that, he ought to be in it."
Max agrees. For those of you who haven’t visited the Blackjack Hall of Fame, we’d suggest that you do, as it features the world’s largest public display of cheating devices used in casinos and it's nothing short of spectacular.
