For many people gambling is about spending money in the casinos and never getting it back. But to a rare few gambling can be a rewarding activity which can not only make them money, it can also make them famous.
Such is the case with blackjack heroes - those gambling geniuses who found ways to turn the tables on the house in the game of blackjack. One of them is Sam Vaughn, a former craps player turned blackjack hero. Successful players are considered heroes in the blackjack community because they show others it's possible to profit from gambling, defeat the casinos and rise above one's peers.
Sam Vaughn was an ordinary man who worked for over 20 years in the United States Postal Service in his home in Arizona. But unlike others in this field he had a passion for craps, the dice game, and would spend his money making trips to Las Vegas to play it. Vaughn was a huge fan of craps and especially loved playing in tournaments.
Unfortunately - so far as Vaughn's interest in them was concerned - casinos began to remove craps tournaments from their schedules. It just wasn't that popular and they did not make as much money as they wanted. For Sam Vaughn this did not mean the end of his gambling career, but merely a switch to a new occupation. Sam's friends advised him to play in blackjack tournaments, a popular game among pros.
So Vaughn tried his luck at blackjack tournaments. He joined a tournament called The Four Queens tournament and went home with a $50,000 prize. Encouraged, Vaughn went on to pursue this new passion even further. In 1995, after several years of playing, Vaughn abandoned his post in the UPS and moved to Las Vegas to become a full-time blackjack player.
Since then, Sam Vaughn has made almost 3 million dollars total prize money from blackjack tournaments. Among his notable wins were in the 2004 Reno-Atlantis and the prestigious Hilton Million Dollar Blackjack III where he won a million dollars for first prize. The Hilton tournament is one of the richest blackjack tournaments in the world with a buy-in of $2,000 and bets per hand worth $100 up to $2,500. Wisely, Vaughn opted to be paid by check instead of playing chips (which would have been far too numerous).
Sam Vaughn is a prudent blackjack hero who credits his success not so much to luck or talent but to wise bankroll management. He learned this valuable gambling skill in his craps days and it certainly paid off when he turned to blackjack tournaments. Vaughn is one of the greatest blackjack heroes of all time and people who want to succeed in the game should follow his example.