Julian Braun is particularly abrupt in the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Compared to the card-counting experts with strong winds and waves, Julian is a very quiet and even extremely low-key person. He has worked as a programmer at IBM all his life.

 

 

Julian hardly set foot in casinos, and his blackjack research was done in the IBM laboratory, but his contribution to blackjack was immeasurable.

 

Julian was born in Chicago in 1929. He obtained a double degree in physics and mathematics, served in the US Marine Corps, and entered IBM in 1961 and stayed in IBM for more than 25 years.

 

Working with Dr. Thorpe

 

Julian would start researching blackjack because he had doubts about the material in Thorp's book "Beat the Dealer". He wrote to Thorp and asked for a copy of Thorp's computer program.

 

Combining his computer talent with IBM's supercomputer (IBM 7044) at that time, he quenched Thorp's research into a more perfect blackjack strategy. During 4 years, he used IBM's 7044 to simulate 9 billion hands Blackjack data created the Hi-Lo card counting method and Basic Strategy. Julian's version is not only more accurate than Thorpe's original version, but also simpler.

 

Julian's research was later published in Thorpe's 1966 reprint of Beat the Dealer, in which Thorp strongly endorsed and praised Julian's research for its contribution to blackjack:

 

"Through Julian's optimization of the original blackjack calculation program, the result is the most accurate of all the research in the world. In this book, he generously shared the research results."

(How to Play Winning Blackjack)

 

Julian continued to refine his blackjack strategy to perfection, and his research was published in Lawrence Revere's book (Playing Blackjack as a Business), as well as Lance Humber and Carl Cooper's book (The World's Greatest Blackjack as a Business). Book), in 1980, Julian published his own book (How to Play Winning Blackjack).

 

Just like the author's own style, this book is very low-key, direct and logical.

 

In the preface of this book, Julian stated: "The reason I wrote this book is that I hope to provide useful information to help thousands of players who are as enthusiastic about blackjack as I am. I would like to warn readers that I Not a great talker, nor a former casino manager, so this book doesn't have the uncanny anecdotes, or the fascinating inside stories, or the brilliant happenings at the gaming tables that some other books have. On the contrary, I will try to show you the results of my 18 years of research in a logical manner as much as possible."

 

In How to Beat Blackjack, Julian explains the best basic strategies, advice on how to play, and includes colorful, easy-to-use tables for the game of blackjack of all rules. As the title suggests, Julian's book is literally a textbook on how to beat blackjack.

 

Edward. Thorpe, the father of blackjack card counting, strongly admired Julian's work. He wrote: "Julian transformed my original computer simulation program into the world's most powerful and accurate blackjack calculation tool."