Anthony Curtis is an expert on gambling, author and highly skilled playing blackjack. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and it was evident that he had a talent for math. When he was 16 years old he received a book on blackjack as a gift and it spurred his interest in the game. In 1979 he decided to make his first trip to Las Vegas where he was to make a smaller fortune as a professional player.
This trip resulted in gaming that was to bring him both money and fame. Some of his greatest accomplishments that made him known in the gambling world are: winning the World Matchplay Blackjack Championship and with that $76,000, scoring $125,000 in the Atlantic City Craps Championship and winning $60,000 in the Las Vegas Blackjack Championship.
During 15 years, Anthony Curtis perfected his blackjack skills and he played with legends such as the MIT Blackjack Team and Stanford Wong. While becoming quite the legend himself he collected several hundred thousand dollars from his gambling. As a result, the casinos became aware of him and were less keen on letting him gamble in their establishments.
When Anthony Curtis realized that he was a known face in the casino world he decided to make his living by sharing his knowledge in book form. He started up the magazine Las Vegas Advisor which offers advice on where to play in the city and also gives away coupons. While his skills as a blackjack player might not have made him the most wanted in the casinos this magazine was just the opposite; it gave the casinos another outlet of promotion of their offers.
Anthony Curtis publishes his 14-page magazine through his own company named Huntington Press. Through this he also publishes manuals on how to play. He is behind the two very popular books; Bargain City-Booking, Betting, and Beating the New Las Vegas, and The Art of Gambling, both of which are about the gambling industry.
Curtis has been seen on television on the World Series of Blackjack and on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. He has worked as a consultant for Disney Studios, the NBC show Crime Story and for ABC's 20/20. He also starred on Dateline NBC and on 48 Hours. There is also quite an impressive list of newspapers and magazines that have published his articles or written about him. To mention a few: Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The LA Times.
Today Curtis still appears in a few high stakes tournaments but he devotes most of his time to publishing. It seems as if he has found a wise way to invest his previous success and still be engaged in the world of gambling that he loves so much. With his publications he keeps himself and many players informed and up-to-date in order to enhance gaming world wide.
Kim Watson