Education
He studied at Portland State University, and received a master"s degree from the University of California at Davis.
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Peter Griffin
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He authored The Theory of, considered a classic analysis of the mathematics behind the game of casino 21. Griffin"s father was an actuary who went on to head up a labor/management consulting company in Chicago. He taught statistics, calculus and differential equations at California State University-Sacramento from 1965 until his death on October 18, 1998 from prostate cancer.
His first exposure to blackjack was in 1970, when he proposed a course on the mathematics of gambling, and went to Nevada to do some research.
As the New York Times put it, he "promptly got his clock cleaned," and this incentivized him to do more serious research on the subject. He was known for compiling extensive statistics on blackjack players in Atlantic City, and then comparing patterns against players in Las Vegas or Reno.
Griffin was one of the first to calculate the percentage disadvantage of an "average" blackjack player, at 2%. He was also the first to calculate the average gains by hand realized from varying basic strategy.
Griffin wrote the 1979 book, The Theory of: The Compleat Card Counter’s Guide to the Casino Game of 21, which is considered to be a classic in the field
Griffin along with Anthony Curtis is cited as coming up with the title for the main column of the Las Vegas Advisor, "Couponomy". Curtis states "Griffin pointed out that the suffix “omy” typically means to extract, so Couponomy meant extraction via coupon". The main passion of Peter Griffin remained teaching, which is where he devoted most of his working life.
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Born
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Died
1998 (aged 61) -
Nationality
United States