Would you consider the Wiz famous?

I was watching one of the Vegas / gambling shows on the travel channel- it was one of those solid hours of diffrent aspects of vegas and gaming and the wiz was on it as a sort of 'expert' when it came to 'sucker bets' ect ect.

My question is would you consider over-all; from the sites, tv, work hes done for companies. When you compair his name to others out there, in all areas- all famous people... does he rank at all in the known category?

True the vast vast majority of peole will go 'who?' .. but what qualifies a person to be considered famous in the first place?


I once heard that the only truely truely famous beings are the ones who you only have to say one part, not the whole, of their name- and everyone knows who your talking about. Examples:

Jesus, Hitler, Elvis, Lincoln...

Quote: Malaru

I once heard that the only truely truely famous beings are the ones who you only have to say one part, not the whole, of their name- and everyone knows who your talking about. Examples:

Jesus, Hitler, Elvis, Lincoln...

...Mike....(I'm not worthy [banging chest....])

Seriously, M.S. is one of the biggest in gaming math: IGT, Shuffle, etc... use him. Stanley Ko is generally considered #2 but fading. Also consider Eliot Jacobsen as big. Also, Charles Mousseau for advanced poker and computer simulation modeling, Cindy Liu especially for BJ variants, and Stacy Friedman for general work. Also, Eliot is adept in help shaping difficult projects.

What is also VERY important is that Mike developed both WOO and WOV, two very important industry resources that are check frequently by the top execs, in addition to us trolls. [Sheesh! Talk about log rolling....but seriously!...]

WOO is an important reference, and WOV is a source of the latest poop on game developments and gamblers' opinions. Some of the stuff here is like a semi-friend trial/focus group/game patent info, etc.

Game developers use his math methods and results in their own game development (often cutting and pasting into Excel various sheets for modeling, and reviewing methods of problem attack, etc.)

I voted "Well known in Gaming industry".

Truthfully, I have no idea.

But, considering he got asked to do those shows, there is no question that he is known in the industry well enough that somehow the producers of those shows asked him to participate.



And the one name thing? Far better than being known by three names.

Quote: Malaru

IExamples:

Jesus, Hitler, Elvis, Lincoln...

Madonna, Spartacus, Prince, Charlemagne, Buddha, Machiavelli, Saddam, Dante....and ....THE WIZ.

Deservedly famous in the realm of gambling mathematics and analysis, available wherever fine bets are sold. Can construct tables of analyses for any casino game, including some that don't yet exist. Cruncher of numbers; the man who vets bets. All hail! (Toot!)

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I voted "Well known in Gaming industry"..

No no, he's well known in licence plate collecting circles.

I saw Brad Pitt try to execute a stunt once. I forgot the details, but Brad Pitt replaced the pizza delivery guy (or something equivalent), and was supposed to shock and surprise the woman answering the door. Of course, their was no shock because the woman didn't have a clue who he was.

These are the 10 most popular websites

1. www.google.com
2. www.facebook.com
3. www.youtube.com
4. www.yahoo.com
5. www.live.com
6. www.baidu.com
7. www.wikipedia.org
8. www.blogspot.com
9. www.qq.com
10. www.twitter.com

lvrj.com #8,409
gaming.nv.gov #51,573
Lasvegasadvisor.com #61,768
wizardofodds.com #85,015
gamblingcity.net #117,503
blackjackinfo.com #128,865
casinogaming.com #1,314,817 (owned by the company that owns Las Vegas Review Journal)

By that measure it looks like the wizard of odds is one of the higher ranked gaming websites. I would call Michael Shackleford famous.

Well.....I would call/assume that Mike is well-to-do. I don't think he utters, "Honey....sandwiches again, dear? Damn!"

The product and effort are famous and respected, yet the man may be unknown...How many crap players can name John H. Winn as the designer of modern craps? or Blaise Pascal's role in roulette, for all who play it? For many, the pride is personal..."if God sees it, then that is enough...well...along with a huge bankroll."

I don't care if people outside the industry know my name, - I care about my account balances! I'd rather have $200 show tickets and dinner at a four star restaurant than movie tickets and Mickey Dee's.

Quote: Paigowdan

The product and effort are famous and respected, yet the man may be unknown...How many crap players can name John H. Winn as the designer of modern craps? or Blaise Pascal's role in roulette, for all who play it? For many, the pride is personal..."if God sees it, then that is enough...well...along with a huge bankroll."

Leave it to PGD to come up with a mathmatical formula thesis on the calculation and quantity of 'fame'. (Im sure the wiz will correct your thesis into an actual formula)

Quote: Malaru

Leave it to PGD to come up with a mathmatical formula thesis on the calculation and quantity of 'fame'. (Im sure the wiz will correct your thesis into an actual formula)

Would I be billed for the math report?

PGD? I LIKE it.... :) !

No math here....it's about what's important: the checking account balance. (Well...a little math...)

If you were to ask the man on the street:
a) Do you know who Kim Kardashian is?
b) Do you know who Mike Shackleford is?
You would get different answers. (What IS Kim Kardashian famous for anyway??!! Oh....wait....yeah...that's it...oh...yeah....Moon River...wider than a mile....)
Ask Roger Snow or Rob Scott about Mike, and THEY'D know, and that's very important.

You mention something about the quantity of fame...Excellent point, Malaru. I think it's defined by the quality of people who respect and know a professional's efforts and reputation. And in the gaming industry, Mike's got that in spades.

I guess this could be quantified: man on the street's knowledge of Mike = 0.00000132 ("I read about diss gaming guy in da RJ......") Roger Snow's awareness and opinion of Mike = 0.9998732. Man on the street = not important. Man who runs Shuffle Master = very important.

It's not who you know, it's who knows you...

I think your leaving out an important factor. The MEDIA!

People and places that are otherwise normal and forgotten occurances suddenly become entrapped in time due to the camera being shoved apon them. Usually this seems to happen with once in a life time achievers and to crime situations.

Missing chilren happen every day- so what made names such as Elizabeth Smart and Adam Walsh so well known? The media caught onto and ran with the stories. Missing children happen all the time- and many of them go unfound. So what is this 'it' factor that rises a person to fame on the media rocket? I never really have understood how they select this car chase or this missing child. Did they 'earn' thru effort this notoriety? Did they tug on the hearts and minds of the people?

So you become famous thru percieved recognition or hard work or even perhaps incident (blind luck).

Is it POSSIBLE... that the wiz could really suck at what he does (Im not saying that is accurate in anyway!!)- but there was a perception and desire to use his services perhaps because others already used (word of mouth) or perhaps he holds some sort of 'charm' to companies or media types- and has this undeserved boost in visability.

Quote: Malaru

IMy question is would you consider over-all; from the sites, tv, work hes done for companies. When you compair his name to others out there, in all areas- all famous people... does he rank at all in the known category?

True the vast vast majority of peole will go 'who?' .. but what qualifies a person to be considered famous in the first place?

I votes famous in the gaming industry. I would say most casino gaming management has at least heard of him. Most APs have as well. The rest of players (95%) I doubt know much less care. Most players I meet play their system and that is it. By "play their system" I don't mean they hope to break the laws of probability and math. I mean they play the passline, they play their kid's b-days on roulette, they start at one unit at BJ and progress to 2,3, etc after a win. They might win or lose but don't really care beyond hoping to win. Outside the casino they talk about their kids, we talk about the casino. They watch football and care who won. We say "it's not if you win or lose instead, it's whether or not you beat the spread." We say we are going to a coffee with the Wizard and say what he does, they mention if they want to spend time with a math-guy they will wait until their kids parent-teacher conference.

It is in what you like. Say some dude walked up to me and said I won a trip to Vegas, RFB at the Wynn, and dinner with the Wizard or Lady GaGa. I'd pick the Wiz because I don't know one song LGG sings and have no desire to have dinner with a woman who I think looks like Ric Flair. My guess is 90% of this board would choose Wiz as well. But in general? Even if you explained to the average casino player I do not think Wiz would draw 10% among those with a preference.

I'd rather be famous in my field than famous in general. Once you get so famous you will never be treated like a regular person again.

Quote: Paigowdan

... If you were to ask the man on the street:
a) Do you know who Kim Kardashian is?
b) Do you know who Mike Shackleford is? ...

I suppose I could be a "man on the street." I would recognize Mike Shackleford on sight (I've seen photos and met him in person), but I have no idea what Kim Kardashian looks like. I have heard her name, of course, but less than I have heard of (or at least read of) the Wizard. Some would say that indicates that I am completely out of touch. I think it indicates more just what one is in touch with. It's like that mention of Lady GaGa -- I might gawk at her if she walked by me on the street, but there is no way I would recognize her.

So I support the idea of "famous" being related to a specific area (or how widely the fame in one area is publicized.) I cannot really state that the Wizard is "famous in the gaming industry" because I'm not in the gaming industry any more than I am in TV or theater. Just a customer and sidelines observer myself.

Oh, and about that one-name business -- essentially everyone on this forum has a one-name identity, and almost everyone on this forum recognizes everyone else by that one name. I guess we're all famous around here! ;-)

I too have heard of Kim Kardashian, but I wouldn't recognize her. Nor do I know why she's famous.

Then again, I don't know why Lady GaGa is popular either. I saw her perform at a DJ convention right before she got popular. I thought she sucked. A lot of people in the audience felt the same way.

Quote: Doc

Oh, and about that one-name business -- essentially everyone on this forum has a one-name identity, and almost everyone on this forum recognizes everyone else by that one name. I guess we're all famous around here! ;-)

Hey wait a sec! I resent that remark, you single-word-named freak! LOL

Quote: DJTeddyBear

... Hey wait a sec! I resent that remark, you single-word-named freak! LOL

What? Isn't "DJTeddyBear" a long, sorta-hard-to-pronounce-at-the-start, one-word name?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I too have heard of Kim Kardashian, but I wouldn't recognize her. Nor do I know why she's famous.

I think she's the daughter of someone involved in the O.J. Simpson murder trial years ago. I've no idea why she'd famous, either. There are a number of people who are famous because they are famous, like Paris Hilton.

The Wizard is well known in the gambling circules and by gamblers. His site is frequently quoted in casinos by players for advice and by dealers as well, even up here in the Falls. In my opinion, outside of that, with his television appearances, and quotes in the media, he definitely is the leader when it comes to gaming math.


Paris Hilton became famous as a New York fashion model, then a socialite in the New York tabloids, then the sex tapes, then "the Simple Life".

Kim Kardashian posed in Playboy in 2007 and was married to semi-famous R&B star before then. Then she became a reality TV star.

Famous like Cher or famous like Chumlee?