Former Las Vegas dealer Gina Fiore releases blackjack memoir as HBO develops a series based on her life

What happened

The Las Vegas Review-Journal interviewed professional gambler Gina Fiore, 48, about her memoir, "Advantage Player: A Memoir of Blackjack, Backrooms, and Beginnings," which came out Oct. 27. Fiore is a Green Valley High School graduate and former UNLV student. She said she and her teams of advantage players beat casinos in Las Vegas and around the world out of $15 million over 20 years.

Fiore said that figure includes $97,000 in cash that a DEA agent wrongfully seized from her at an Atlanta airport, according to the Review-Journal. Much of her edge came from finding blackjack dealers who flashed their hole card, meaning they accidentally exposed part of a facedown card that should stay hidden. She said she worked up to 16 hours a day scouting for those dealers.

From dealer to advantage player

Growing up around casinos

Fiore told the Review-Journal that her mother was a dealer in Lake Tahoe and that the family moved to Las Vegas when she was 14. Her mother taught her to deal blackjack when she was 21. She went on to deal at the Hacienda, now the Hoover Dam Casino, at Monte Carlo and at Agua Caliente in Palm Springs.

The turning point

A coworker who quit to count cards for a living gave her the idea, Fiore said. She studied online forums and bought books at the Gambler's Book Club in downtown Las Vegas. She quit dealing at 24 after learning to hole card blackjack games and to use edge sorting, and she said she has not worked a regular job since.

Fiore described "advantage player" as the industry term for professional gamblers and called that community very small. She draws a firm line on cheating. She said she told the TV writer the character "can never cheat," because doing anything illegal would turn an advantage player into a cheater.

A long road to publication

Querying agents

Fiore said she began writing a decade ago, starting with an anonymous blog about her poker sessions. She sent queries to 101 agents before one agreed to represent her. She did not land a book deal until last year, after a woman who saw a short documentary about her at the Tribeca film festival introduced her to a friend who owned a major literary agency.

What the book covers

Besides her gambling career, the memoir covers growing up in a dysfunctional family, her bipolar disorder diagnosis and a custody battle over her son, the Review-Journal reported. Fiore said the book opens with a disclaimer that she does not recommend the life. She called it isolating and a hard way to make a living.

The HBO project

Fiore secured a TV deal before she wrote the book. The Review-Journal noted that Deadline reported in August that Riley Keough will star in "Advantage Player," an HBO series inspired by Fiore and written by Will Graham. Keough signed on after hearing a 2021 podcast Fiore did on The Ringer network.

Fiore said Keough came to Las Vegas in 2023 with Graham and a couple of producers to play blackjack while following her signals. She said HBO made a developmental deal for the series, but she has no further information on next steps.

Still betting

Fiore said her goal for the last three years has been to earn more from writing than from gambling, and she has missed that goal every year. She still bets on sports, mostly the NFL, and writes a Substack while promoting the book. For more stories about people across the valley, see our community coverage.

What to watch next

• Whether HBO moves forward with "Advantage Player" beyond its developmental deal. Fiore said she has no more information yet.
• Keough is reported by Deadline to be attached to star, with Will Graham writing, if the series proceeds.
• Fiore is promoting the memoir following its Oct. 27 release.