While at the University of Illinois, Grochowski joined the staff of the student newspaper, the Daily Illini, and served one year as its sports editor.
It compared Grochowski to his former Chicago Sun-Times colleague, film critic Roger Ebert, for making his specialty a topic of mainstream conversation.
Advantage play expert Eliot Jacobson, PhD, wrote, In August 2002, the Flamingo and a few other strip casinos introduced 6:5 blackjack.
In September, 2002, John Grochowski wrote the first article bringing the house edge for 6:5 to light, “Avoid 6-5 Single-Deck Blackjack Games.” The author also has gone into broadcasting.
Before that, he did one-minute "Beat the Odds tips" on all-news WBBM-AM (780) and a one-hour Casino Answer Man talk show on WCKG-FM (105.9), both in Chicago.