Have you ever played in a casino? Has it ever happened to win? Do you know people who have done this more than once? Perhaps this happened in the bitcoin casinos Uk? Ben Mezrich’s book is about just such people – who ride luck, who make the game their profession. And it’s not about luck. MIT students figured out how to beat the casino, developed a card counting system. What came of it?
“Bringing Down the House” tells the true story of how six MIT students won millions of dollars at the top casinos in Las Vegas with a card counting strategy in two years using a card counting system. Thus, they were able to “bring down the house” and not even one.
How did it happen?
One of MIT’s most distinguished math professors has teamed up with six students to bring the biggest casinos on the Las Vegas Strip to their knees. This team and each of its members individually did not look like a professional or a professional player, which did not arouse any suspicions in the administration of gambling establishments. But at the same time, these guys were striving for statistical perfection, calculating and calculating all the possible outcomes of games. At first, the professor’s team had more than thirty participants, but they all had to pass an exam in knowledge of their field. For this, the scenery of the casino, several students and professional dealers were used, who were supposed to calculate the team members. As a result, the team turned out to be about ten people. First of all, they practiced their skills in local casinos, after which they went to Las Vegas, the American Mecca of the gambling industry.
The team arrived in Las Vegas separately, and throughout their stay in the city, the team members pretended not to know each other. However, each member of the group had his own role, which by that time he had brought to perfection. The very first weekend in Las Vegas, or rather one Sunday alone, brought them $ 400,000. And then everything is according to the worked out scheme. Periodically, the professor updated the composition of the participants, sometimes returning the old ones. In short, during most of the 1990s, the MIT team stole more than tens of millions of dollars from various casinos in Las Vegas. Their cover was eventually blown when they decided to celebrate the big jackpot together in one of the pools in Las Vegas. The team was disbanded and some players were banned from playing blackjack. This was done not because they did something illegal, but because they were too good at what they did.
What is card counting?
Card counting in blackjack is used to give the player an edge over the casino. Contrary to popular belief, card counting in a casino does not require any special qualities from a person (like the “Rain Man”) and is not illegal (but it is eminently frowned upon). So if you’re counting cards, you have to be incredibly careful.
You need to understand that there are several card counting systems.
- Hi-Lo
- Ace Five
- Hi-Opt
- Thorp Method
All systems have their pros and cons. Ideally, you need to know at least one and at least have a good understanding of the principles of others for a successful game. However, they all have one thing in common – during the game, you must mask the card count. All casinos are afraid of counting and struggle with it, and therefore it is necessary to be able to hide it.
The casino also uses its ultimate methods of dealing with card counting:
- Prohibition on raising rates
- Use a shuffle machine
- Enlarge decks of cards in a shoe
What about online casino?
It is useless to count cards in an online casino. The system updates the decks of cards in the shoe after each deal. You can count only in a live casino, where the dealer is a live person, and the cards are shuffled after several distributions.
The ability to increase the chances of winning by counting cards is one of the reasons for the popularity of blackjack. Even simple techniques that provide small advantages make the game more interesting and profitable.