Features

Bringing down the house!

By Jodene Wylie

Bright lights are shining within the jam-packed casino walls and both machines and guests are giving off whirls and cheers to the winners surrounding them. The lure of the casino; with its complimentary beverages, stage shows and the possibility of getting rich quick draws in people of all ages every single day. But can you actually get rich quick by gambling? For the very lucky few – sure, but typically the house (the casino) has anywhere from 0.02% up to 47.22% edge over the individual player. The odds are against you from the start, but if you’re willing to flex those mental muscles, you can actually turn the house advantage over to your side, at least in the game of Blackjack.
Blackjack originated in France around 1700 and is unlike many other casino games, like Roulette or Craps, solely because it is not held subject to the so-called Law of Independent Tries. For every card that is played in Blackjack, the value and composition of the deck alters. Whereas in Roulette, each spin of the wheel is independent, and in Craps, it is just as likely to roll an 8 one turn, as you can the next. The removal of any card in a game of Blackjack affects the outcome for the rest of the game, and will in turn affect how you play. The goal of this game is to make a hand higher than the dealers, but not to bust and go above 21. By keeping track of the cards that are dealt you can make a strong assumption as to what cards are left in the shoe (the deck or decks of cards being used in the game), and which will be dealt in your favour.
As of late, Hollywood has been buzzing with the concept of card counting. Last winter, the popular television program Numb3rs found itself in Las Vegas solving a murder case surrounding a team of Blackjack players and counters. While at the end of this month, on March 28, the film 21 will be released starring Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth and Lawrence Fishburne. 21 is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team and is also based upon Ben Mezrich’s non-fiction book, “Bringing Down the House.” It follows the character Ben Campbell (played by Jim Sturgess) on his journey as a regular MIT student (with a hefty student debt and tuition of $300,000) to becoming a pro-card counter under the direction of his leader and mentor Mickey Rosa (played by Kevin Spacey). Of course the plot delves into the struggles and troubles Ben runs into when he falls for the Las Vegas lifestyle. Mickey Rosa is a composite character of two real people, J.P. Massar (more commonly known as Mr. M) and Johnny Chang, two of the founders of the MIT Blackjack team.
The MIT Blackjack team has a story behind it like no other in card counting history. Mr. M has, to some degree, become the figurehead of this team, as he began work with the team as far back as 1979. The original group disbanded by 1990 primarily due to burnout and a loss of interest by its players. However, Mr. M resurrected the team by the start of 1992, with new strategies and a new vision in mind. His plan was to recruit, train and build a highly disciplined team of players, who would be immune to burn out and work together towards a main goal: beating the house at their own game.
He, along with other founders and investors, created Strategic Investment Limited Partnership, a completely legal company, whose focus was to analyze, test out and gain a profit by using mathematical equations on Blackjack tables in Las Vegas. The profit breakdown for the company stated that 45% would go to the founders, 45% to the investors, and a lowly 10% to the team’s actual players. Mr. M began his recruiting around MIT, searching for players who would be aggressive, diligent in practice, intelligent and who would work well under pressure. He placed up posters across the campus, while some of the other students heard of Mr. M’s team through word of mouth. During his initial speech, Mr. M told the recruits of the benefits of working as a team, in particular the profit increase they would receive by following a team built system rather than individual counting.
The recruits were taught every possible system for card counting, including Hi-Lo, Hi Opt I and Hi Opt II, among numerous others. The training was grueling process, practicing hours a day, every day for around six months, while also participating in periodic stress tests to monitor whether or not they would burn out. Among the MIT recruits was Semyon Dukach, a brilliant computer science major, who was eager to get in to the game of Blackjack. He also became one of the team’s prominent players. After the students learned how to count cards and analyze the deck, they were required to memorize charts that informed the recruits on how to alter their bets based on the cards that were played. This included Edward O. Thorpe’s chart, “Basic Strategy for Blackjack.” This chart suggests that with disciplined usage, over time, the strategy would dramatically increase the chance of winning. It doesn’t guarantee a win every time, but an increased advantage of winning over the house. This chart is entirely legal, and many casinos sell copies of it in their gift shops. For the recruits, the process of training became so engrained in their minds that within a matter of seconds of seeing a Blackjack spread they would unconsciously calculate the count of the deck. At the end of their training the new recruits would be required to pass a “Checkout” test, proving that they could handle the stress of an actual casino, in a simulated environment, and were skilled at card counting and analyzing throughout the process. During the “Checkout” the recruits would have to maintain hundreds of chart sequences and card counts, all the while being interrupted and distracted by their teachers. When they passed this test, they became players to the team and began to take in a profit for their playing.
Mr. M taught the players to work as a team. There were two primary positions: the Spotter and the Guerilla or “Big Player.” The Spotter would watch a Blackjack game, playing the minimum bet, while counting the cards and signaling the Guerilla to sit down and play when the deck was high and in their favour. The Guerilla player, would always and only place bets around or above $10,000. They would do this so as to not alert casino staff to the card counting they were doing. Casino staff begins to suspect card counting when players constantly alter their bets based on the deck count. The Guerilla player would play until the deck went sour, leave the table and wait to be signaled by another player at another table.
At this point it is necessary to make something clear. Card counting is not illegal. There is nothing illegal about using your mind to play a game of Blackjack, it is playing intelligently. Breaking the rules or manipulating the game, using computers, calculators, or tampering with the deck or cards is illegal (by marking cards or mixing another card into the deck at your favour). However, by card counting you are playing at an advantage. Casinos, obviously, don’t like this. They would much rather have the advantage of winning over you. Most casinos are situated on private property and are private businesses, because of this they have the right to refuse play to anyone and at any time may ask you to leave. This is why the MIT Blackjack team had to remain inconspicuous to continue playing. Any and all people can learn to card count, it is not an advantage allowed to only certain people, it is instead a matter of how seriously you wish to play the game.
By the end of July 1992, the MIT Blackjack team had a dozen members playing the tables and from September 1992 until the beginning of June 1993 they would acquire a profit of $439,952. The players, as high stakes players, would be “comped” (given complimentary gifts) by the various casinos. This included hotel suites, RFB’s (room, food and beverage/alcohol), the use of personal airplanes, and even an extreme comp by Caesar’s Palace to cover the costs of one of the player’s weddings.
Over time the casinos in Las Vegas and around the world began to recognize the players as more than just high stakes Blackjack players. The players were forced to physically disguise themselves so that they may continue to use mental Blackjack strategies, to play for the company they worked for. Their disguises went so far as to dress in drag, or appear disabled. Many of the disguises didn’t work. Andy Anderson, a casino detective, followed the MIT Blackjack team. He acquired a copy of the MIT yearbook and used it and his skills as a trained detective to follow and recognize facial expressions and body movements of the team. He knew that they weren’t cheating, but he wanted to know how they could sit down at a table and make such a large sum of money, and he also wanted to know where their funds came from to play.
Counting cards isn’t a guarantee for success; it is a matter of turning the advantage from the house to the player. Thus in the summer of 1993 the team went through a slump and lost nearly half of their total earnings. At this time, the players also began to resent the founders and investors of Strategic Investment Partnership Limited for the lack of profit that the players received when they were doing the bulk of the work. So when Mr. M literally forgot $125,000 lying on the floor in one of their training rooms on the MIT campus, the faith that the players had once held for Mr. M and the company dwindled. Not only was the team going through a slump, and resentment being created between players and management, but each of the team’s players were now listed in the Griffin Book, or the “Black Book” of the gaming industry. This book is shared amongst casinos worldwide to report on “undesirable” players, those who have an advantage over the house and had been removed/banned from casino property for playing at an advanced level. By being listed in this book, it made the possibility for playing Blackjack nearly impossible for the team. Due to the overwhelming problems that Strategic Investment Partnership Limited faced, they disbanded by December 1993.
Semyon Dukach and a few of the team’s previous members came together and formed Amphibian Investments. They took the effective and positive aspects of Mr. M’s team, allowed the teams new players to become investors and receive a larger portion of the profit, and over the course of the last half of the 1990’s, made between $4-6 million from casinos worldwide. The ability and strategies of the MIT Blackjack team have been unmatched since Semyon’s team, at least those that are known to date. Currently, MIT is apparently creating a new Blackjack team to carry on the legend started by Mr. M.
MIT students are not the only ones able to count cards, so can you! There are numerous ways to count cards, some involve constantly adding and subtracting the number 1, card by card as the game progresses while the more advanced systems require mathematical equations to be fluctuating through the mind as each card is laid. The Hi-Lo method is one of the more common and simplistic ways to count cards. It is better suited to the beginner and intermediate players. It follows one simple rule that the higher the deck is in value, the better it is for the player and the worse it is for the house. It also means that the dealer will bust more, the player will get more Blackjack’s as well as more Double Downs. The value of the deck is determined by the total running count, which is derived from the assigned value to each laid card.
Each card is given a value: 2-6 are (+1) cards, 10-A’s are (-1) cards, and 7-9 are neutral cards with a value of (0), these cards mean nothing to the overall outcome of the game. The deck is always balanced at the start of the game and the total for the deck will always equal 0. In a simulation of the game, suppose three players are seated at a Blackjack table. The count begins as a 3 (+1), J (-1), 10 (-1), 2 (+1), 4 (+1) and 6 (+1) are dealt – at this point, the count for the deck is at (+2). The increases (and decreases) of the count will suggest to the player how much money should be played at any given time. Ideally having a count above (+5 or +10) is best before placing significant sums of money down on the table. This works to the player’s advantage as there are more high cards left in the deck, causing the likelihood for the dealer to bust greater, the better your chances are at being dealt a Blackjack or just getting a strong starting hand. The trick to this method is maintaining concentration. Mistakes are easily made in such a chaotic atmosphere like the casino, and it is in these mistakes that the casino regains the advantage.
Another type of card counting is the Einstein Count, or the Hi Opt I Blackjack counting system. Hi Opt stands for “highly optimum” and is designed for use by more advanced Blackjack players. The Hi Opt I system is similar to Hi-Lo but has a few additional rules and value changes to make the count more accurate. This system is mathematically more advanced and provides a slightly larger edge for the player. However, there is dispute amongst card counters to whether this small edge is worth delving into a slightly more complicated method of counting than Hi-Lo.
Outside of the different value changes in Hi Opt I, much of the complications arise from the increased necessity of maintaining concentration at the table. Again, simplistic math is being used, as it is still based upon the adding and subtracting of the number 1. The value for the cards has changed as well: A, 2, 7-9 are all neutral and therefore equal (0), cards 3-6 have a value of (+1), and 10-K are worth (-1). As you can see, Ace and 2 have lost their previous values, in exchange for becoming a neutral card. Some rule variations ask that the player track the Aces within the deck, and as the Aces are played, basic strategy changes must be made.
A third and final way to count cards in Blackjack is through Hi Opt II. Again, this system only allows you a small edge over Hi Opt I, and is recommended for seasoned professionals who have mastered and are secure in the use of Hi Opt I before beginning this next system. This method is complicated because numerical changes have been made and concentration is required more than ever. These numerical changes still allow for a balanced deck at the end of the game, and include the addition of cards valued at (+/- 2). Cards 8, 9, and A are neutral and retain the value of (0) as it is with the Hi Opt I system, while cards 2,3,6 and 7 are (+1), 4 and 5 are (+2), and finally 10-K are (-2). Though stated that Aces have a neutral count of 0, this is only to measure the count of the deck, not the playing strategies. Maintaining a running track of Aces is important as it affects the strategies that may be used when playing, and knowing the particular outcomes of each hand of cards. As with the other systems, a higher value for the deck allows the odds to be in your favour and a greater chance for you to bring down the house.
Card counting shows that if you are intelligent and willing to take the time to learn the methods and mathematics behind Blackjack, you can and are capable of beating the unfair Casino systems. It is certainly a large endeavor and even for the MIT Blackjack Team, it requires months even years of disciplined practice to become truly good at. Remember, always play responsibly and smart – with your money and with your mind.
Gambling is a real problem for many people. It can become very addicting and easy to get caught up in. It is important and necessary to seek out help should you feel that you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling addiction. There are numerous online support systems including www.gamtalk.net. This website is temporarily unavailable for updates but still functions with advice, email addresses and phone numbers to people and services that can aid with treatment to those with a gambling addiction. Also, Lakehead University’s Health and Counseling Centre has a number of individuals available to help you find relief from this financially harmful habit. You’re not alone and help is available.