How the mit students beat the casinos at blackjack by henry tamburin bringing down the house by ben mezrich, a book the describes how a team of mit students won millions playing blackjack, has sparked a lot of interest from the general public in blackjack and in particular card counting. Mit alumnus and busting vegas author describe experience. Many went on to run hedge funds or build a dotcom startup or contribute to booming companies like microsoft, chang said. They travelled all over the world to beat casinos at blackjack through card counting and a range of more sophisticated strategies. Bringing down the house is the true story of how six mit students turned gambling into speculation to fleece las vegas for millions.
How a team of students beat the casinos yes no casino. Two other famous books about the team are bringing down the house which the movie 21 is based off of and busting vegas by ben mezrich. Buy the book used by the real mit blackjack team this book is featured in the movie 21. That book, which remained on the new york times bestseller list for 59 weeks, revealed the story of another blackjack team from mit that made millions. Mar 17, 2003 the mit blackjack team was composed of bright students who were used to working hard, staying focused and remaining on task. Typically there are 3 legitimate reasons for people to play on a team. Mar 06, 2017 theres a lot more to counting cards in blackjack than meets the eye. The big player book by ken uston, 1977 the first book revealing to the public the secret world of card counters and team blackjack play. This book was represented as non fiction by mezrich ad free press though it contains fictional elements. Under the exprofessors guidance, the team kept detailed records of their playing and devised a computer software program that would help them gain a further advantage over the casinos. The inside story of six mit students who took vegas for millions is a book by ben mezrich about a group of mit card counters commonly known as the mit blackjack team. The mit teams operated successfully around the world between 1979 and the late 1990s. Bringing down the house describes a collection of math whizzes from m. Blackjack 21 one of the best gambling games for the player.
The mit blackjack teams origins arent traced back to mit at all, but to harvard, where bill kaplan had been working with friends on creating blackjack teams for a number of years. The team and its successors operated successfully from 1979. High cards 10, jack, queen, king and ace count as 1. Jan 06, 2006 the students realized that blackjack was the only beatable game in casino gambling and beat it they did. The mit blackjack team was made up of students and exstudents from leading colleges like harvard university, harvard business school and massachusetts institute of technology. Ben mezrich, the author of bringing down the house.
While studying at mit, bloch became part of the mit blackjack team, featured in the book bringing down the house. Combined ustons strategies and analysis with casino adventures. Mike also consults on professional blackjack and the mathematics of gambling, writes for the blog and works as chief research assistant for peerless analytics. Afterward, he cofounded the blackjack institute with david irvine. The inside story of six mit students who took vegas for millions is. Mit blackjack team card counting team true story black jack teams. It might surprise you to know they were not the first blackjack team to successfully take on the casinos. Bill kaplan founded and led the mit blackjack team in the 1980s and comanaged the team with massar and chang. How to start a blackjack team blackjack apprenticeship. We will get into some practical things you can do to start or join a team, but first you have to consider why you want to start a team. Nov 07, 2019 after a decadelong hiatus, mike made returned to professional blackjack, winning the 2004 world series of blackjack.
Sep 27, 2019 the simplest way of describing the hilo method used by the mit blackjack card counting team is as follows. The mit blackjack team was a group of students and exstudents from massachusetts institute of technology, harvard business school, harvard university, and other leading colleges who used card counting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casinos at blackjack worldwide. The mit blackjack team was comprised of a group of students and exstudents from the massachusetts institute of technology who set out to beat major casinos using advanced cardcounting techniques and privately funded bankrolls. Mit blackjack team bringing down the house and breaking vegas the mit blackjack team story. Topics include an indepth history of blackjack, biographies of the influencial people to the game, how to beat lots of blackjack variants and side bets, cheating, team play, an faq, and blackjack poetry. This book should be in every serious blackjack players collection. What this book does offer is a short and easy to read storyline regarding the lives of mit students who took many casinos, most prominently in las vegas, for considerable money with a team effort card counting system for blackjack. Though the book is classified as nonfiction, the boston globe alleges that the book contains significant fictional elements, that many of the key events. A reference to the blackjack team of students and exstudents from the massachusetts institute of technology and harvard, who reportedly won millions throughout the mid1990s. The mit blackjack team started in 1980 and ran winning banks until the mid1980s, when most of the players got too wellknown to play. December 2019 american casino guide newsletter american. He described his interaction with this covert team of gamblers.
Part 2 of 4 dave irvine will describe his experience as part of one of the most notorious teams of gamblers ever, and how it took the. Nathaniel tilton was a regular guy with a regular job when he read the book bringing down the house. Bringing down the house by ben mezrich, a book that describes how a team of mit students won millions playing blackjack, has sparked a lot of interest from the general public in blackjack and henry tamburin is the editor and publisher of the blackjack insider newsletter and author of the bestselling blackjack. The mit blackjack team, formed in the eighties, comprised six old students of massachusetts institute of technology mit, who shared a keen interest in card games and wanted to use their knowledge, skills, and expertise to win in millions.
The book will show how a group of geeky college students with 10cm thick glasses, bad acne, and poor hygiene, managing to discover super powers during a. The mit blackjack team was a group of students and ex students from massachusetts institute of technology, harvard business school, harvard university, and other leading colleges who used card counting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casinos at blackjack worldwide. The team and its successors operated from 1979 through the beginning. Though the book is classified as nonfiction, the boston globe alleges that the book contains significant fictional elements, that many of the key events propelling the drama did not occur in real life. This book is written by ben mezrich on a group of mit card counters known as the mit blackjack team. A group of six mit students took the casinos for millions playing blackjack and counting cards. Oct 03, 2018 the mit blackjack team was made up of students and exstudents from leading colleges like harvard university, harvard business school and massachusetts institute of technology. In the 1970s a team of blackjack players led by ken uston made over a million dollars counting cards as chronicled in his book the big player. The book was a ny times bestseller and it was made into a movie 21.
The team and its successors operated successfully from 1979 through the. Students who took vegas for millions, on which the movie 21 is based. Ustons book on blackjack team play, million dollar blackjack, was published shortly before the founding of the first mit team. They asked him to train and manage what would later become known as the infamous mit blackjack team. Jun 29, 2012 based on the books by ben mezrich that cover the legendary mit blackjack teams. In addition to presenting a variety of strategies for success at blackjack, it also includes thorps basic strategy chart. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links.
The comics inspiration came during brian bendis stint as a writer for the pilot of hbo tv show, based on the story of the world famous mit blackjack teams quest for power and wealth. Columbiaeverett image caption the 2008 film 21 starring kevin spacey was inspired by the mit blackjack teams story in blackjack, or 21, high cards favour the gambler, low. The students realized that blackjack was the only beatable game in casino gambling and beat it they did. Based on the books by ben mezrich that cover the legendary mit blackjack teams. Though there were players from other schools, who referred to it as the boston team, the casinos labeled it the mit team, and the name stuck. Some even claim that he was killed by the mafia or perhaps even disgruntled card counters who were affected by the publication of his book. He decided that he wanted to do what the players in that book did. Ken uston is another huge name in the concept of blackjack teams like mit. Tilton was in awe of the idea that a group of mit students was able to beat vegas for millions. Columbiaeverett image caption the 2008 film 21 starring kevin spacey was inspired by the mit blackjack team s story in blackjack, or 21, high cards favour the gambler, low. The mit blackjack team was a group of students and exstudents from massachusetts institute. I was an mit student not knowing what i wanted to do with my life, chang relates. By the 1990s, the team whose membership rotated over the years was making.
The simplest way of describing the hilo method used by the mit blackjack card counting team is as follows. Apr 23, 2020 amazingly, a group of six students, known as the mit blackjack team, executed this heist. Blackjack expert explains how card counting works youtube. Most notably is his book million dollar blackjack which was released not too long before the blackjack team was created. Many mit students tried out for the team some were accepted. The mit blackjack team has been a source of entertainment for decades now, with many books and movies being inspired by their story. May 29, 20 sounds glamorous, but the mit pros will tell you. After a decadelong hiatus, mike made returned to professional blackjack, winning the 2004 world series of blackjack. I was on the mit blackjack team, and they made a book and a movie about us. They quickly learned that the guys who make the most money arent in blackjack anymore.
The hit hollywood movie 21 was based on ben mezrichs book, bringing down the house, which chronicled the resurgence of the mit blackjack team in the 1990s. The book, with additional reporting by zach pereles, scott ratcliffe, and scott german, will take you. His life took a dramatic turn when the leader of a small group of students from the massachusetts institute of technology mit who had dabbled with card counting overheard him discussing his vegas exploits. He will demonstrate the perfectly legal strategies he used, and will reveal first hand stories of the double life he held as a normal college student. Little play occurred from that point on until 1992 when the bill kaplan, jp massar, and john chang, a player trained by kaplan and massar, decided to start it up again. The mit blackjack team has become famous worldwide for their success at beating the game of blackjack in the casinos of las vegas. The book has been adapted into a screenplay for a movie to be called 21, expected to be released in 2007. In the 1980s a group of college students from mit and harvard. They learned the value of playing blackjack long after leaving the team. Of card counting, startups, and the real story of the mit blackjack team. Blackjack card counting training dvd created by the mit students featured in the book bringing down the house host is former mit student mike aponte, the 2004 world series of blackjack champion dukach, semyon blackjack science counting and betting techniques with semyon dukach the first dvd from semyon dukach using live footage from the. The best and brightest students are recruited by an eccentric former teacher with teeth like a picket fence of spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts to practice in a college backroom as the mit blackjack team before. In the 1980s a group of college students from mit and harvard decided to try their hand at playing team blackjack. Subtitled, the complete probabilities involved with a single player at the blackjack table.
I crushed him for 2 weeks straight, recalls kaplan. Kevin spacey above, and a bestselling book bringing down the house. The film is inspired by the true story of the mit blackjack team as told in bringing down the house, the bestselling book by ben mezrich. With jim sturgess, kate bosworth, kevin spacey, aaron yoo. The methods dukach and his team of three other students used, though, were more advanced, invented from within, and shared with fewer than a dozen people. So many people i talk to are absolutely fascinated by the blackjack stories and they all want to know how were so smart that we can remember every card in a 6 deck shoe. Students who took vegas for millions, discussed his newest book and held a book signing at coffeehouse last night. Mit blackjack team detailed information on their history. Every previous publication is based upon computer simulations of what goes on during the course of the. Thorps beat the dealer and successfully implemented its card counting techniques to win money in las vegas. Learn how to use the chart to make decisions when playing blackjack.
Even people who are unfamiliar with blackjack and gambling know the story of the mit students, thanks in large part to the popular movie 21. The adventures of the mit blackjack team recap of the events. Expanding on the hilo cardcounting techniques popularized by edward thorp in his 1962 book, beat the dealer, the mit groups more advanced team strategies were legal, yet frowned upon by. Students who took vegas for millions, which spent sixtythree weeks on the new york times best seller list, and sold over 2 million copies in fifteen languages. The mit blackjack team were a group of students and exstudents from the massachusetts institute of technology, harvard business school, harvard university, and other leading colleges who utilized cardcounting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casino s at blackjack worldwide. The book follows the real characters and true story in only parts. Bringing down the house book by ben mezrich, 2002 bestselling book based on the experience of the mit blackjack team. In a closing essay, lewis details the intricacies of card counting. The book was a ny times bestseller and it was made into a. Read the full story of the mit blackjack card counting team. And when resorts international opened in 1978, a group of mit students combined forces to attack the casinos blackjack games, and the mit blackjack team was born. Renowned mit card counters return to vegas this time as. How the mit students beat the casinos at blackjack.
Blackjack expert henry tamburin explains howthe mit blackjack team was able to make millions of dollars playing blackjack. Massar, who was not only an active player, but also the manager of the. The inside story of the mit blackjack team part 1 of 4 youtube. Mar 22, 2011 the comics inspiration came during brian bendis stint as a writer for the pilot of hbo tv show, based on the story of the world famous mit blackjack teams quest for power and wealth. Read how the mit students beat the casinos at blackjack now. Meet the real mit blackjack team and learn the 21 movies true story. You count the high and low cards that have been played since the last shuffle. Students who took vegas for millions by ben mezrich is a nonfiction work that takes a look at a group of mit graduates and dropouts who develop and perfect a card counting system, which they use to great effect. Per the advertising, this book is the only complete analysis of every probability involved in the game of blackjack with a single player at the table. Kaplan had read a book about card counting and believed he could use a. The mit blackjack team mit black jack team in the media. The last casino, which was released in 2004, is about a professor and his three students who count cards in various casinos in canada. Card counting gig nets students millions the tech mit. Mike aponte, former member of the infamous mit blackjack team, takes us through the complicated process of counting cards.
Of cardcounting, startups, and the real story of the mit. The inside story of the mit blackjack team part 2 of 4. New comic shows how mit blackjack team got rich with. But in the 1990s the mit blackjack team proved the punter didnt have to be the loser.