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The Legendary MIT Blackjack Team Cards Counting All the Way to the Bank
During the 1990’s, a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston successfully managed to beat casinos in Las Vegas as well as worldwide in their own game blackjack. Known as the legendary MIT Blackjack Team, these guys made millions of dollars in just a few years. Interestingly enough, the exact amount of cash they managed to nab before they got barred from Las Vegas’ gaming venues, however, has never become public knowledge.
The reason behind the Team’s tremendous successful is their usage of card counting systems. Card counting is a strategy applied in card games helping determine situations in which the player has a probability advantage over the house. The basic principle behind such systems is that a card deck with a higher proportion of high cards (Aces and tens) to low cards is to the player’s favor. Strategy adjustments are made according to the ratio of high cards to low cards.
At first, however, the students had no actual interest in blackjack and card counting strategies. In fact, they used blackjack as practice for probability theories they studied in an MIT course, called ‘How to Gamble if you Must.’ The students would meet after classes and play blackjack. This was a harmless after school activity. Nevertheless, soon enough, they discovered they were really good at it and turned blackjack play into their business.
The Team managed to create a sophisticated underground training network spanning apartments, classrooms as well as warehouses scattered around Boston where they worked on their blackjack skills. Before any of them was allowed to advance to live casino play, each player had to pass rigorous blackjack playing tests in simulated casino conditions. These conditions included typical casino distractions, such as sounds and motion. When they felt they were ready, they traveled to Vegas. When they arrived, they pretended to be total strangers.
Each Team member was assigned one of a selection of well-polished fake identities. On many occasions, the students pretended to be the offspring of wealthy foreigner business tycoons. They would walk into the gaming venue with thousands of dollars, posing as spoiled brats from filthy rich families. For a very long period of time, casinos never suspected a thing. Moreover, casino employees welcomed them expecting to make great profits from their losses.
To make it easier for them to remain unspotted by pit bosses, the Team members were divided into three types of players: Spotters, Gorillas and Big Players. Each type of a player had a very defined role. The Spotter never played above minimum table limit. His part of the job was simply to count cards and signal other members of the Team when the decks were into his favor. Then, others entered the game with their impressive bankrolls.
The Gorilla was only to play, without any card counting. The Gorilla’s job was to confuse the casino operators. He was both a player and a performer. He pretended to be a high roller with lots of cash. The Big Player’s role wsa both play and count the cards. The MIT Team’s Big Players were stylish card counters disguised as privileged high rollers. They used all sorts of playing strategies which certainly gave a significant boost to their bankrolls.
The Team’s success came to its unfortunate end they were ultimately identified by Griffin Investigation Company, an investigation agency that worked for casino houses across the world. Soon enough, all members of the MIT Blackjack Team were denied entrance to casinos. After several fruitless attempts to improve their moves, in 1997, the MIT Team split altogether. Ben Mezrich, a member of the MIT Team, authored “Bringing Down the House,” a book about the Team’s famed adventures.
Flop advice in Online Poker Gambling
Raise with AA-QQ, AK and AQs from any position.
Basically, all other starting hands are limping hands. Even though you might re-raise with them when you are defending your blinds, you might also raise with these hands when you are first in from last position.
Mix up your play sometimes by raising/calling/re-raising with hands you would not normally play. This prevents predictability in online poker gambling.
General pre-Flop Advice in Online Poker Gambling
The majority of the time, raise/re-raise with top-pairs (AA-QQ) and top connectors (AK, AQs) to make those with low pairs and various connectors pay to see flops against you. They will often have the opportunity to double up on you if they hit. Many beginners do not realize this and fold too often before the flop.
Stick to premium hands. You will pay dearly to “chase” with second-best hands when playing No Limit.
Keep most raises down to 70% to 100% (3 times the big blind is typically equals an 80% pot bet) to save money for the times when you get re-raised or called by strong holdings. If there are limpers in front of you, raise to about 4-6 times the big blind.
Have respect for strong, tight players (you should drop AQ if a strong player raises under the gun). When very weak players have entered the pot, call and take flops with them.
In order to decide the correct action, keep these factors in mind when :
1. What did you flop and what is your relative strength?
2. Who, if anyone, raised before the flop? What kind of player are they?
3. What position do you have relative to the player who raised?
4. Number of players (it is hard to bluff 3 or more opponents and there is a big chance of someone hitting a strong hand)?
5. Your stack size and the opponents’ stack size. When facing a bet, fold unless you have good reason to doubt the other player has strong cards. Because that player is “setting the odds”, it is important to make the right choice. Remember, your opponent can be holding anything from the stone cold nuts down to rags – if your hand is decent it may very well be an underdog to many possible hands. You will not always fold. In fact, sometimes answer with a raise when you have a good chance of grabbing the lead or if you think the opponent is weak. Then, YOU will be “setting the odds” and forcing the other player to make a decision, and potentially, the mistake. Save your calls unless you have very good reason not to such as like slow-playing a monster or drawing to the nuts in a multi-way pot. You will seldom get the odds for chasing “outs” by calling, unless your opponent’s bet too small or they give away free cards. By calling with mediocre cards, you become set up for a “guessing game” where you have to read opponents well and “make moves” to win.
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