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.