Blackjack is not only a game of luck but also skill. When professional players do their taxes at the end of the year, the job listed for professional gambler is an advantage player. As in the career title, an advantage player is keen at finding advantages and has made exploiting them a habit. Edward Thorp wrote one of the first books on blackjack card counting strategy named Beat the Dealer. Since then, there have been several major movies including 21 and Breaking Vegas. Both of these movies center around the MIT Blackjack Team and the benefits of a using a blackjack card counting strategy. MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Blackjack Team was a group of students who not only learned the art of card counting, but also played it out in real casinos. They won so much money from casinos, they eventually got banned and the group dissolved. But for over 10 years this group had its way at blackjack tables. The groups was composed of six students who initially counted cards and then traveled to Atlantic City during spring break. They later offered a course at the school and were able to recruit more members. At a restaurant in Cambridge, one of the members, overheard Bill Kaplan talking about blackjack. Bill Kaplan was himself a professional card counter, who earned a Harvard BA and waited to go for his MBA . During this period , he went to Las Vegas, formed a card counting team that returned 35 times the original investment . As he entered Harvard Business School, he ran his blackjack gambling team as a successful side venture till many players moved on. He was asked to guide the MIT team that he successfully managed. One of the things he noticed was each player used individual strategies that were too complex and resulted in errors. But he stated he would capitalize the MIT Team if it was more streamlined with a formal protocol. The formal protocol included one counting and betting system for the team, training and approval procedure and detailed casino play. Detailed casino play included cash in, and cash out totals, strategy used, betting limits and time period. This new streamlined and trained group was ready for the casinos. The initial $89,000 investment doubled in less than three months. This group and subsequent members of the MIT trained group continued with successful outcomes till the early 1990s. Casinos became wise to card counters and started banning most of them. When a player wins they must disclose their address and many of these winners had addresses in the Cambridge, Mass. area. This is location of MIT and Harvard. With top players banned from most casinos, the MIT Blackjack Team dissolved its partnership officially in 1993. At the dissolution, the group split into two groups, one the Amphibians and the Reptiles. Success continued for these branches of the original group till 2000 when players moved on. One top blackjack player, Andy Bloch, also become a top poker player with over $4,000,000 in tournament prizes won. In conclusion, card counting is an effective way to beat the house average in a casino when done right. A structured team of players can make enough to pay their way through school and other living expenses or might find the lifestyle appealing and turn being an advantage player into a career choice. But as noted, when the MIT Blackjack Team became more structured, it then became more successful.
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