MIT Blackjack Team

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is world renowned as a leading university for scientific and mathematic study. No discussion of card counting would be complete without making reference to the (in)famous MIT blackjack team.

It all began in the summer of 1979, when a group of students took an extracurricular class entitled “how to gamble if you must”. The premise of the class was to combine mathematic principles with gambling. The group was taught various card counting methods and students produced computer simulations of different blackjack strategies. By 1980 a few of the classes attendees took the principles they had learnt and decided to test them in real casinos.

After a few weeks of success at the tables, turning $5,000 into $20,000, the teams luck turned. They lacked a coherent strategy and were forced to re-evaluate their technique. The team decided to draw on the experience of an established and successful counter, Bill Kaplan, who became their coach.

Under Kaplan’s direction the team underwent a rigorous retaining process lasting several months. In addition to card counting, the team were also trained to use shuffle and ace tracking techniques. Using these methods combined the team were able to gain a theoretical 4% edge over the house. After this simulated play, Kaplan would supervise the team in real casino conditions, and would point out any mistakes.

Kaplan also assigned roles to different team members. As he saw it, the problem with individual players counting cards is that when the count is favourable and they increase their bets, this was a clear indicator to the casino that they are dealing with a counter. By assigning different roles, Kaplan’s team were able to circumvent these traditional ‘counter markers’ by using team-play.

The group was divided into three specific roles; spotter, controller and gorilla. The spotter’s job was to count cards at the table. Unlike traditional card counters, they would simply flat bet all the time so as not to arouse the suspicion of casino security. In any casino there could be multiple spotters all being monitored by the controller. Once the count became favourable, spotters would signal to the controller. The controller would then step in and verify that the deck was hot. At this point the controller would discretely signal to the gorilla to come and play. The gorilla did not count cards and would only bets large stakes all the time. Under the guise of a reckless millionaire, the gorilla is able to place large bets without arousing suspicion.

This simple strategy was extremely effective. During the 80s and 90s the MIT blackjack team continued to extract large sums of money from the casinos in Vegas. At one point the team had grown to over thirty members and had a bankroll in excess of $300,000.

During the mid 90s casinos began to suspect that organised play was taking place. When a casino pays out to a player it eats into their profits, which obviously they do not like. By this time casino groups begin using private investigators to watch players who won big. The most famous investigations group was ‘Griffin Investigations’. The agency began compiling a book of players who won big using images captured from casino CCTV cameras. The book, known as the ‘face book’ recorded all known aliases for repeat big players. Images were circulated around casinos so they could be vigilant for suspected counters.

A pattern began to emerge. When players win big money in casinos they have to fill out a cash form. This form captures the name and address of these winners for tax purposes. While the MIT team were intelligent enough to use a number of aliases, they frequently gave their home address as various streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts (where MIT is based). It was this mistake that enabled Griffin Investigations to link the players to one another, and ultimately to the MIT team. Simply by looking at the MIT yearbook, Griffin were able to match CCTV images to real names and faces.

The team was finally disbanded in 1999, after play in almost any casino in the world became impossible because of the Griffin database. In 2005 the Griffin agency filed for bankruptcy after a number of successful legal cases brought against them by card counters on the grounds of defamation. In spite of the Griffin agency no longer being in operation, casinos today employ very sophisticated systems to detect card counters. In 2002, half of the casinos in Nevada were using biometric facial recognition software, which scanned every player entering the casino against ‘mug shots’ of suspected counters. You can be sure that that number has increased dramatically.

The MIT story has been featured in several different media outlets. The famous book ‘Bringing down the house’ was released in 2002 by Ben Mezrich, a former MIT team member. Since then the BBC ran the programme ‘how to make a million the easy way’ as part of its ‘Horizon’ series. In the US the story has been covered by ABC, the History Channel and many other networks. In 2008, the movie 21, produced by and starring Kevin Spacey, based on the book was released.

Former MIT team players are no longer active gamblers because they are too easily recognised. Some former players have started companies which teach the principles of card counting as well as advanced strategies to avoid security detection. Mike Aponte and David Irvine founded the ‘blackjack institute’ while Seymon Dukach offers the ‘Blackjack Science’ seminar series. I cannot endorse either of these training programmes since I have not personally reviewed them. Please exercise caution before parting with your money!