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MIT Blackjack Team
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What's the first thing that enters your mind when you think of MIT, the
world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology: engineering genius,
mathematical wizard, visionary, geek, hacker? If you chose any one of those,
you would be correct. Mix them all together, add some smoke and mirrors,
big-time anonymous investors, a dash of anarchy for good measure, and you get
one of the best scams of all times—the MIT Blackjack Team—the ultimate
in high stakes, genius-backed hacking! Infamy is nothing new to MIT. Some of
the world's wiliest hackers hailed from the hallowed halls of MIT; but when one
gifted math professor and six gifted students banded together, they propelled
organized hacking to dizzying heights and snookered organized gambling to the
tune of millions! That was sweet music to the ears of millions who have left
behind small fortunes in their quest to beat the casinos.
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MIT Blackjack Team : After school club
The MIT Blackjack team began as an after-school club held in campus classrooms
where students assembled to apply their genius to card games, unwind (at least,
by MIT standards), and have fun. The club eventually evolved into serious
business. The team set up a complete underground system of casino mock-ups
spanning apartments, warehouses, and classrooms scattered across Boston where
they worked diligently to perfect their scheme. Before advancing to live play
in the casino, each player had to pass a rigorous battery of tests encompassing
all of the roles under simulated casino conditions, including distraction and
harassment. Still, they were not ready for the big league until further honing
their skills in Boston's Chinatown before heading to Las Vegas.
MIT Blackjack Team : Card Counting
Card counting, the heart of their system, is a proven winning technique.
Blackjack odds offer the one opportunity for those with skill, dogged
determination, and discipline to consistently beat the house. The casinos know
that Blackjack is vulnerable (that smart, disciplined players actually have a
fighting chance of winning), and that is why they ban the big winners and
harass and threaten potential big winners.
Casino management further understands that it takes only one or two mistakes to
turn a player's winning system into a house win, and that is the only reason
that they tolerate card counting—until it turns against them. They rely on
human frailties, such as lack of discipline and distraction, to return the
advantage to the house.
The MIT team used card counting as the foundation of their system; it was only
one among a number of tools in their magical tool box, and even then, it wasn't
traditional card counting. It added a high-low system, based on the statistical
probability of receiving high or low cards, and they added an additional
technique for cutting the cards that further skewed the odds in their favor.
Team members traveled together, seemingly as total strangers. Each assumed one
of a number of well-crafted fake identities, the teams included several types
of players, each member playing a well-defined role. Anonymous investors
provided the stake and expected a return on their investment. One such outing
netted a 154% ROI after expenses. Transporting huge amounts of cash back and
forth was another obstacle they overcame with ingenuity. Cash traveled in every
conceivable manner: strapped to bodies, on "mules," in hollow crutches, just to
name a few.
MIT Blackjack Team : High Tech vs Low Tech
Their reign spanned a good part of the 1990s when they traveled the casino
circuit with total abandon. Their $400,000 winning weekend in Las Vegas is
legendary. Casino technology was not yet at a stage where it could match wits
with MIT genius. At least, it had not made its way to practical application in
Las Vegas, Ironically, it would be low-tech sloppiness that brought the team
down in the end.
The casinos had learned to deal with the card counters long before the MIT
pikers hit the scene. When they identified a card counter, they would ensure
that his play at the tables was a living nightmare, and should the card counter
take the house for a large sum, they would immediately ban him. Technology in
the 1990s had matured to a point where bad news traveled fast. When the card
counter was detected at one casino, it became nearly impossible to escape
detection at any other casino.
Profiled MIT Blackjack Team
Las Vegas casino bosses relied on a long-established profile of the Blackjack
card counter, but since the MIT team ran counter to the profile, that also
worked in their favor, helping them to escape detection. The profile assumed
one lone card counter. The team's nonchalant, seemingly random style of play
also ran counter to the profile. But they were crazy like foxes—until they were
no more.
Finally, sloppiness brought them to their knees. Eventually, they lost their
discipline and their cool; the well-oiled machine built with the precision of a
Swiss watch began to fall apart. They began to fraternize, and not just with
the usual Las Vegas temptations, but with each other—in public. A total chance
spotting of the teams relaxing and playing at a Las Vegas pool blew their
cover. The tale of their unraveling wound its way back to the back streets of
Boston before they finally disbanded. The odds had finally turned against them,
and the stakes were far too high for even the geniuses from MIT.
The last remaining team player was escorted from the table with the parting
words, "You can't play here. You're too good for us."
MIT Blackjack Team in the News
The tale of the MIT Blackjack Team doesn't end with its demise. ABC, CNN,
History Channel, and CBS's 60 Minutes all picked up the story. Bringing Down
the House : The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
(Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 2002), by Ben Mezrich, chronicles
the escapades of the team from its inception to the end of the line through the
eyes of team member, Kevin Lewis (not his real name). One enterprising former
member currently offers seminars based on the system.
The final irony has yet to play itself out. Kevin Spacey is producing the movie
version of the book, due to be released by MGM sometime in 2007. One has to
wonder if the movie will help MGM recover its losses to the MIT Blackjack Team.
--< Watchdog
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