![\"MIT](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/20170327215110-21-2008-movie.jpeg\")
They came up with, and put into practice, a method for winning at blackjack.<\/p>\n
The idea came from the studies of Edward Thorp, a math professor at MIT, who devised a card counting<\/a> system in the 1950s using the earliest computers.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s success inspired a 2008 movie, 21<\/a><\/em>, starring Kevin Spacey (above), and a best-selling book Bringing Down The House<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n But who were these guys? How did they do it? And could their methods still work today?<\/p>\n The first thing to make clear is that card counting is not actually illegal \u2013 as long as you are counting in your head. It is a form of advantage play<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nevada state laws, for instance, specifically prohibit card counting using electronic or mechanical aids.<\/p>\n However, legal though it may be, it\u2019s fair to say that you won\u2019t win many friends among casino owners if you practise the art successfully.<\/p>\n The simplest way of describing the \u201cHi-Lo\u201d method used by the MIT blackjack card counting team is as follows. You count the high and low cards that have been played since the last shuffle.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need to have memorized a value assigned to all cards in a deck:<\/p>\n If it becomes clear as the game progresses that the cards dealt out have an overall positive value, that\u2019s the time to bet big.<\/p>\n Mike Aponte, one of the leading members of the MIT team, offers a simple guide to card counting on this video:<\/p>\nThe MIT Blackjack Card Counting Technique<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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