We all love a story of the underdog succeeding against the odds. A real David and Goliath story. When David is a punter and Goliath is a casino the story becomes even more appealing.
The escapades of the MIT Blackjack team is just such a story; one of ingenuity, collaboration, and strategy that turned a group of highly intelligent students into high-stakes gamblers who consistently beat casinos at their own game. Their journey which in the late 1970s and continued into the 1990s. During that time they showed how mathematical prowess and teamwork can overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds of the gambling world.
In the process they became the stuff of legend.
How it began
The MIT Blackjack Team originated in the early 1980s when a group of students and former students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, and other prestigious institutions came together with a shared interest in the game of blackjack. The founding members were drawn to the game not for the thrill of gambling but for the opportunity to apply mathematical techniques to gain an advantage over the house.
Blackjack, unlike many other casino games, offers a potential advantage to skilled players. It’s one the few games where past outcomes (ie the cards dealt to date) will have an impact on future outcomes (ie the cards yet to be dealt from the shoe).
Card counting, a method of tracking the ratio of high to low cards remaining in the deck, can give players a statistical edge. At the point where the remaining shoe is high card rich, the statistical advantage can swing to the player. That is to say, there is a player edge rather than a house edge.
Formation and training
One of the key figures in the formation of the MIT Blackjack Team was Bill Kaplan, a Harvard MBA graduate who had successfully used card counting to win at blackjack in Las Vegas. Kaplan joined forces with J.P. Massar, an MIT graduate student. Together they structured the team as a serious business venture, recruiting and training new members rigorously with a focus on precision and discipline.
Training involved more than just learning to count cards. It included mastering basic blackjack strategy, team play techniques and drills to ensure players could handle the high-pressure (and vey distracting) casino environment without making mistakes. Players practiced for hours, refining their ability to count cards, calculate bets, and maintain composure under scrutiny.
The team employed a well-organised structure to maximise their effectiveness and minimise the risk of detection. They used a variety of roles including spotters, counters and big players (BPs or gorillas). The spotters would play low stakes or just observe deals all the while counting cards, signalling to the counters when a shoe became favourable. Counters would join the table with a favourable count and bet more aggressively. When the count became particularly favourable they would signal the big player who would join and place large bets from the get go. This would draw less attention since the BP appeared to be a high roller acting on a whim, rather than a player strategically increasing their bets based on a favourable count.
Signals between team members were subtle and varied to avoid detection. Code words were used to let the big player know exactly what the count was when they joined the table. The big player would often be a charismatic individual capable of distracting casino staff and other players, further reducing suspicion.
How successful was the team?
The team’s success in Las Vegas and other gambling hubs was remarkable and became etc stuff off legend (and inspire a Hollywood movie). By working as a cohesive unit and using their intellectual skills, they were able to consistently win large sums of money. At their peak, the team was reputedly winning millions of dollars annually. They would travel to various casinos, often on weekends using their strategies with precision.
The team’s operations were sophisticated and included detailed planning of trips, careful money management, and even disguises to avoid being recognised by casino staff. They also kept meticulous records of their performance and continually refined their strategies based on their experiences.
Despite their success, the MIT Blackjack Team faced numerous challenges. Casinos, not in the habit of allowing players to consistently get the better of them, employed various countermeasures including advanced surveillance, databases to track card counters, and increased scrutiny of big bettors. The team members had to constantly adapt, using new disguises and aliases to stay ahead of casino security.
The team’s activities eventually attracted significant attention, both from the media and from the casinos themselves. As the notoriety of the MIT Blackjack Team grew it became increasingly difficult for them to operate undetected. By the late 1990s, increased casino countermeasures and the difficulty of maintaining anonymity led to the team’s decline.
Legacy
The legacy of the MIT Blackjack Team is enduring. Their story has been the subject of books, documentaries, and movies, most notably the film “21,” which dramatised their exploits (with the expected Hollywood poetic license). The team’s success demonstrated the power of applying academic knowledge to real-world problems and inspired countless others to explore the mathematical aspects of gambling.
More broadly, the MIT Blackjack Team’s story underscores the importance of teamwork, discipline, and strategic thinking. While their primary motivation was financial gain, their journey also highlighted the potential for intellectual pursuits to yield extraordinary results, even in unexpected fields like casino gambling.
