Blackjack Cheats

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The casino game of Blackjack was brought to the U.S. in the 19th century but it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that a strategy was created to beat the casino in Blackjack. This material is going to take a rapid look at the birth of that strategy, Counting Cards.

When wagering was legalized in the state of Nevada in 1934, Blackjack screamed into universal appeal and was usually bet on with one or 2 decks. Roger Baldwin published a dissertation in 1956 which explained how to reduce the casino edge based on probability and stats which was really complicated for players who were not mathematicians.

In ‘62, Dr. Edward O. Thorp used an IBM 704 computer to better the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s dissertation and also developed the first card counting strategies. Dr. Ed Thorp authored a book called "Beat the Dealer" which detailed card counting techniques and the tactics for reducing the house edge.

This spawned a huge growth in Blackjack competitors at the US betting houses who were trying to implement Dr. Ed Thorp’s tactics, much to the consternation of the casinos. The system was not easy to comprehend and difficult to put into practice and thusly increased the earnings for the casinos as more and more folks took to wagering on black jack.

However this massive increase in profits was not to last as the gamblers became more refined and more cultivated and the system was further refined. In the 80’s a group of students from MIT made card counting a part of the regular vernacular. Since then the casinos have introduced countless measures to counteract card counters including (but not limited to), multiple decks, shoes, shuffle machines, and gossip has it, complex computer software to read actions and identify "cheaters". While not against the law being caught counting cards will get you banned from all brick and mortar casinos in sin city.