How Did the MIT Blackjack Team Get Caught?

The MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students and ex-students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, and other leading colleges who used card counting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casinos at blackjack worldwide. The team and its successors operated successfully from 1979 through the beginning of the 21st century.

The team’s approach was originally developed by MIT Professor Edward O. Thorp, who published a bestselling book on the subject, Beat the Dealer, in 1962. Thorp’s book was based on his experience as a math professor and successful gambler.

It outlined various card-counting schemes and betting strategies that would give the player an edge over the house. The book became a bestseller and was soon followed by others that expanded on Thorp’s ideas.

In the late 1970s, several members of the MIT math department formed a club to gamble together. They initially focused on games such as backgammon and bridge, but soon began playing blackjack.

The club members pooled their money and took turns playing blackjack in Las Vegas casinos. They quickly realized that they could make more money by counting cards and employing betting strategies than they could by playing any other game.

The team members communicated their findings to one another through code words and hand signals. They also used sophisticated computer simulations to hone their skills.

In 1979, they began making regular trips to Las Vegas to put their system to the test.

The team was highly successful, winning millions of dollars over the years. However, their activities eventually caught the attention of casino security staff and law enforcement authorities.

In 2000, several members of the team were arrested in Las Vegas and charged with cheating. The arrests marked the end of the MIT Blackjack Team’s activities.

The MIT Blackjack Team’s story is one of remarkable success followed by eventual defeat. The team’s members were able to beat the casinos at their own game for many years using nothing more than their wits and skill.

However, in the end, they were no match for the combined forces of casino security and law enforcement.