Hey, what do you guys think about this?

The linked article discusses the MIT Blackjack Team.

Jim

I think it's very cool.

Hey, what do you guys think about this?

I think it is an example of the media continuing to promote the myth that card counting is somehow a miracle get-rich quick scheme. It's not. It's just a strategy that allows you to gain a tiny hair of a fraction of a percentage of edge over the house, and only over "the long run". In other words, your bankroll will go up and down like a rollercoaster just like with any other casino game. The difference is that for card counters, the rollercoaster will gradually, over a long period of time, climb.

Articles like this and movies like Rain Man totally overstate the advantage of card counting. As a result, more people go out to the casinos, and the casinos make more money.

There are more details about card counting at The Wizard of Odds. Note that it doesn't take MIT scientists to figure out a good blackjack strategy, just some basic math and statistics skills, as this guy has.

I use this system. I don't gamble often enough to really see a difference. Over my lifetime, I'm probably about even +/- a couple hundred bucks. Unfortunately the last couple times I played, I got my ass handed to me.

The only way to win at gambling is to not play at all.

The only way to win at gambling is to not play at all.

"How about a nice game of chess?"

The only way to win at gambling is to not play at all.

I play poker with my buddies once a month for money, but I limit myself to $10. I can go home happy to have lost it all after spending the night chatting with my friends and downing some cold ones. The money makes the game a bit more exciting than if you were playing for nothing, but sometimes it seems silly raising the bet for five or ten cents.