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MIT Blackjack Team
The MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students and ex-students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and other leading colleges; they 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. Many other blackjack teams around the world have been formed with the goal of beating the casinos. Blackjack and card counting Blackjack can be legally beaten by a skilled player. Beyond the basic strategy of when to hit and when to stand, individual players can use card counting, shuffle tracking, or hole carding to improve their odds. Since the early 1960s, a large number of card counting schemes have been published, and casinos have adjusted the rules of play in an attempt to counter the most popular methods. The idea behind all card counting is that, because a low card is usually bad and a high card usually good, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science. In response to the increasing Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialization of the United States, William Barton Rogers organized a school in Boston to create "useful knowledge." Initially funded by a land-grant universities, federal land grant, the institute adopted a Polytechnic, polytechnic model that stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. MIT moved from Boston to Cambridge in 1916 and grew rapidly through collaboration with private industry, military branches, and new federal basic research agencies, the formation of which was influenced by MIT faculty like Vannevar Bush. In the late twentieth century, MIT became a leading center for research in compu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foxwoods Casino
Foxwoods Resort Casino is an integrated resort owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more than 250 gaming tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, and poker, and have more than 5,500 slot machines. The casinos also have several restaurants, among them a Hard Rock Cafe. It has been developed since changes in state and federal laws in the late 20th century enabled Native American gaming on the sovereign reservations of federally recognized tribes. Foxwoods has two hotel towers, with a total of 2,228 hotel rooms; and an arcade for children and teens. The original tower, the Grand Pequot Tower, opened in 1997, while the second opened in 2008 as the MGM Grand. It was re-branded the Fox Tower in 2013. In 2015, a retail complex, known as Tanger Outlet Mall, opened between the two hotel towers with 85 stores featuring luxury goods. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Uston
Ken Uston (January 12, 1935 – September 19, 1987) was an American blackjack player, strategist and author, credited with popularizing the concept of team play at blackjack. During the early to mid-1970s he gained widespread notoriety for perfecting techniques to do team card counting in numerous casinos worldwide, earning millions of dollars from the casinos, with bets as high as $12,000 on a single hand. He was banned from casinos around the world and would adopt various costumes in order to conceal his identity and still be able to play. He filed a high-profile lawsuit against these casinos and successfully received a ruling from the New Jersey courts that absent a valid New Jersey Casino Commission regulation excluding card counters, casinos could not ban someone simply for counting cards at blackjack. In response, many casinos changed their systems, increasing the number of decks in games or changing rules to increase the house edge. In the early 1980s, Uston authored seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Francesco
Al Francesco (born Frank Schipani; December 2, 1933 – February 3, 2024) was an American blackjack player and gambling strategist. Considered to be “The Godfather of Blackjack”, Francesco is recognized as the creator of the team play concept, the “big player” strategy, and the drop card method. Beginning in 1971, Francesco personally recruited and trained disciplined card counters to work together in teams to beat the casinos. Franceso's teams of blackjack players would station themselves at various blackjack tables to count the decks, and when the mathematical odds turned in their favor, the counters would signal a “Big Player” to come to the table and place large wagers until the edge was lost and once again favored the dealer. While most card counters would eventually be discovered by casinos through their betting patterns and banned from further play, Francesco's unique team concept helped his players evade detection and continue winning. At its peak, Francesco's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casino Game
A casino game is one in which players gamble cash or chips on various possible random outcomes or combinations of outcomes, often in a casino environment. Such games are also available in online casinos, where permitted by law. Casino games can also be played outside of casinos for entertainment purposes, like in parties or in school competitions, on machines that simulate gambling. Categories There are three general categories of casino games: gaming machines, table games, and random number games. Gaming machines, such as slot machines and pachinko, are usually played by one player at a time and do not require the involvement of casino employees. Tables games, such as blackjack or craps, involve one or more players who are competing against the house (the casino itself) rather than each other. Table games are usually conducted by casino employees known as croupiers or dealers. Random number games are based on the selection of random numbers, either from a computerized random n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackjack Forum
''Blackjack Forum'' was a trade journal for professional blackjack players, founded in 1981 and published by Arnold Snyder. Originally a 100-page quarterly journal, it expanded into an online forum which is frequented by professional gamblers, attorneys, industry people, mathematicians, and other aficionados. Along with Stanford Wong's ''Current Blackjack News'', it was considered one of the major newsletters for the blackjack market. Frequent authors included Nick Alexander, Peter A. Griffin, James Grosjean, Tommy Hyland, and Snyder. Topics involved card counting, betting systems, software, cheating, comps, casino conditions, author and player interviews, and other gambling-related topics such as horse-racing and poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i .... In 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ABC News (United States)
ABC News is the news division of the American television network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', ''Nightline'', '' 20/20'', and Sunday morning political affairs program '' This Week with George Stephanopoulos''. The network also includes daytime talk shows '' The View'', '' Live with Kelly and Mark'', and '' Tamron Hall''. In addition to the division's television programs, ABC News has radio and digital outlets, including ABC News Radio and ABC News Live, plus various podcasts hosted by ABC News personalities. History 20th-century origins ABC began in 1943 as the NBC Blue Network, a radio network that was spun off from NBC, as ordered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1942. The reason for the order was to expand competition in radio broadcasting in the United States, specifically news and political broadcasting, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown, Boston
Chinatown, Boston (Cantonese: 唐人街; Jyutping: ''Tong4jan4gaai1'') is a neighborhood located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only surviving historic ethnic Chinese enclave in New England since the demise of the Chinatowns in Providence, Rhode Island, and Portland, Maine, after the 1950s. Because of the high population of Asians and Asian Americans living in this area of Boston, there is an abundance of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants located in Chinatown. It is one of the most densely populated residential areas in Boston and serves as the largest center of its East Asian and Southeast Asian cultural life. Chinatown borders the Boston Common, Downtown Crossing, the Washington Street Theatre District, Bay Village, the South End, and the Southeast Expressway/ Massachusetts Turnpike. Boston's Chinatown is one of the largest Chinatowns outside of New York City. Demographics Because it is a gathering place and home to many immigrants, Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cigar Aficionado
''Cigar Aficionado'' is an American lifestyle magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the “good life” and the world of cigars. It is a publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes '' Wine Spectator'', '' Whisky Advocate'', ''Market Watch'', ''Shanken News Daily'' and ''IMPACT Newsletter''. The magazine reaches a total brand footprint of over 2.7 million. Launched in 1992, the magazine is known for its profiles on celebrities, including Michael Jordan, Jack Nicholson, The Rock, Demi Moore, Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Usher, Nick Jonas, Tom Selleck, Hugh Jackman, Wayne Gretzky, Charles Barkley, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Strahan, and Steve Harvey; for its cigar ratings and reviews; and the latest coverage on cigars, Cuba, gambling, golf, beer, spirits, and more. David Savona is executive editor. Origins and history ''Cigar Aficionado'' magazine debuted in the fall of 1992, launched in New York City by Marvin R. Shanken, longtime publisher of '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Aponte
Mike Aponte, also known as MIT Mike, is a professional blackjack player and a former member of the MIT Blackjack Team. Aponte was part of a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students that legally won millions playing blackjack at casinos around the world by counting cards. He is the basis for one of the main characters, Jason Fisher, in the book, '' Bringing Down the House'', by Ben Mezrich, which inspired the motion picture, '' 21''. Early years Growing up Aponte rarely played cards. He was the son of a U.S. Army tactical instructor, and his family moved on a regular basis, both within the United States and overseas. He attended 11 different schools before graduating valedictorian from Ewing High School in New Jersey. That fall, he moved to Boston to attend MIT, where he studied economics and played on the school's football team. In his senior year a friend told him about a team at MIT that used special mathematical techniques to win at blackjack. In an int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andy Bloch
Andrew Elliot Bloch (born June 1, 1969) is a professional poker player. He holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law School. Blackjack While studying at MIT, Bloch became part of the MIT blackjack team, featured in the book '' Bringing Down the House''. Bloch said he has made up to $100,000 in one session while playing blackjack. He was one of the members of the team to play in Monte Carlo as detailed in Ben Mezrich's '' Busting Vegas''. Bloch was featured in the blackjack documentary '' The Hot Shoe'', as well as starring in his own instructional blackjack DVD, ''Beating Blackjack'', which explains card counting. Poker career Bloch started playing poker seriously in 1992, entering some small $35 weekly tournaments once a month. By the end of the year, he had won one of the World Poker Finals tournaments in Mashantucket, a $100 entry fee no-limit Texas hold'em tournament. In 1997, Bloch skipped the last week of law school classes to play in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semyon Dukach
Semyon Dukach (born 25 October 1968) is an American entrepreneur and former professional blackjack player. He is the founding partner of One Way Ventures, a venture capital fund that backs immigrant entrepreneurs. He was the managing director of Techstars in Boston. He was also the chairman of SMTP, Inc., and a former professional blackjack player with the MIT Blackjack Team. He played with Strategic Investments and later was one of the founding members and team leaders on Amphibian Investments whose exploits were chronicled in Ben Mezrich's '' Busting Vegas'' and referred to in Mezrich's '' Bringing Down the House''. Dukach was the main character in '' Busting Vegas'' and the only member of the MIT blackjack team to be referred to by his real name in either book. Early life Born on 25 October 1968 in Moscow, Dukach moved to the US in 1979 at the age of 11. He completed a BS in Computer Science at Columbia University in 1990 and a MS in Computer Science at MIT in 1993. At a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
