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MIT Blackjack Team
The MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students and ex-students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 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. Many other blackjack teams have been formed around the world 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, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the most prestigious and highly ranked academic institutions in the world. Founded in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. MIT is one of three private land grant universities in the United States, the others being Cornell University and Tuskegee University. The institute has an urban campus that extends more than a mile (1.6 km) alongside the Charles River, and encompasses a number of major off-campus facilities such as the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Bates Center, and the Haystack Observatory, as well as affiliated laboratories such as the Broad and Whitehead Institutes. , 98 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blair Hull
Blair Hull (born September 3, 1942) is an American businessman, investor, Democratic politician, and philanthropist. Hull founded Hull Trading Company in 1985 and served as the firm's Chairman and chief executive officer before selling it to Goldman Sachs in 1999 for $531 million. The company, which leveraged technological innovations and quantitative models, was one of the world's premier market-making firms, trading on 28 exchanges in nine countries. Hull went on to found Hull Investments, LLC in 1999 which serves as a family office for three generations of the Hull family, and acts as parent company to a number of financial entities. In 2009, Hull founded Ketchum Trading, LLC, a proprietary trading firm that traded and provided liquidity in futures, options, cash equities and exchange-traded funds. And in 2013, Hull created Hull Tactical Asset Allocation, LLC. HTAA operates an actively managed ETF and utilizes advanced algorithms as well as macro and technical indicator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Casino
''The Last Casino'' (also known by its French title, ''La Mise Finale'') is a 2004 French-language Canadian drama film about a card counting scheme. The film was produced by Greg Dummett, Lorraine Richard and Madeleine Henri, directed by Pierre Gill and written by Steven Westren. ''The Last Casino'' stars Charles Martin Smith as Barnes, Katharine Isabelle as Elyse, Kris Lemche as Scott, Julian Richings as Orr and Albert Chung as George. ''The Last Casino'' draws heavily from the story of the MIT Blackjack Team.The MIT Blackjack Team. (2018)"The Last Casino" Retrieved on April 2, 2018. The MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who were trained by Bill Kaplan.Ball, Janet. (2014)"How a team of students beat the casinos" Retrieved on April 2, 2018. Kaplan delayed his entrance to Harvard University because he believed he could create a mathematics model that would assist him in being successful at blackjack. In 1977, Kaplan turned $10 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Griffin Investigations
Griffin Investigations was once the most prominent group of private investigators specializing in the United States gambling industry; roughly half of the major casinos in the United States, US once subscribed to Griffin's services. The company was founded in 1967 by Beverly S. Griffin and Robert R. Griffin. The company maintained dossiers on card counting, card counters, serial jackpot winners, and other individuals, chiefly professional gamblers using legal techniques to gain an Advantage gambling, advantage in casino games; these profiles were regularly published in the ''Griffin Book'' and distributed to subscribing casinos. Griffin Investigations was instrumental in ending the MIT Blackjack Team’s winning streak, after a Griffin investigator purchased the names, photographs, and other details identifying the group's members, and the company distributed the information to casinos. Griffin also marketed a controversial facial recognition system that used computer software to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hearsay
Hearsay evidence, in a legal forum, is testimony from an under-oath witness who is reciting an out-of-court statement, the content of which is being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is inadmissible (the "hearsay evidence rule") unless an exception to the hearsay rule applies. For example, to prove that Tom was in town, a witness testifies, "Susan told me that Tom was in town." Because the witness's evidence relies on an out-of-court statement that Susan made, if Susan is unavailable for cross-examination, the answer is hearsay. A justification for the objection is that the person who made the statement is not in court and thus not available for cross-examination. Note, however, that if the matter at hand is not the truth of the assertion about Tom being in town but the fact that Susan said the specific words, it may be acceptable. For example, it would be acceptable to ask a witness what Susan told them about Tom in a defamati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Mezrich
Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. Early life and education Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He has two brothers, including Josh Mezrich. He was raised in a Conservative Jewish household, and attended Princeton Day School, in Princeton, New Jersey. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Social Studies from Harvard University in 1991. Personal life Mezrich has been married to Tonya M. Chen since 2006. Some of his books have been written under the pen-name Holden Scott. Mezrich is known for his non-fiction books. He lives in Boston. Written work Mezrich is best known for his first non-fiction work, '' Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions''. This book tells the story of a group of students from MIT who bet on blackjack games using a sophisticated card cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bringing Down The House (book)
''Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions'' is a 2003 book by Ben Mezrich about a group of MIT card counters commonly known as the MIT Blackjack Team. Though the book is classified as non-fiction, the ''Boston Globe'' alleges that the book contains significant fictional elements, that many of the key events propelling the drama did not occur in real life, and that others were exaggerated greatly. The book was adapted into the movies '' 21'' and ''The Last Casino''. Synopsis The book's main character is Kevin Lewis, an MIT graduate who was invited to join the MIT Blackjack Team in 1993. Lewis was recruited by two of the team's top players, Jason Fisher and Andre Martinez. The team was financed by a colorful character named Micky Rosa, who had organized at least one other team to play the Vegas strip. This new team was the most profitable yet. Personality conflicts and card counting deterrent efforts at the casinos eventually ended ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times Best Seller List
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992. Since October 12, 1931, ''The New York Times Book Review'' has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and non-fiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic. The list is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the ''Times'' compiles the list is a trade secret. In 1983 (as part of a legal argument), the ''Times'' stated that the list is not mathematically objective but rather editorial content. In 2017, a ''Times'' representative said that the goal is that the lists reflect authentic best selle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cigar Aficionado
''Cigar Aficionado'' is an American magazine that is dedicated to enjoying the good life and the world of cigars. Published since September 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, and for its articles and blind tastings about handrolled, premium cigars, along with stories about golf, travel and luxury goods and experiences. The magazine was launched by Marvin R. Shanken's M. Shanken Communications, the publisher of ''Wine Spectator'' magazine since 1976. The current executive editor is David Savona. Publication history Origins ''Cigar Aficionado'' magazine debuted in the fall of 1992, launched in New York City by Marvin R. Shanken, longtime publisher of ''Wine Spectator'' magazine. Prior to launching the publication, Shanken engaged in extensive market research, collecting more ... [...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 interv ... [...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, a $100 entry fee no-limit Texas hold'em tournament. That was the first time he ever played no-limit Texas hold 'em. In 1997, Bloch skip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semyon Dukach
Semyon Dukach (born 25 October 1968) is a Russian-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 (company), 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 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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