Blackjack Strategy

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The casino game of Blackjack was introduced to the U.S. in the 1800’s but it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that a technique was created to defeat the casino in twenty-one. This article is going to take a quick look at the creation of that technique, Card Counting.

When casino gambling was legitimized in Nevada in ‘34, Blackjack sky-rocketed into universal appeal and was most commonly wagered on with one or 2 decks of cards. Roger Baldwin published a paper in 1956 which explained how to lower the casino advantage based on probability and statistics which was quite confusing for players who weren’t mathematicians.

In 1962, Dr. Edward O. Thorp used an IBM 704 computer to refine the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s paper and also developed the first techniques for counting cards. Dr. Ed Thorp authored a book called "Beat the Dealer" which outlined card counting strategies and the tactics for reducing the casino edge.

This created a massive increase in twenty-one gamblers at the US betting houses who were trying to implement Dr. Thorp’s techniques, much to the anxiety of the casinos. The system was difficult to understand and hard to carry through and thusly improved the profits for the betting houses as more and more folks took to gambling on twenty-one.

However this large increase in profits was not to last as the gamblers became more highly developed and more aware and the system was further perfected. In the 80’s a group of students from MIT made card counting a part of the regular vernacular. Since then the casinos have brought in numerous measures to counteract players who count cards including, more than one deck, shoes, constant shuffle machines, and gossip has it, complex computer software to scrutinize body language and detect "cheaters". While not prohibited being caught counting cards will get you barred from most brick and mortar casinos in vegas.