Duke Blackjack Team

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Duke Blackjack Team

• Blackjack. Is. Beatable.

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Goals of the DBT

• Develop skills and techniques to turn your
  knowledge into a significant edge over casinos
• Analyze the statistical variance and deviation
  based on certain types of play to create a
  long-term strategy
• Put the skills and study to the test in mock
  casino runs and, eventually, utilize the skills
  in actual casinos to make money through team play
• Organize and host a casino night charity event
  next spring (hopefully to continue annually)

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A Little History / Terminology, I

• In 1962 Dr. Edward O. Thorp was the first to
  develop a system to keep track of how many high
  cards were left in the shoe and published the
  system in his book Beat the Dealer. This system
  is commonly known as card counting, and gives a
  player an advantage over the house based on the
  fact that a player earns 32 on her bet when she
  gets blackjack
• In the late 70s card counting was revolutionized
  by Ken Uston who was the first to develop a
  system of team play revolving around the big
  player who was called into hot shoes by
  teammates posted at various tables

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A Little History / Terminology, II

• As casinos became progressively better at
  recognizing card counters based on the numerous
  changes in betting units throughout a shoe, they
  began issuing life bans on counters from their
  casinos once they were caught. Private
  investigation groups arose, the most famous of
  which being the Griffin Agency, which made money
  using extreme mind tactics in order to
  investigate supposed counters, passing lists of
  known or suspected counters to the casinos.

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A Little History / Terminology, III

• Ken Uston decided to take action against the bans
  and, after failing in Las Vegas, sued casinos in
  Atlantic city by declaring that barring players
  unconstitutional. Though it initially seemed like
  a win for all counters, the case in retrospect
  made aggressive counting almost impossible in
  Atlantic City as the casinos backfired, dealing
  only a few hands from shoes, shuffling at random
  times, changing table maxes to less than 5, and
  taking other wild actions when a suspected
  counter was playing at a table

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A Little History / Terminology, IV

• In the 1990s two teams known as the Reptiles and
  Amphibians from MIT revolutionized counting,
  perfecting team play and developing advanced
  techniques revolving around the cut card and
  memorizing sequences in order to gain upwards of
  50 advantages over the house on certain hands,
  making millions of dollars throughout their
  existence
• Semyon Dukach was the first to describe their
  three main money-making techniques in the novel
  Busting Vegas as well as DVD recordings of his
  seminars where he taught these methods extensively

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A Little History / Terminology, V

• On September 13, 2005 Griffin Investigations
  filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being sued
  by Michael Russo and James Grosjean, two
  professional blackjack players, after they
  reportedly were improperly detained and arrested
  based on Griffins suggestion that the two were
  counters

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A Little History / Terminology, VI

• Key Blackjack Terms
• Running Count the amount of little cards (2-6s)
  which have been played minus the big cards (kings
  and aces)
• True Count the running count divided by the
  number of decks remaining in the shoe generally
  a good indicator of the density of good cards in
  the rest of the shoe. For every 1 true count a
  player gains 0.5 over the house
• Penetration the amount of a shoe actually dealt
  to the players, usually 67 of multi-deck shoes
• Hot / Cold Shoe shoe which progresses to a
  highly favorable / unfavorable count
• Heat the amount of attention a counter receives
  by pit bosses and others based on winnings or
  betting patterns
• The Eyes in the Sky security officials working
  the cameras in the casino

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A Little History / Terminology, VII

• Spotter team members scattered around different
  blackjack tables who signal in gorillas or the
  big player when shoes get hot
• Gorilla team members who are signaled in to hot
  decks by spotters and bet large until the spotter
  signals that the deck has turned cold note
  gorillas do not actually have to have any
  counting ability whatsoever
• The Big Player basically a specialized gorilla
  the big player is signaled in by the spotter,
  receives the running count through code words,
  and then takes over the table, keeping track of
  the count himself. The big player usually is the
  most skilled member of the team as he has to not
  only count and vary his bets accordingly, but
  usually has to keep up an act in order to not get
  heat from the pit bosses based on his betting
  patterns
• Basic Strategy a chart of what action to take
  based on the cards being held by the player and
  the dealers up card. Basic strategy was
  developed by running billions of simulated
  computer hands and cuts the casino advantage to
  the smallest possible edge that one could achieve
  without counting or using other strategies

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Methodology, I

• Blackjack has long been known to be the single
  casino table game which, through the mastering of
  some relatively simple techniques, is actually
  beatable in the long run, allowing a practiced
  player to actually have a statistical edge over
  the house
• A typical, average blackjack casino player comes
  into the casino typically at around a 4
  disadvantage
• Mastering basic strategy cuts this house
  advantage down to a fraction of a percent

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Methodology, II

• Though card counting seems like a daunting task,
  the level of complexity of different systems
  varies immensely
• Every system gives a practiced player an edge
  over the house
• Through the implementation of a simple Hi-lo
  count, a single player receives, on average, a
  0.5 advantage over the house
• In team play where each member is typically
  assigned a role as either a spotter, gorilla, or
  big player this edge can approach 1.5

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Methodology, III

• The single-handed most underrated skill in
  blackjack is acting. In order to successfully
  pull off any type of counting whatsoever, the
  casino must think that youre not only not a
  threat to their system, but rather just another
  compulsive gambler about to lose their money
• Almost every team system requires acting on a
  large scale big players on counting teams have
  to be showy and really act the part of a high
  roller, teams successfully employing advanced
  techniques always have a back story which
  explains their odd betting patterns

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Methodology, IV

• The most successful small teams were groups of
  3-5 males and females who used wild stereotypes
  and ridiculous personas to turn the attention of
  the higher-ups away from their play style and
  focus on the pretentious team
• Teams which were solely counters are often much
  larger in order to spread spotters throughout
  most of the blackjack floor, but still required
  the gorillas (usually pretending to be drunk) and
  the big player to put on wild shows

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Methodology, V

• Ken Ustons most famous act was on one of his
  last interviews. While playing at Circus Circus
  in Las Vegas, Uston told his interviewer to meet
  him on the blackjack floor, but to call him by a
  completely different name and to not be surprised
  by his wild demeanor. When the interviewer
  arrived, Uston was dressed as a hobo playing
  single-deck blackjack in a crowded table. By
  yelling and being completely obnoxious, he was
  able to vary his bets from table minimum to table
  maximum in less than half a deck without any
  signs of heat from the pit boss.

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Long-run Tables

• Assume team play with a 1 advantage playing an
  average bet of 50 and a standard deviation of
  1.1 times your bet (due to the occasional split
  or double down)

of Hands
Expected Value
Standard Deviation
1
0.50
55
100
50
550
10,000
5,000
5,500
1 Million
500,000
55,000
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Turning the Table, I

• Over time, many advanced techniques have been
  developed and shared which gives the player a
  significant advantage over the house
• Numbers Variation gives the player around a 14
  advantage over the house by altering her tactics
  based on the true count on certain hands
• Key Card Sequencing When playing six hands on
  the first round of the shoe, theres
  approximately a 15 chance that an ace will
  appear face-up. When an ace appears, the player
  memorizes a sequence of cards leading up to the
  ace and by using the fact that the dealers
  pick-up sequence as well as shuffle techniques
  are not random, can tell exactly when that ace
  will appear in the next shoe, giving the player a
  51 advantage over the house on that hand

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Turning the Table, II

• Non-random Shuffle Tracking Though not all
  shuffling methods allow for key card sequencing,
  NRS tracking can almost always be employed under
  certain conditions. When a player notices a
  pocket of hot or cold cards, he can watch the
  pocket through the next shuffle and cut in front
  or behind it, allowing the player to start the
  shoe with an absurd true count which gives an
  advantage unnoticeable by the casino
• Cutting to an Ace A players largest advantage
  comes through the players ability to cut an
  exact number of cards. Every member of the team
  at the table looks to see if the bottom card of
  the shoe is exposed at any point during a
  shuffle. If the player sees an ace, the cutter
  cuts an exact number of cards (usually 52) and
  proceeds to count down the number of cards
  played, betting table max when she expects the
  ace to come out. If her estimate was correct, she
  gains a 52 advantage over the house on that
  hand.

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Turning the Table, III

• Cutting to a Ten When the team instead sees a
  ten, there are two ways to play it I. The
  team can send the ten to one of the hands, giving
  a 14 advantage for that hand II.
  The team can use the ten as a bust card for the
  dealer, anticipating it to be the first
  card the dealer draws. By doing this,
  every hand on the table receives a 30 advantage.
  That gives the opportunity to have 180
  over the house on an entire round!
• Cutting 6s Though not often put into practice,
  low cards can also be used in ones favor. By
  sending a five or six to the dealers hole card,
  every teammate in on the round knows exactly what
  the dealer has and can thus play accordingly,
  once again giving an insane advantage over the
  house, especially when the count is in the teams
  favor.

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Suggested Readings

• Mezrich, Ben. Busting Vegas.
• Mezrich, Ben. Bringing Down the House.
• Uston, Ken. The Big Player.
• Uston, Ken. Million Dollar Blackjack.

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Still Interested?

• Sign up at the front with your name and email to
  get on the mailing list for future meetings
• Start practicing yourself! Many of these
  techniques can be employed and practiced even
  with single decks
• If you have any further questions about the club
  or blackjack in general, feel free to email us at
  either mpb10_at_duke.edu or jls24_at_duke.edu