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Card sharps: Burning down the house

PATRICK WHITE

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 4:30 PM EDT 28/03/08

Much has changed since blackjack's heyday, when a team of MIT math whizzes scored millions by counting cards, as portrayed in the new film 21. One Toronto gambler who was there back then says it's still possible to win big ...Read the full article

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  1. Stude Ham from Outremont, Canada writes: What a waste of brain power... what a complete total and utter waste.
  2. Rocky Blanco from Kavs, Canada writes: Stude Ham wrote: 'What a waste of brain power... what a complete total and utter waste.'

    Less of a waste than playing stocks or writing deodorant jingles or designing computer games? You use your wits to make a buck, that's what most people do in one form or another. These guys just have more fun.
  3. Garrett Nicolai from Regina, Canada writes: I would also argue that strategies for blackjack and other games of chance belong to a field of study known as 'Game Theory'. This field is not only concerned with traditional games, but has relevance on economics, evolutionary biology, military strategy, sociology, and other diverse areas or interest and research. Although these guys are playing blackjack, the techniques developed can be applied to many other areas that aren't a 'waste of time'.
  4. J Norman from Edmonton, Canada writes: At least these people had the brain power to 'waste' (although I'd hardly call getting rich at the expense of Vegas casinos a waste). How many champion poker players would be 'up' if they couldn't bluff their opponents?
  5. Stephen Peirce from Toronto, writes: BoycottChina Now from Toronto, Canada writes:

    The article's by-line reads: 'card sharps: Burning Down the House'

    Attention ESL Grobe and Mayo emproyees: the English expression is card 'sharks' not card 'sharps'.

    How these people get jobs working for a newspaper is beyond my comprehension.
    **
    A quick internet search reveals the following:

    A card shark is an expert card game player who takes advantage of less-skilled 'fish' players.

    A card shark may be a 'rounder' (as in traveling around) who seeks out high-stakes games wherever they may be. Essentially a card shark is an expert gambler able to win games.

    Card sharks are different from CARD SHARPS [emphasis added], who use deception for purposes of either card tricks or cheating at poker or other card games. While the terms are sometimes mistakenly used interchangeably, and some people happen to be both skilled players and cheats, the two phrases have their own distinct meaning.
    **
  6. Baad Daddy from Northwest Ontario, Canada writes: I'm an excellent driver.
  7. Gordon Murray from Canada writes: With WiFi and WiMax all too soon becoming portable, it can't be too long until micro mini cameras wiFi transmitting and simple single hi-res picture transmission to a relay station from a set of spotters at a number of tables enables something like a 'flat rate' for any night for big rollers looking for an edge:
    'For $500 tonight, and some number of other nights, you use this watch receiving simple blackjack table number in this area, above the day. If the number if zero, there's no table with a suggestive 'count' recommending. There is space for a 4 digit number in such case as 4 or more tables have positive, suggestive counts. The first digit is the best count. Maybe it's busy and/or the next table is closer.'

    Of course if one starts using cameras and/or transmitting, laws broken other become a difficulty.
    Perhaps the capture of table cards could be of such weird resolution that a minimum standard for a camera isn't met (optical character recognition from such visual capture start as is sub-standard camera definition).
    Sonar probably can't be prohibited, can it? Perhaps detection/facilitation, with such returns to innovation, will find development a bit earlier for the lure of 21.
  8. Craig Cooper from Toronto, writes: What should be illegal is casinos being allowed to throw people out because they are winning based on skill.

    Does this not prove that casinos are a lie and that you have effectively no chance of coming out ahead?

    Shut all the casinos down now.
  9. Globe Insider subscriber content
    Alfred James from Gull Bay First Nation, Canada writes: When I read about the movie, 21, I was wondering why the guys who produced the movie 'The Last Casino (Canadian)' starring Katherine Isabelle and Chris Lemche weren't suing their asses. The Last Casino is such a Canadian flick including that creepy long beaked muther (apparently the go-to-guy for creepy Canadian dudes), what's his name. Cheers
  10. Paul Bowler from Canberra, Australia writes: What every potential 'counter' needs is a good lawyer sitting behind him/her - how can you be ejected from a casino for 'trespassing' when the establishment virtually hauls you in to play? The threat of an expensive lawsuit for assault &c ought to put a stop to that! Perhaps the casino owners should devise ways of ensuring that the cards in the shoe are shuffled properly for random sequences!!
  11. Laura Dover from CALGARY, Canada writes: That's nice, Globe and Mail. Encourage people to play blackjack. That's what we need, a whole new load of people who try to make it rich at the casino and end up divorced and broke.
  12. Globe Insider subscriber content
    Vinnie Calzone from Ottawa, Canada writes: It is very easy for the casinos to impede the effectiveness of card counting (as the article alludes). Use 6 to 8 decks and put the cut card deep, so the dealer reshuffles when approx. two-thirds of the shoe has been used. The count will rarely swing in your favour enough to make a big difference.

    I tried counting cards a while ago, but gave up quickly when I saw this in action. I doubt even an expert card counter, with a substantial bankroll, would be able to grind out much more than minimum wage.

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