The card game of twenty-one was brought to the U.S. in the 19th century but it wasn’t until the mid twentieth century that a strategy was created to defeat the casino in chemin de fer. This material is going to grab a rapid look at the creation of that technique, Counting Cards.
When gambling was legalized in the state of Nevada in 1934, Blackjack screamed 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 edge based on probability and performance history which was really difficult to understand for individuals who weren’t math experts.
In 1962, Dr. Thorp used an IBM 704 computer to advance the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s dissertation and also created the 1st card counting tactics. Dr. Ed Thorp authored a tome called "Beat the Dealer" which illustrated card counting techniques and the tactics for lowering the casino edge.
This spawned a huge growth in twenty-one competitors at the US casinos who were attempting to implement Dr. Thorp’s tactics, much to the consternation of the casinos. The system was difficult to comprehend and difficult to carry through and therefore heightened the earnings for the betting houses as more and more people took to playing twenty-one.
However this huge increase in earnings wasn’t to last as the gamblers became more refined and more insightful and the system was further perfected. In the 1980’s a bunch of students from MIT made card counting a part of the regular vocabulary. Since then the casinos have developed numerous measures to thwart players who count cards including, more than one deck, shoes, constant shuffle machines, and gossip has it, sophisticated computer software to scrutinize actions and identify "cheaters". While not prohibited being caught counting cards will get you blocked from the majority of brick and mortar casinos in sin city.