Learn How To Count Cards From A Blackjack Expert Who Literally Broke The Casino

Counting cards in a casino is frowned upon by the establishment. Just ask Mike Aponte, who was part of that MIT card counting team that became the focus of the best-selling book Bringing Down The House, which was later adapted into the world’s most boring movie about stealing money from a casino, 21. Whoever was helping pick movies for Kate Bosworth after Blue Crush should have been fired.

But Aponte has made a helpful video for anyone going to a casino and looking to get an edge on the house, because he’s teaching you the basics of card counting. The video keeps it simple, but it’s also extremely complicated. If card counting were easy, everyone would do it, and casinos wouldn’t exist, but Aponte spells it out in very clear terms.

If you’re going to be lazy and not watch a five-minute video that could help you put money in your pocket (or get your fingers broken in a back room by a big guy named Sal), the basic strategy is this — high cards (A, K, Q, J 10) get a value of -1, low cards (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) get a value of +1 and the cards in the middle (7, 8, 9) are 0. You then do the math in your head (already you’re lost, right) as the cards come out and the idea is to bet bigger as the number in your head rises, because that means there are fewer low cards and you have the advantage over the house.

Just watch it. And don’t go to Vegas and do this if you move your lips while adding in your head. That may get you killed. Otherwise, have fun violating casino policy!

(Wired on YouTube)

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