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The MIT Blackjack Team was, as the name suggests, a group of students or ex-students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who attempted to 'beat' major United States casinos at blackjack. The time period of these efforts ran from 1979 through to the
start of the 21st century.
Blackjack gives the house a relatively low statistical advantage compared to other casino games. Beyond the 'basic strategy' of when to hit and when to stand, individual players can use a combination of betting strategy, card tracking, and card counting to improve their odds. Accurate card counting is considered a fairly difficult skill, but since the early 1960s a very large number of schemes have been published - and casinos have adjusted the rules of play to counter the most popular methods.
The chance to make large amounts of money and the method to be used appealed to some mathematically minded and more egotistical students at MIT. The university had card playing clubs but some students decided to develop their hobby. The group combined the individual player advantages with a team approach of counters and players to maximise any opportunities and disguise the betting patterns card counting produces. After rigorous practice members of the MIT team claimed that their system gave them a margin over the house of 10-20% or even higher (Edward O. Thorp's methods gave a 2% advantage at best, although Ken Uston, also using a team, did rather better).
The 1990s team was eventually barred from the majority of casinos. Some members took the reports of their successes into a business of running blackjack seminars. They made over 5 million dollars.
There is a History Channel show which will be a series in 2005 about the team called "Breaking Vegas".
There is a book about the team called Bringing Down the House.
Links
Hacking Las-Vegas (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/vegas.html)-- an article about the MIT Blackjack team in the Wired magazine
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