[Note: Stephen Tamburin is a leading contributor to the information in this article.]

Out of all the popular gambling games you can play in an online casino, jacks or better video poker is one of the most rewarding. While video poker strategy jacks or better looks easy, its true advanced strategy may be elusive to the untrained eye. So, it’s better to use a jacks or better video poker strategy. 

This article takes a deep dive into how to play cards dealt in video poker jacks or better to help you maximize your success.

With the knowledge of how to play jacks or better video poker using a video poker jacks or better strategy and of course a bit of luck, you can get off to a good start. And hopefully some profitable winning returns and some juicy payouts. 

How to Play Video Poker Jacks or Better

A jacks or better video poker strategy is easy to learn since at the start of each game it deals only five cards. So, if you want to understand how to play jacks or better video poker this article explains how and presents some examples. 

1. Firstly, select the bet size you want to make for each game. The higher your stake the more you stand to win if you’re lucky enough to win a high paying hand. 
2. The jacks or better video game will deal you five face-up cards. If you’re playing in an online casino, the cards will appear on the screen of the device you’re using.
3. Now you decide which jacks or better cards to hold or discard. In video poker jacks or better, any unwanted cards are replaced from the remaining deck.
4. And voilà you’ll see your video poker jacks or better final hand consisting of five cards.

Payouts begin with a pair of jacks or higher. The top prize is a royal flush! 

How to play cards dealt in video poker jacks or better comes with some simple rules. But navigating the many combinations of hands and knowing when to hold or discard specific cards is key to long-term success. 

An effective video poker jacks or better strategy should consider the payouts for different hands. And analyse the odds of improving your hand before drawing cards.

Mastering Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy

Hands containing a pair and either three or four cards to the royal, flush, or straight flush are frequently difficult. 

The big question is whether to hold the pair — especially a high pair (Jacks through Aces) — or to discard in favour of a higher-ranking and higher-paying hand. 

This is how to play jacks or better video poker in a way that (should you win) increases your chances of seeing your bankroll return higher payouts. This technique tries to calculate the probabilities of poker hands with the variations as shown below.

How to play cards dealt in video poker jacks or better:

1. Low or high pair and four cards to the straight
2. Low or high pair and four cards to the flush
3. Low or high pair and four cards to the straight flush
4. Low or high pair and three cards to the royal

Straights & Pairs

A hand that fits example 1 is the following.

• 2d 3h 4s 5h 3c

How would you play it? Would you keep the pair of 3s or the four unsuited consecutive cards (2 through 5) and try a one-card draw for a straight?

Expected Value for Jacks or Better Video Poker

 

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A vital strategic concept for jacks or better video poker is "expected value" (EV). The EV of a playing decision is your average net return from that play. This is calculated on the bases of conducting thousands of similar outcomes. 

Using a perfect strategy derived from EV analysis ensures you are making the mathematically best play for every hand. And this is what maximizes winning payouts over time. 

While it can't guarantee winning every hand, following a perfect video poker jacks or better strategy boosts your return to 99% or more when played properly. Thus, avoiding a video poker jacks or better strategy will put a strain on your bankroll.

How to Play Video Poker Jacks or Better using charts

Printable video poker jacks or better strategy charts are available online showing the perfect play for every hand. Keeping a chart handy and using it prevents costly errors resulting in reduced payouts. 

Now that we’re familiar with the Expected value ‘EV’ strategy for jacks or better video poker, we can figure out how to play the above hand. 

In the above scenario, your EV is 82 cents per dollar bet if you hold the 3s and 68 cents per dollar bet if you hold the four-card straight. The best play is the one with the highest expected value (EV), which in this case is holding the low pair over the four-card straight.

Again, every jacks or better video poker strategy doesn’t always guarantee a win. What it means is that after playing this hand many times, you’ll end up winning more money when you choose the play with the highest EV. 

The table below shows the hand rankings and basic payouts for Jacks or better video poker:

 To receive greater payout odds – should you win – you can increase your bet size before the start of any game.

Navigating Problem Hands Using a Proper Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy

Most Jacks or Better hands have an obvious perfect play – i.e. hold any of the following:

• Royal Flushes
• Straight Flushes
• Four-of-a-Kind
• Full Houses
• Flushes
• High Pairs: and draw for the highest hand possible. 

However, knowing how to play some hand combinations present strategic dilemmas. 

Let's Tackle How to Play Cards Dealt in Video Poker Jacks or Better

• Pairs vs. Multi-Card Straight or Flush Potential

When holding a high pair or low pair along with four cards to a straight or flush, determining the right play can be tricky. Should we keep the pair or try drawing to the straight or flush? EV calculations identify which play is correct.

• Pairs vs. Four-Card Straights

Keep high pairs and low pairs over four-card straights. The pair's EV exceeds the straights.

But keep four-card straights with three consecutive high cards (like Q,K,A,2) over low pairs. Three premium straight cards outrank the low pair's EV.

• Pairs vs Four-Card Flushes

Keep high pairs over four-card flushes, which have lower EV.

Keep four-card flushes over low pairs due to the superior EV.

• Pairs vs Four-Card Straight Flushes

Always choose four-card straight flushes (with or without gaps) over high or low pairs. The incredible payout potential makes this the optimal play despite breaking up a pair.

For example:

    2h    3h    2s    8h    9h

    Jh    3h    Js    5h    8h

Although counterintuitive: the winning play would be holding the four flush cards over the low pair (first hand) and the high pair over the four-flush cards (second hand).

• Royal Flushes and Pairs

Here the trick is to know when to keep or discard the royal flush. Let’s check out the pairs in the examples below:

 6s    6d    Qh    Kh    Ah

  Jd    Js    Qh    Kh    Ah

Keep three-card royal flushes over low pairs. The massive royal prize outweighs the low pair's value. We therefore discard the low pair 6s.

And keep high pairs over three-card royal flushes, despite the high payout. The EV favours high pairs. Smart money would keep the high pair of (Jacks)

Exception: Discard anything for a four-card royal flush.

Memorizing the perfect strategy for all hand combinations is difficult. To simplify learning, focus on this easy EV-based table:

Video Poker Strategy Jacks or Better Simple Table  

 The hands are ranked from highest EV to lowest. When faced with a strategic dilemma, consult the table. Always choose to play the higher ranked hand in the list; based on maximum EV and long-term return.

How to Play Jacks or Better Video Poker: Essential tips & Common Mistakes to Avoid

Beyond navigating complex hands, several vital video poker tips will hone your skills while avoiding the hazards many beginners experience:

• Use jacks or better video poker strategy charts consistently:

Never guess or assume proper play. Always consult accurate jacks or better video poker strategy charts or software for the mathematically best move. Even seasoned players should reinforce strategy regularly.

• Ensure you manage your Bankroll:

Set gambling loss limits and withdraw winnings promptly when visiting a live casino. Allowing video poker jacks or better wins to erode or exceed loss limits has depleted many player’s bankrolls. Lock in profits as they accumulate.

• Choose full-pay games:

Full-pay Jacks or Better games offer the highest payout percentages, lowest house edge, and the best shot at coming out ahead. Seek out 9/6 games.

• Avoid Common Errors:

1. Playing hands purely by gut instincts vs using strategic guides.
2. Keeping low pairs vs royal flush or straight flush potential.
3. Drawing to inside straights which offer poor odds.
4. Chasing losses by exceeding loss limits or over betting.
5. Failing to protect winnings by avoiding cashing out.

Conclusion to Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy

A strategic frame of mind can mean long-term wins. Like any casino game, luck impacts results in the short term. But over extended play, you’ll get rewarded using a skillful strategy when playing jacks or better video poker. 

You can maximize payouts and compete with the house edge by:

• Adhering strictly to the perfect strategy derived from EV analysis.
• Avoiding common pitfalls.
• Managing your bankroll wisely.
• Practicing constantly to master the jacks or better strategy.

Luck favors the prepared mind. Your strategic Jacks or Better Video Poker journey begins now!

Jacks or Better Video Poker Strategy: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to win Jacks or Better Video Poker? 

Understanding the rules, managing your bankroll, and staying disciplined will give you the best chance of winning.

Is there a trick to Jacks or Better Video Poker? 

No. While various strategies can sway the game in your advantage, there are no tricks you could use to win any given game.

What is the probability of winning in Jacks or Better Video Poker? 

The odds are much more favorable compared to any other casino game. Players are expected to recoup over 90% of their wagers eventually.

In Jacks or Better Video Poker, should I keep a high pair or draw three royal cards? 

Keeping the high pair is the best strategy in jacks or better video poker to get more wins and discard the rest of the cards.

Should I always hold the four to the royal in Video Poker Jacks or Better? 

Yes, as a rule of thumb, if you draw the royal, the reward is greater, but the odds are slimmer. This is one of the few instances where you shouldn’t hold onto your pair. 

I’ve been asked the above question hundreds of times from blackjack players. What follows is a synopsis of what I tell them. 

Many players don’t give much thought to the above. They are usually so anxious to play they will rush into the casino and plop themselves down at the first table they spot with an unoccupied seat. Not much thought is given as to how the dealer is dealing the cards; how many decks of cards are being used; whether the table is nearly full (or devoid) of players; the playing rules, including the payoff for a blackjack; and most importantly, the betting limits. Additionally, whether you are a recreational player or a card counter needs to be considered when deciding which table to play and which seat to occupy.

(In this article, I’ll focus on recreational players who are not card counting; in a future article, I’ll discuss the important factors for card counters.)

The first criterion that you should consider is the table betting limits. That’s because I can’t tell you how many times during my playing career I’ve witnessed a player sitting down, putting money on the table, asking the dealer for chips, and then placing a red chip in his or her betting spot. The dealer then proceeds to admonish the player for making a wager that is less than the posted minimum betting limit.  The player will sheepishly leave the table, most likely embarrassed for not looking at the signage on the table that states what the minimum (and maximum) betting limits are. But this is not the only reason why you should know the betting limits before you sit down and play.

If you have a limited playing bankroll, you should only play on tables that have low minimum-betting requirements. That means scouting the casinos to find a low-limit table. If you are not sure if a particular casino offers, say, a $5 minimum blackjack game, then call the casino and ask the operator to connect you to the blackjack pit. Ask the supervisor who answers if they have any $5 blackjack games, and if so, when these tables are open. 

The next important criterion for table selection is the playing rules. These days blackjack rules are not necessarily the same from one table to the next. Some tables may have very good (player-favorable) rules while for others, the rules are not so good. Moreover, the casino manager isn’t going to point you to the table that has the best rules. It’s your (the player’s) responsibility to know the good from the bad. The three most important player-favorable rules are:
•    Player blackjack pays 3-2 and not 7-5, or worse 1-1
•    You can double down after pair splitting, and
•    Dealer stands on all 17s

(For a more detailed list of player-friendly rules, go to Chapter 6.2 in my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.)

Once you’ve tracked down a table with a reasonable set of player-favorable rules, next check how many decks of cards are being used. It’s easy to see if the dealer is using either a single- or double-deck of cards. (In single- and double-deck games, the dealer will pitch the cards to the players in each round; however, some casinos may use a dealing shoe in a double-deck game.) If a casino uses more than two decks, it will usually be either six or eight decks, and the cards will be dealt from a dealing shoe. If you are unsure if the game is using six or eight decks of cards, simply ask the dealer or floor supervisor.

Generally, a single-deck game has better odds for a player than a game that uses two decks, which is better than six decks, and the latter is slightly better than eight decks but this assumes all else is equal (meaning, the rules are the same).  Therefore, it’s important to know the complete set of playing rules associated with a particular game (including the number of decks of cards) to decide if the game is worth playing. (Your goal should be to play a game with a lowest house edge; ideally 0.5% or less. See the Blackjack Charts chapter in my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide for more advice on this.)

Many casinos nowadays use what is known as a continuous shuffling machine (or CSM) to shuffle and deal the cards. With this device, the cards are inserted back into the CSM after every round is completed, and randomly shuffled with the unplayed cards. (Most CSMs contain five or six decks.) When a casino uses a CSM, the dealer can deal more hands per hour since there is never a pause in the action to manually shuffle the cards. Therefore, with a CSM-dealt game, players will be exposing more of their bankroll to the house edge resulting in a higher theoretical hourly loss. Bottom line: Recreational players should avoid playing on tables that use a CSM.

 

 

This might not appear logical but recreational players are better off playing on full tables (meaning, where all, or most, seats are taken) rather than playing alone, or with only one or two other players. The reason is the same as it is with the CSM; namely, you will get less hands dealt per hour on a full table vs. playing heads up and therefore you’ll expose less of your bankroll to the house edge. Still not convinced? Check out the math below.
  
Suppose a recreational player is playing a six-deck game with a good mix of player- favorable rules resulting in a house edge of 0.5%. His or her average wager is $10 per hand over a four-hour session. The calculated theoretical loss is as follows.
(Note: The number of hands dealt per hour in the examples below depends on how fast the dealer deals the cards, and how fast each player takes to decide how to play his or her hand. The figures I used came from the book Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong.)

• Playing heads up against the dealer, the player can expect to be dealt about 250 hands per hour or 1,000 hands over the course of four hours. Betting $10 per hand results in a total of $10,000 in wagers (1,000 x $10). This player’s expected theoretical loss is $50 ($10,000 x 0.5%).
• Same scenario except now the player is on a table with five other players. This player can expect to be dealt about 60 hands per hour. If you do the math you will arrive at an expected loss of only $12. By playing on a full table vs. heads up, the player’s theoretical loss was reduced by 76%.

Lastly, which seat is best? From a mathematical standpoint, it really doesn’t matter which seat you take at a blackjack table. (Even playing on a table full of clueless players, your odds of winning will not be affected in the long run.) However, my advice to recreational players that may need (or want) a little more time to decide how to play their hands correctly is to take a seat on the dealer’s right side. That’s because once the dealer completes dealing the initial two cards to each player, she will immediately point to the first player to her left for a hand signal (indicating what the player wants to do … stand, hit, etc.). After the first player completes his or her hand, the dealer will go to each player in turn for a playing decision.  Therefore, if you take a seat on the dealer’s right side, you will have a little more time to decide how to play your hand (or to check your blackjack strategy card to be sure you are making the correct play). However, the anchor seat (i.e., last seat) is often perceived by other players as being the one at which a more experienced players sits, and you might not want that extra pressure or scrutiny from the other players.  Bottom line:  choose seat #5 or #6.

You now have the information you need to help you determine which table to play, and which seat to take, the next time you play live blackjack. Good luck and good cards!

Roulette is an old casino game, rivaling that of craps in length of time played by people in and out of casinos. Roulette has had a large patronage going back to the old aristocrats of the mid-1600s. Popular theory credits the great mathematician Blaise Pascal with inventing it. Actually what he wanted to invent was a perpetual motion machine. He failed at that.

Still his actual creation, the roulette wheel, has been in a kind of perpetual motion since its invention. It is a supreme gambling game as you can see from the loyalty of its players. I’m guessing that Mr. Pascal wished he had a percentage of the money made by this game for the various casinos that offered it to the public.

There are numerous ways to play the game, some standard and some eccentric, and many players have actually invented their own attack on it. As a gambling writer I tend to focus on what I consider to be the best methods of play, usually without listening to the many loud voices of the players telling me how they prefer to tackle the game.

 

 

So this article is for those of you who wonder what those other players are thinking when they spread out their chips and try to ride the will of Lady Luck to a winning session. Here are four inveterate roulette players with various interesting roulette strategies, some controlled and some eclectic, which they advocate. The players are in the lead here, not me. These are the players who might be playing next to you when you play your next game. Just look to the left and the right and in front of you. One might be one of these!

CHARLOTTE (THE INSIDE GIRL)

I’m 60 years old and I have been playing roulette since I went to my first casino in Las Vegas when I was twenty-three. That’s a long time ago, it sure is. So what have I learned? Well, it is a tough game to beat and although I have had some really great nights playing the game, I am not ahead, that is for certain. But I don’t think players who have played a lot can actually be ahead because the casino does have an edge at the game. 

I will begin my play by using my birthday and the birthdays and anniversaries of my parents, siblings, other relatives and friends. I’ll spread them out all over the layout; ten bets in total each time, all directly on the numbers. If one hits, I keep that one for the next round but change the other nine bets to other numbers using the same formula I just told you about. Luckily, I have a lot of relatives and friends!

At some point I run out of specific dates but then I go with my gut to pick numbers. I might use the scoreboard to pick numbers that have already hit that are obviously not numbers I already bet. In my time at the table, all the numbers that have hit for me I just keep betting them. I will add numbers and when one of those hits I keep that number in the list. I will have ten numbers all together that I then use as my “power numbers” and bet them throughout my session. 

Yes, I admit that I might make some outside proposition bets now and again but they are not really the focus of my play. Those even-money bets like “red and black” just aren’t exciting for me. I am an inside girl; you can call me that if you want for the article, the inside girl. I want to get that 35:1 roulette payout on a win. That is exciting. Even-money is just not that exciting.

How long do I play for? Until my money runs out or I get tired. I am not a big drinker so alcohol has no action in my play. I have my gambling money and my regular money and never do I mix them. I can play and if I get a loss it really doesn’t bother me at all. 

I am a roulette player through and through. No other casino game does it for me the way roulette does.

[Please note: Inside numbers pay out at 35-to-one but the true payout on the double-zero wheel should be 37-to-one; and on the single-zero wheel it should be 36-to-one. The edges then are 5.26 percent and 2.70 percent respectively.]

BRENNAN (THE OUTSIDER)

I have a precise method of play and I never deviate from it, although if things are going good for me I will add some bets and increase the bets I have been making as time goes on. I do want good wins, not just little wins so I am willing to take a leap of faith if you will.

I am an outsider. I just bet “high” or “low” on the even money line. I also bet one of the three twelves and one column. So I am up on three bets all together. When a bet of mine hits, I immediately half parley it. For example, if “high” hits and I win $50, I will make my next bet on “high” for $75. If I win on two or three bets (which is great!), I increase all of them by a half-parley. Remember those twelves and columns will pay two-to-one, so a few hits in a row on those can win me some decent money.

Now what if I win a second bet in a row on one or more of my propositions? I do a half-parley again or close to it. Any loss on any bet on which I have been winning at roulette makes me go down to the original bet. If I am really getting hurt at a game I will reduce my betting by eliminating either a twelve bet or a column bet. I am not a really wild player.

How do I handle my money? I play until I feel I have had my fill for the night or day. I don’t have a fast rule about that but there is only so much money I reserve to play with so that is a big influence. If things are going wrong right off, I might take a trip to another table and try my luck again. I won’t bang my head against the wall if I am losing big. I’ll quit. The game will always be there for me. I do not want to get, as they say, creamed.

[Please note: The outside proposition bets have the same house edges as do the inside bets, 5.26 percent for the double-zero wheel and 2.70 for the single-zero wheel. Some casinos will give back half of the even-money bets should the 0 or 00 hit. This will reduce the house edges on these bets to 2.63 percent and 1.35 percent on the double and single zero wheels respectively. If you can find casinos that do this then betting those even-money bets is the only way to go. That 1.35 percent on the single-zero wheels is one of the best bets in the casino!]

MILLICENT (THE TOAST MISTRESS)

In my non-casino life I am not a drinker; I mean, I do not drink at all, not a drop. But when I am in a casino I enjoy a few drinks; I mean a few drinks. I don’t get bombed or anything like that but I feel relaxed when I am playing roulette after a few drinks. 

I have a very stressful job and going to the casino is a major release for me. It is exciting and relaxing at the same time. I guess that’s a funny thing to say, exciting and relaxing, but that’s how it is for me. I go one weekend a month.

The method of my play is just random really. I just make some bets on hunches. Sometimes they are inside bets on a few numbers and sometimes they are bets on the outside bets and sometimes they are bets both inside and outside. I have no idea of how I’ll play until I am actually playing at a table. I do not know how other people play because I don’t focus on anything but my own bets. I really don’t care how other players play; after all, that’s their business.

I have no preset plan at all. I just go with the flow which really means I have no plan as I said. I have had some good nights and some bad nights. Doesn’t matter; it is the actual playing that inspires me, not really winning or losing. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer winning to losing but I know the casino has an edge on all my bets so losing is not a huge surprise.

I play maybe two or three hours and then I take a break. I maybe play twice a day. I don’t push it though. I’m a reasonable player.

[Please note: While drinking in a casino is not a sin, sometimes overindulgence can hurt a player’s concentration and discipline. Then the game can get somewhat out of hand. Here are some words to the wise: Go easy on the booze when you are actually playing. Drink when the game is over for you.]

LONNIE (THE WARRIOR)

Do you know what my name means? It means I am battle-tested and ready for war. Well, consider this; roulette is a kind of war between the casino and its roulette wheel against us, the players. That’s how I view it anyway. So I am a warrior against the house edge. I am obviously the underdog; but wars can be won by underdogs.

I do not make many bets during a spin of the wheel, hopefully one, maybe two. I play the big number method. If a number has hit more than once on the scoreboard, I will bet that number. When the number disappears I look for another number to bet. I need two of one number on the scoreboard to bet that number. I call any number I bet on a “big number.” This is not an original strategy with me; I am sure there are many players who play some type of “big number” strategy.

Now, there are some wrinkles in this strategy. If two different numbers are doubled up, I will bet those two different numbers. If a number has shown three times, I will double my bet on that number, figuring it is really a hot number – I call that  a “giant number.” 

It is extremely rare to see more than two or three different numbers repeating and a number hitting three times is a true outsider. But I look for these things. They make my betting style really interesting. Things are constantly changing for me at the game and I like that.

Playing as I do then the game of roulette can be considered spicy. You can get all wound up when you see a big number or two, and when a triple number shows up, wow! It’s like eating spicy food. It’s hot but delicious.  

I have no interest in outside bets; they seem kind of dull to me; I’ll be frank about that. When you play the “big number” strategy there feels to be a sense that something big will be happening. And I think of myself as ready to pounce when that big something is about to happen.

How long do I play? A few hours a few times a day. Hey, I am a player; a warrior player at that. 

[Please note: The “big number” strategies were originally used in order to find a wheel that was “off” or unbalanced. It was believed that repeating numbers might indicate a wheel not in good repair. Today’s wheels are usually too fine-tuned to allow for such non-balancing behavior. Numbers will repeat because random results can be repetitive. And you know what that really means? Correct, nothing.]   
   
All the best in and out of the casinos!

Everyone is entitled to get lucky sometimes. But there are those who seem to get way luckier, way more often, than the rest of us. While it often takes varying degrees of skill and timing to land a major casino win, you can’t discount the role that good fortune plays in all of it. Here, then, are five big casino victors who stumbled across the magical combination for taking down life-changing windfalls. 

AUSSIE BILLIONAIRE

Elmer Sherwin was notorious for gambling higher than anyone else in the world. Never mind that the late press baron was a billionaire, he risked sums that even the super-wealthy would be too chicken to put on the line. 

While he of course endured his share of outsized ups and downs, there was one mammoth victory against the casino that had to compensate for a lot of negative swings. While gambling at the MGM Grand in 1997, Packer must have felt especially lucky because he was playing six spots at the blackjack table with $200,000 on each betting circle. When the smoke cleared and his chips were counted, Packer was ahead by an estimated $20 million to $40 million. 

The Sydney Morning Herald put his win at $26 millon and pointed out that he was not the only beneficiary that night: By session’s end, he tipped his cocktail waitress enough to pay off her mortgage.

TWO-TIME WINNER

Back in 1989, some nine hours after the Mirage opened its doors, Las Vegas resident Elmer Sherwin made headlines by hitting a $4.6 million Megabucks progressive slot machine bonanza. 

But, if not for the former Mrs. Sherwin, the score might never have happened. Sherwin had already gone through $80 of his own money and borrowed $20 from ex-wife Florence (she told the New York Times that they were “still buddies” despite marital acrimony) and went on to hit his jackpot. When a reporter asked if he would remarry her, Shewin quipped, “She won’t have me.” His win, at the time, was the largest single payout in Las Vegas history. Clearly a good guy, he donated a chunk of his prize-money to victims of Hurricane Katrina. 

For most gamblers, that big win would have been enough. Not for Sherwin. Sixteen years later, in 2005, he was back in action, playing the Megabucks machine at Cannery Casino. He boasted about wanting to hit a second windfall. Nobody took him seriously – until, against all odds, he did it again. That time, he took down a payoff in excess of $21 million. He made another donation to Hurricane Katrina survivors and offered a challenge to the gambling gods: “I’m gonna try for a third win on Megabucks.” Unfortunately, he died in 2007, and never made the hat-trick, but nobody can say that he did not get the most out of life and out of the casinos.

THE DON OF GAMBLING

By the time Don Johnson began attacking the blackjack tables of Atlantic City, he was already a savvy, successful, sophisticated gambler. But he made his money by using computer simulations to beat horse racing. 

On the side, Johnson engaged in moderate advantage playing at blackjack and capitalized mightily on comps. But when he heard about desperate Atlantic City casinos offering good rules and generous discounts on loss, he decided to step up in a big way. He played with a crew of associates who card counted, hole carded and ace sequenced. Plus there were people there to eat bad cards when the count got low. It allowed Johnson to keep from varying his bets – a dead giveaway that one is card counting – while maintaining the advantage that card-counting brings.  

He would eventually extract  some $14 million out of Atlantic City casino coffers. “But,” Johnson told me, “beating Caesars out of $4.23 million in one stretch kicked things off.” Johnson funded his run with a $220,000 check from Taj Mahal (he won that money in 12 or so hours, betting anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per hand) and the Caesars victory happened over the course of a long weeknight session, “It ended for me with a Caesars shift manager waving his hands,” Johnson continued. “Nobody said anything verbally. I racked up my chips, two security guards followed me and I got paid. Then I went up to my room and slept for a couple hours. I was pretty tired.”

PENSION PLANNER

Normally, I am not incredibly into watching sports. But, in Las Vegas, with, say $100 wagered on the outcome of a game (not enough to hurt if I lose but enough to mean something one way or the other and get me rooting for my desired side), it’s a hell of a lot of fun – especially with a good burger in a kitted-out sportsbook. Maybe a 25-year-old software engineer from California was thinking the same thing  in 2003 when he rumbled into town to watch an NCAA Finals basketball game. 

Presumably killing time before tip-off, he put $100 or so into a progressive Megabucks machine at the Excalibur. Amazingly, his spin hit. He won $39.7 million, signed all the required documents and immediately asked that his name not be released. No doubt, the excitement of March Madness paled alongside this life-changing score. And just to make sure that his millions would not all get spent in one place, the engineer asked that his money be paid out in 25 installments of $1.5-million each.

ARCHIE’S RUN

Archie Karas’s casino winning streak is so iconic that it is know simply as “the run.” As goes his story – some of which can easily be apocryphal – but who cares when a tale is as good as the one about Archie – Karas came to America with $50 in his pocket. He made his way to Los Angeles, ran it up to $2 million via pool hustling and sharp playing in the city’s underground poker games. Then he blew it all before materializing in Las Vegas, in 1992, with nothing more to his name than a borrowed $10,000. 

He went back to poker and pool and supposedly took on all comers. Even the great poker-genius Stu Ungar got spanked by Karas. Supposedly, Ungar lost $1 million to the high-flying Greek. Reports have it that over the course of six months, he ran his bankroll up to $17 million, By 1995, it is said to have reached $40 million. Then, supposedly, over the course of two disastrous years, he blew it all at craps, baccarat and even his old standby game of poker.

During the next 18 years, Karas found himself in and out of money and was a frequent fixture at the World Series of Poker. But, clearly, things were not going well for the once flush gambler. In 2013, he was arrested for marking cards at the blackjack table of a San Diego casino. No stranger to accusations of shady behavior, Karas had been arrested four times previously, under suspicions of cheating. This last time, though, he received three years probation and permanent placement in Nevada’s notorious Black Book. It prohibits him from entering any of the state’s casinos and taking a final shot at acquiring one more life-changing fortune.

The subtitle of this book is “The Pros’ Approach to Beating Today’s Blackjack.” Trust me; this is exactly what this book is all about. 

The book chronicles how a recent college graduate (Colin Jones) took the advice from a friend and learned card counting, and subsequently used the power of team play in today’s casino environment to extract millions of dollars from them over two decades. His experiences and results with card counting that are detailed in the book substantiate that the naysayers, who claim that card counting is dead, are dead wrong. 

I first met Colin at Max Rubin’s Blackjack Ball. Even though he was probably one of the youngest invitees who attended this elite event of blackjack professional players, I was impressed with his demeanor and knowledge of the game. I asked him if I could interview him for my Blackjack Insider Newsletter and he obliged.  This was in 2012, and I (and my subscribers) learned a lot about Colin from that interview. Since then, his blackjack team exploits have become legendary.

According to Colin, his goal for writing this book was “to provide an authoritative guide to what you need to know and more important, how you should think about card counting in today’s casino environment.” Colin succeeds in this. Yes, you’ll find chapters that explain the concepts of basic strategy and card counting; however, what sets this book apart from all other blackjack books is the detailed blueprint on how to train, manage, and implement a team of highly skilled card counters, and their experiences playing in casinos throughout the country. You will be surprised at the technology based tools Colin used to do all this while at the same time keeping his team of players motivated for the very long hours they spent crushing casinos.

Colin’s most famous blackjack team was the “Church Team,” which comprised mostly investors and players (and their friends) who attended churches that Colin went to in the Seattle area. With a bankroll of half a million dollars, they won $3.2 million over a three-year period, and investors were provided with a return that beat the stock market by 500%. (Their exploits were chronicled in the video “Holy Rollers.”)

Here are some of the important points that Colin makes in his book that made him and his teams so successful.

1.    Focusing on E.V., which is an abbreviation for “expected value” (or profit potential). The latter is the amount of money you expect to win over a given period of time based on the rules of the game, and your playing and betting strategy. Colin, and every member of his teams, knew and embraced this concept, namely, it didn’t matter if you won or lost; rather it was the value of your playing and betting decisions that was all that mattered. 
2.    Maximizing E.V. Colin’s teams played in a manner that gave them the most potential profit from any game. This involved making sure the games were playable beforehand; playing every hand perfectly; making every bet perfectly; playing for long hours (10 hours and longer were normal); getting more rounds  per hour (such as playing heads-up against a dealer); and other techniques. 

3.    Maintaining High Standards. Players that Colin recruited for his teams had to go through a vigorous training period and then be tested by him before being considered for a team. According to Colin, the test-out involved three phases: “counting down two or three shoes at team headquarters, with a maximum of being off in the count by a running count of 1 per shoe and no basic strategy deviation, or betting mistakes; an indefinite in-casino test-out where we watched the player in action for as long as it took to feel comfortable handing him or her team money; and 40-80 hours at lower-limit play, followed by a retest. At that point, we continued to test our players regularly to make sure their game stayed at a high level.”

4.    Playing and Betting Aggressively. If the count required a bet of a thousand (or more) dollars on one, two, or more hands, the team players made the bets regardless if they were ahead, behind, tired, or worried about getting thrown out of the casino. Likewise, deviations from the basic strategy based upon the count were expected to be made by each player, even if it meant, for example, splitting tens (a move that often attracts attention from pit supervisors). Their goal was simply to extract as much money as possible from each casino, and they succeeded using aggressive playing and betting strategies.

5.    No Expensive Camouflage. Most card counters employ some type of camouflage (i.e., cover play) either in how they play a hand or bet, simply out of fear of being confronted by casino employees. However, most camouflage plays come at a cost, which decreases E.V. Colin’s philosophy is to “play blackjack fearlessly with no cover. I go after the money. I don’t give them an extra penny of my money.” (Although there is an interesting chapter on “free” cover plays that were sometimes used by Colin and his team.)

6.    Expecting Casino Heat. When playing and betting aggressively for long hours, there is an increased risk of casino heat, including being backed off by the casino. This is why Colin devotes a whole chapter to the different types of “casino heat” he and his team faced and how they handled it. (Colin emphasizes “to try not to sweat it when it comes to back offs.” This chapter should be required reading by every card counter.)

7.    Having Enough Bankroll. Colin does a good job explaining the concepts of risk of ruin, bankroll requirements, and the dangers of over (and under) betting your bankroll. You’ll find advice on how much bankroll you need for different levels of risk of ruin. (For the most part, Colin and his team had enough bankroll for a very low 1% risk of ruin.)  Even though he and his teams had some gut-wrenching losses in the short run, they smartly resized their bets to maintain the 1% risk of ruin. By so doing, they were able to play on to get to the long run where, as Colin put it, “[you] have the math all work out and approach EV. …” 

8.    Detailed Team Management.  Colin was often responsible for managing his teams. You’ll find some excellent advice in this book on what to do (and not do) based on Colin’s experiences. (Includes keeping records of each session, determining how much each player will earn, how to split the winnings amongst players and investors, and lots more useful advice.)

9.    Protecting Your Money When Traveling. Colin and some of his team often carried tens of thousands of dollars with them when they traveled around the country. You’ll get plenty of tips on how to keep your money safe when doing so. (There is also advice on playing abroad, including the all-important currency exchange and declaration of winnings when leaving one country and entering another.)

10.    Using a Big Player. Although most of Colin’s teams played solo on different tables (sometimes in different casinos), he had some experience using the Big Player concept, and he offers tips for players that are considering using this playing technique. 

11.    Tips on How to Form a Team. Colin shares some useful advice on ways to form a card counting team, including the use of Internet message boards.

This book also includes a chapter on techniques other than card counting that can be used to beat the game of blackjack (such as special promotions, comps, coupons, matchplays, free play, loss rebates, side bets, and more). Also, Colin explains his reasons why he believes the Church Team was so successful, and why it ended (the latter might surprise you). In the final chapter, Colin reflects on the life lessons he learned from 15 years of card counting (interesting reflections).

At the end of each chapter, you’ll find motivating interviews and stories from active card counters that played on Colin’s teams, or were trained by him.  Colin gave this reason for including them in his book. 

“Each (player) has a different story about why he or she has approached advantage play, showing the motivations for, and applications of, the principles of this book are as unique as the individuals themselves.” 

(Note: The above was a great addition to the book; there is a lot to be learned from other advantage players who have learned and applied the principles in this book.)

Unlike the very limited resources that I, and my peers, had when we started our card counting careers (circa early 1970s), it’s clear that today’s card counters have superior technologically based tools at their disposal that will make their journey to become  successful card counters much more easy and efficient. As you will learn when you read this book, Colin embraced this technology in how he trained players and managed teams.

Bottom line: This book is a highly authoritative and up-to-date guide on how to beat casinos in today’s world, written by someone that has been there, and done that, successfully. Whether you are a recreational player or a wannabe or experienced card counter, if you want to win (more) money playing blackjack, including making a living playing the game, you need to read this book and then apply the successful principles and techniques used by Colin to get the money.

Slot machine players are among the most valuable players in today’s casinos, both online and offline. Casinos know it, too. They reward slot players with cash back or free play along with meals, free or discounted rooms and other comps.

In fact, modern player rewards systems that track how much you play evolved from the “slot clubs” that sprang up in the early 1980s, starting with the 24K Club at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. 

Casinos had been comping table players for decades, relying on the pit crew to estimate how much a customer was playing. That’s not practical on slots, with many more players, so the Golden Nugget introduced a loyalty card. 

The amount of information gathered, sophistication of player ratings systems and diversity of comps has been growing ever since. Video poker players are valuable, too, but they receive much less in casino comps than slot players.

It’s common for rating systems to award slot players twice as many points per dollars played than video poker players, meaning slot players accumulate comps twice as fast. In some casinos, the difference is even greater – up to 10 times the comps for slot vs. video poker players.  And some casinos don’t award comps at all on the highest-paying video poker games.

That didn’t used to be the case. In the early days of player rewards for electronic games, video poker players earned points and comps at the same rate as slot players.
Why the change?

 

 

It has to do with the relative payback percentage of slot and video poker games and the amount of profit the players are expected to generate for the casino.
Let’s do a little arithmetic.

Assume one player is playing 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker, which returns 99 percent with expert play, betting $1.25 per hand – five coins per hand on a 25-cent machine. 

Now assume another player is betting 3 cents per line on a 40-line, 1-cent video slot returning 90 percent to players. That’s $1.20 per hand – just to put two players on about the same betting track at a realistic level.

If each makes 500 players per hour, then the video poker player bets $625 per hour and the slot player bets $600.
What are the average losses?

With a 99 percent return, the video poker player’s average loss is $6.25 per hour. There’ll be winning sessions, even big wins when a royal flush or four Aces with a low-card kicker turn up, and there’ll be sessions with bigger losses, but the average will be $6.25.

The penny slot player getting a 90-percent return sees an average loss of $60 per hour. There are winning sessions on the slots, too, with the occasional jackpot, but the average loss given a nearly equivalent amount of play is nearly 10 times that of the video poker player.

There’s much greater incentive for the casino to tempt the slot player into coming back, so the slot player gets more in player rewards.

Given this explanation, one slot player replied, “But I DON’T bet that much on penny slots. I bet one coin per line. So my bets are only a third of those my husband makes on video poker, but I still get more comps than he does. I’m not complaining, but he sometimes gets a little confounded by it all.”

Let’s run the numbers for slots again, but this time with 1-cent per line bet on a 40-line slot at 500 spins per hour.

Now the total wager is only $200 per hour, but with a 90-percent payback, the average loss is $20 per hour. That’s still more than three times as high as the $6.25 per house loss for a 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker player betting $625 per hour.

Casinos sometimes offer multiple point days and those can not only boost your comps, they can boost the effective payback of the game you play.

If applied equally to video poker and slots, those multi-point days sometimes could turn some video poker games profitable for players, but can’t do the same on the slots. For many years, video poker zeroed in on multiple-points days to gain an advantage.

That’s led casinos not only to accumulate comps at different rates for slot and video poker play, but to offer different multiples on points.

Let’s create an example of how that can work. Assume a player rewards club is set up so you’re given one point for every $4 in play, and for every 100 points you accumulate, you can redeem for $1. That means $400 in play brings $1 in cash or free play, so you’re getting back 0.25 percent of your bets.

Normally, that would increase the effective payback percentage of 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker to 99.25 percent – a thinner shave than the casino really likes. The effective rate on a 90-percent penny slot would rise only to 90.25 percent. That’s well worth it to the casino to raise a little goodwill.

What if the casino was having a 5x points day, where you were given points at five times the normal rate.

That would raise the effective payback on the slot for that day to 91.25 percent. Casino operators still get a healthy profit, and the promotional value can generate enough extra play that the casino makes more money overall than on single-points days.

Even on higher-paying slots returning 95 percent and some do online or on dollar level offline, the effective return of 96.25 percent with 5x points still generates profit for the casino.

But on 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker, those 5x points on a club that normally returns 0.25 percent turn a 99 percent return into a 100.25-percent profit opportunity for players.

On video poker games with higher paybacks the profit opportunity would be even greater as 9-6 Jacks or Better would jump from 99.5 percent to 100.75 or Not So Ugly Deuces Wild from 99.7 to 100.95.

So casinos adjust rewards on a couple of fronts. It might require $8 in play instead of $4 to earn a point on video poker, reducing the basic club return from 0.25 percent to 0.125 percent. It might limit multiple points days to 2x or 3x on video poker while offering higher multipliers on the slots. And it might offer greatly reduced or no comps on video poker games paying 99 percent or more.

By doing that, the operators assure themselves that the greatest rewards will go to the players who generate the most profit for the casino: The slot players. And it prevents turning marginally profitable video poker games into losing propositions for the operator.

From an operator’s perspective, that’s how it must be, with more comps to slot players than video poker players because they are more valuable to the casino.

Over the past 50 or so years, I’ve read my fair share of books containing trip reports written by card counters. But none was as unique, and well-written, as the recently published The Blackjack Insiders. (Publisher: Huntington Press). 

This is not a how to play and win book on blackjack; rather it’s an interesting and thrilling story about how a blackjack dealer decided to turn the tables on the casinos and beat them at their own game.  

The dealer is Andrew Uyal, who was employed as a blackjack dealer (and later a floor supervisor, and pit boss) at the CasaBlanca Casino in Mesquite, Nevada. At age 25, Andrew is an up-and-coming employee who is well-liked by his peers and supervisors, with a lot of potential for advancement. However, Andrew was recently divorced (a costly one), had a young son (B.J.) to support, and because he didn’t earn a big salary, money was tight. He was ready for a change.

His shift boss, Mark Stevens, takes a liking to Andrew. It turns out that Mark has been secretly card counting on his days off, and convinces Andrew to try card counting under his tutelage.

Fortunately for Andrew, Mark spends his days off teaching him everything he needed to know to succeed at card counting. This included learning the basic playing strategy, how to count the cards, how to bet and deviate from basic strategy based on the count, and a whole lot more. This was intense training and practice that continued for weeks until Andrew could accurately play his hands through an entire shoe several times (with Mark dealing) without making any playing or betting mistakes.  

Andrew and Mark began their card counting adventure with weekend trips to Las Vegas. Mark was so confident of Andrew’s ability that he staked him with “five one hundred dollar bills” and smartly told him to “start with small bets.”  Andrew’s first trip as a card counter was successful. 

It turned out that Mark was subsequently let go from his job as casino shift manager so he began playing blackjack full time. Later, after changes in management were made where Andrew was working (not to his liking), he subsequently resigned and joined Mark playing blackjack for a living.

The book chronicles the many subsequent trips the two of them made to casinos not only in Las Vegas but New Orleans, Biloxi, Tunica, Vicksburg, Laughlin, California,  Wendover, Foxwoods, Kansas City, St. Louis, and elsewhere. The chapters explain in great detail how each trip went; places where they stayed, names of casinos they visited, the types of playing conditions they encountered, the casino heat they experienced; the different barrings they experienced, the big winning and losing streaks, and the emotional highs and lows.  

One thing that you’ll quickly discover when you read this book is their aggressive playing style. Their goal was to win as much money as they could from each casino they visited so it was common for them to play long hours in the same casino with aggressive bet spreads and some very unusual (but mathematically correct) deviations from basic strategy based on the count (e.g., doubling on soft 20 and a 7 against a dealer’s 6 upcard based on the index number).  They were not too concerned about being backed off at any one casino because they decided early on that they were going to go on the road to play blackjack professionally for only a short period of time (it actually lasted about a year), and probably wouldn’t return to any casino that backed them off until six months had passed.

(As an aside, the above tactics used by Andrew and Mark were different than what I used when I began card counting some 50 years ago. With only a limited number of legal U.S. casinos back then (i.e., Nevada) my goal was on longevity (i.e., playing in a manner that stayed under the casinos’ radar). But times have changed. Today, over 30 states (commercial and tribal) offer legalized blackjack games.  The result: the younger (and probably smarter) card counters mostly use the above “hit-and-run, burn-out, advantage-play technique.” I’m not saying this is wrong; just different.)

Another striking point you’ll learn from this book is the comaraderie that developed between Andrew and Mark. They rarely played together, each had his own bankroll, and they mostly played in different casinos on the same trip. (Sometimes, one or the other would also take solo playing trips.). However, after every playing session or extended trip, they would communicate the highs and lows of their session and trip. Often Mark would encourage Andrew not to worry when he experienced a losing session. (Some of the other benefits of team play, besides the motivational support you get from your team members, especially when you have a really bad session, are the reduction in variance; practicing together and watching the improvement in each player’s skills; and probably the most important benefit, being able to win a lot more money with less risk than playing solo.) 
 
Although you’ll read about the many euphoric winning sessions and streaks that they enjoyed, you’ll also learn about what can happen to a card counter’s emotions when he or she experiences a long losing streak.  (Like Andrew’s long five-month losing streak where he lost $16,000, about half of his bankroll. Chapter 16 describes this losing streak; it should be mandatory reading for any wannabe card counter.)

There are other points in the book that may be overlooked by most readers but shouldn’t be. They include:

• The use of Current Blackjack News to check on the blackjack rules for a casino  before they visited it.
• How they used their experience as dealers and floor supervisors to know what to expect when certain situations arose while they were card counting.
• How to cash out a lot of (winning) casino chips in any one casino.
• Why you should refuse to hand over your ID to a casino boss.
• What to expect if you get a tap on the shoulder when you play.
• What to do (and not to do) if the above occurs.
• How to play independently as a card counting team, track your winnings, and split profits.
• How to use blackjack software to determine your session bankroll and check if unusual events that occur are in the realm of a possibility, even if the odds are long.
• Learning to deal with the solitude, long hours, constant travel, wild bankroll swings, and adversity that come from being viewed and treated as criminals by casino bosses.

What’s in it for you if you purchase and read this book? A great real-life story on how a depressed blackjack dealer having a tough time during his life took the risk to become a card counter, and go on the road to play blackjack professionally for a living.  Andrew ended up winning a fair amount of money over the year he played with Mark. (I’ll let you find out exactly how much he won when you read the book.) But it was more than just the money. When Andrew looked back on his one-year adventure, he wrote the following on the last page of his book.

“I thought about how much the game of blackjack had done for me. It started by giving me something productive and engaging to focus on during a tough time in my life. It grew to help me financially. It afforded me a chance to travel the country … A mere card game had changed my life and put me on the path toward success ... At the end our goal was accomplished. We played. We saved some. Most importantly, we collected great memories during it.”

Note: After their successful one-year journey as professional card counters, Mark planned to take a 9–5 job at a financial advising company, and Andrew made the move to Las Vegas with his son to work in the casino industry. The book ended appropriately with this quote:

“The End Is Just a New Beginning.”

The recently opened Encore Boston Harbor casino is situated just 14 minutes away from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, home of the famous MIT blackjack team. The team has been out of operation for nearly 20 years, but that location begs a question: What would the world’s most famous card counting syndicate have done with a new casino in such close proximity? “We would have played it until we got kicked out and couldn’t play it anymore,” Andy Bloch told 888.com. A veteran-member of MIT blackjack and later a successful professional poker player, Bloch added, “I don’t know what the rules are at Encore, but I am sure we would have figured out a way to beat the game. We did it at a lot of other casinos – including Foxwoods and Mohegan sun, which both opened near MIT.”

While there is no telling what MIT’s current crop of math geniuses are cooking up for the New England outpost of Encore, its opening does present a good time to revisit the groundbreaking blackjack team that upended casinos around the world and revolutionized the concept of advantage play. 

The team was founded by Bill Kaplan (no relation to the author), fresh from managing a group of card counters in Las Vegas. After weathering player burnout there, he relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he planned on attending Harvard Business School. “I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant [in Cambridge], talking about all this, and some MIT kids came over,” he told Boston magazine. “They said, ‘Are you talking about blackjack? We’ve been playing for a few months, trying to make money.’”

Suddenly, a new crew fell into Kaplan’s lap. In 1980, the MIT blackjack team was born. As Kaplan explained it, the team’s success was largely based on intent and organization. “We ran it as a business,” he said. “Training, extensive training, checkout procedures, two hours of perfect play, leaving the table right. It was really run more tightly than most businesses.”

Maybe so, But it can be argued that people who work for most businesses do not casually misplace six-figures worth of said business’s money.  Such was the case when one of the MIT players haphazardly forgot a paper bag loaded with $125,000 of blackjack revenue. He left it in an MIT classroom. A janitor spotted the sack of cash and stashed it away for safekeeping. With the help of Alan Dershowitz (who helped defend OJ Simpson and got tangled up in the recent Jeffrey Epstein scandal), the money (which was originally thought to be drug related) was returned.

Outrageous as it sounds, misplacing $125,000 might be easy when you’re making much more. According to former MIT player Mike Aponte, “MIT won over 10-million in six years. It’s not like everyone became a multimillionaire, but it was a relatively small group of people. I put in $1,500 in the summer. By November, my investment was worth $100,000. Then I just kept rolling it over. “

Beyond the MIT team’s business sense, another important reason for its success stemmed from players operating at peak levels when it really mattered. “There were people who played better in the casinos than they did during practice sessions,” said Jon Hirschtick who played on MIT from 1984 until 1993. “My best play happened in the casino, for high stakes, under pressure. A lot of blackjack players are ADD; so they can focus more [than people without the disorder] but cannot control it. One thing we can do, though, is focus on cards coming out of a shoe.

For all of the focus that is required to win at blackjack – Hirschtick remembers sitting with a fellow player in Atlantic City and discussing the high-end cars they could afford to buy – plenty of entertaining anecdotes did emerge. One of the best concerns John Chang, an MIT blackjack wizard on whom Kevin Spacey’s “21” character was partially based. 

Chang became overly recognizable as a card-counter and, as a result, drew heat that radiated to his fellow players. “My teammates didn’t want to play with me unless I got into a fantastic disguise,” he said. “My girlfriend told me she could dress me up as a woman. Her shoes were my size and she had everything I needed. I did it three times: in Illinois, in the Bahamas and in Atlantic City.

The first two outings went off without a hitch. Atlantic City, though, was another story. “I was sitting at the table, next to a Chinese woman; I saw her dainty hands and put mine under the table,” Chang continued. “Upstairs [in surveillance], they were looking at my hands and laughing. Then an Asian host came over and whispered into my ear, ‘We know who you are.’ I got up to leave and some security guard said to me, ‘Lose the pearls, Esmeralda.’  It was embarrassing. I ran around the casino to make sure I wasn’t being followed as I made an exit.”

Other times, Chang and his collaborators left on their own accord, before things got too hairy. He remembers another play in AC, one in which they were tracking shuffles, when his partner got dealt a 19 on one hand and an 11 on the other. He knew that the next two cards would be a 2 and a 10. The guy doubled on both, correctly expecting 21s. As Chang remembers it, “I said, ‘Let’s get out of here before they arrest us.’” 

They successfully escaped the casino but MIT could not outrun changing tolerance levels within the gambling dens they frequented. By 1997, the best spot to play was MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The casino took the biggest action and no gender-defying disguises were required. 

That year, on June 28, 1997, the night of the Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield championship fight, things felt particularly promising.  “I was sitting at an MGM table, with all yellow chips [worth $1,000 each], ahead $70,000; the fight had started and there was enormous action in the pit; nobody raised an eyebrow,” Chang said. As blackjack games raged on the gambling floor, the third round neared its end, inside MGM Grand Garden Arena, and a frustrated Mike Tyson chomped off the top of Holyfield’s ear. “Then, after the fight ended prematurely, there was a riot. Tables got overturned, chips got stolen out of racks, people got arrested. This coincided with Kerry Packer winning $26-million and everybody became chicken-shit about taking big action.”

It was not the end of the MIT team. But it was the end of an era for high-stakes advantage players. The real wind down came three years later, in 2000, brought on, at least partially, by an MIT player’s disgruntled girlfriend who identified team-members to key people at the now defunct Griffin Detective Agency. Griffin maintained a database of cheaters and advantage players, erroneously making no distinctions between the two. With most of the team-members made, playing in the casinos quickly became untenable.

Some MIT counters moved on to different forms of gambling. Others found new businesses to succeed in and there are those who continued to plug away at blackjack. Chang falls into the latter camp. While he more or less remembers MIT’s biggest win – “As a team, it was $400,000 or $500,000 on a Super Bowl weekend” – Chang tries to keep from getting too hung up about his own short-term performance. “I don’t think about money in terms of what I can buy,” he said nonchalantly. “I’m just playing a game.”

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Over the years, we have poured tremendous time and resources into our 888casino blog. The world's most respected authorities on gaming routinely contribute their expert insights to our blog, with detailed casino guides, reviews, and behind-the-scenes coverage from the casino world. Our blog features critically-acclaimed writers, professors, and gambling experts. We keep things fresh with plenty of op-eds from our journalists and contributors, and we actively engage with fans on social media forums. Our blog has become the #1 go-to resource for players the world over. We take this responsibility seriously, and all of our content is thoroughly researched to ensure accuracy for our players. You can rest assured that if you read it on our blog, it's the best gambling education you will find anywhere online. We provide detailed insights, analysis, and commentary about the pros and cons of different games, the casino industry, and the impact of technological changes on gaming. We live by our words – ‘play responsibly and have a good time.’

A POWERFUL GAMING PLATFORM

888casino is continually pushing the boundaries of technological innovation. We hit the jackpot with Orbit, a powerful new casino platform which bolsters our product across multiple markets. Casino content is front and centre with an exciting array of bonuses and promotional offers tailored to our players everywhere, including niche markets. Among the many benefits of our brand-new gaming platform are an enhanced player experience, courtesy of a superior user interface and user experience. We have fused aesthetics and functionality, crafting a powerful product tailored to player expectations. It is much easier than ever before to modify content to meet the needs of our players in different markets. With Orbit, we can easily deploy all of our 888casino resources in new markets quickly and effectively.

So what can you expect as a player from 888casino? Fun and games galore! By the end of 2019, we anticipate a payload of 300+ more games for our players. That brings our game tally up to 650+ from a multi-vendor platform of providers. We have partnered with scores of world-class gaming providers including Skillzzgaming, NetEnt, Yggdrasil, Evolution Gaming, Playtech, Pragmatic Play, SG Digital, IGT and many others. This is great news for our players, since it brings loads of games to your screen and mega-money progressive jackpots to your fingertips. We are particularly proud of Section8, our in-house gaming studio which has been going strong for 2 decades. Our exciting gaming platform features an artificial intelligence recommendation engine which is geared towards an enhanced user experience. But don't take our word for it – register at 888casino today and explore the possibilities for yourself!

At 888 we have a lot of jackpots. As a courtesy, we like to call our players to congratulate them and answer any queries they might have. 

While every jackpot winner is a delight to speak to, this one was particularly heartening. 

Our winner lives in Kent, but is originally from East Africa. Rather down on his luck, E.Y was sleeping on his friend’s couch at the time that he hit the jackpot. 

So what happened?
E.Y opens a new account at 888, makes a £20 deposit to get an additional £50 bonus, and starts playing the slot-game, Millionaire Genie. 

Pretty quickly he finds himself up £80, but it’s a rollercoaster ride and he’s soon down again. At one stage he’s up £200, but Lady Luck is a fickle one. At £70, E.Y decides it’s time to cash-in.

But while walking the dog, he decides to give it just one more spin at £1.5 for good luck and… DING! DING! DING! 
JAAAACCKKKPOOTTTT!!!

At first the coin doesn’t drop. He merely receives a notification and clicks “OK”. But after checking his account balance, he sees he’s been credited with a jaw-dropping 2.9 MILLION POUNDS!

It all sinks in when seconds later he receives our call to confirm his win and to quickly guide him through the next steps. 

How will he spend it?
Overcome with relief and euphoria, E.Y tells us that he’s been volunteering at his local church’s homeless shelter. Inspired by its impact, he plans to open a similar charity, first in Kent and then in his hometown in East Africa. He also wants to invest in expanding opportunity in his local community back home, by opening a school and library there.

A few days later we gave him a follow-up call to confirm that the funds had hit his bank account. E.Y told us that he was surprised by how quickly the funds had gone through and thanked us for the support. “The follow up call and everything you do is superb…you make someone feel valued”.

Before thanking him for his time, we asked the player if he had any other plans for that day. He said he had to go somewhere, as he’d invited someone out for lunch. When we asked, he said it was a homeless chap he was treating to lunch.