vpFREE2 Forums

History Channel Show Last Night

#1

It sounds as if the reality you describe is at variance with the book. For example, what seemed least likely to me was the claim that these players flew in on most weekends, Royally comped even though their play didn't warrant it (most were "spotters" making minimum bets and the "big players" played high stakes but for minimal time) and then flew home for their Monday morning Chem Lab. Sharing an small house is more in line with how a real pro would play.
Additionally, the author claimed that these players had an average edge of 12% over the house. It's been a while since I played BJ but I looked up to see when the player has a 12% edge. It occurs only when the count is astronomically high. Like plus 50. I've got no data on this but in several years of playing, I never saw a count that high.
The principle players allegedly had up to ten complete sets of IDs including drivers licenses and real credit cards and credit lines for each of their personae. Real credit for make believe people? Was it supposed to be MIT or CIA?
I've no doubt your roommate was the real McCoy. I just don't think he was the one described in the book. Nor was any other real person. The author is Ben Mezrich. I think "Mezrich" translates to "Rather" in Lithuanian.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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-------------- Original message --------------

I moved to Las Vegas in '95 initially sharing an apartment with a
fellow professional gambler (VP,sports,promotions,etc).
He left LV in '97 and I needed a new roomate. I ended up sharing a
small house with one of the MIT team members and his
Asian girlfriend. Shortly after we became roomates the MIT team was
shut down. I don't recall his ever having spoken
specifically about how much the team made, but do recall that it was
more than my entire net worth then or now!

He ended up playing poker for a living for a couple of years before
gaining more 'respectable' employment.

This fellow was very smart, well educated and to my knowledge, not
prone to exaggeration. I have no reason not to believe his tale!

#2

Maybe "Ben" is "Dan" in Lithuanian too!!

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--- chiefvrwc@comcast.net wrote:

-------------- Original message --------------

> I moved to Las Vegas in '95 initially sharing an
apartment with a
> fellow professional gambler
(VP,sports,promotions,etc).
> He left LV in '97 and I needed a new roomate. I
ended up sharing a
> small house with one of the MIT team members and
his
> Asian girlfriend. Shortly after we became roomates
the MIT team was
> shut down. I don't recall his ever having spoken
> specifically about how much the team made, but do
recall that it was
> more than my entire net worth then or now!
>
> He ended up playing poker for a living for a
couple of years before
> gaining more 'respectable' employment.
>
> This fellow was very smart, well educated and to
my knowledge, not
> prone to exaggeration. I have no reason not to
believe his tale!
>

It sounds as if the reality you describe is at
variance with the book. For example, what seemed
least likely to me was the claim that these players
flew in on most weekends, Royally comped even though
their play didn't warrant it (most were "spotters"
making minimum bets and the "big players" played
high stakes but for minimal time) and then flew home
for their Monday morning Chem Lab. Sharing an small
house is more in line with how a real pro would
play.
Additionally, the author claimed that these players
had an average edge of 12% over the house. It's been
a while since I played BJ but I looked up to see
when the player has a 12% edge. It occurs only when
the count is astronomically high. Like plus 50. I've
got no data on this but in several years of playing,
I never saw a count that high.
The principle players allegedly had up to ten
complete sets of IDs including drivers licenses and
real credit cards and credit lines for each of their
personae. Real credit for make believe people? Was
it supposed to be MIT or CIA?
I've no doubt your roommate was the real McCoy. I
just don't think he was the one described in the
book. Nor was any other real person. The author is
Ben Mezrich. I think "Mezrich" translates to
"Rather" in Lithuanian.

[Non-text portions of this message have been
removed]

#3
#4

It sounds as if the reality you describe is at variance with the

book. For example, what seemed least likely to me was the claim that
these players flew in on most weekends, Royally comped even though
their play didn't warrant it (most were "spotters" making minimum
bets and the "big players" played high stakes but for minimal time)
and then flew home for their Monday morning Chem Lab. Sharing an
small house is more in line with how a real pro would play.

Additionally, the author claimed that these players had an average

edge of 12% over the house. It's been a while since I played BJ but I
looked up to see when the player has a 12% edge. It occurs only when
the count is astronomically high. Like plus 50. I've got no data on
this but in several years of playing, I never saw a count that high.

The principle players allegedly had up to ten complete sets of IDs

including drivers licenses and real credit cards and credit lines for
each of their personae. Real credit for make believe people? Was it
supposed to be MIT or CIA?

I've no doubt your roommate was the real McCoy. I just don't think

he was the one described in the book. Nor was any other real person.
The author is Ben Mezrich. I think "Mezrich" translates to "Rather"
in Lithuanian.

First of all, the TV show WAS based on the book ... comments from Ben
Mezrich where included in the show. But there was no reference to a
12% edge. I agree, that's too high. Instead, the show emphasized
the importance of the "law of large numbers" ... that to win you need
a team playing tens of thousands of games over a long period. In
fact, on some weekends they lost a bundle, but overall were net
winners. Also, the show did not mention fake ID's, although it said
disguises were used quite often, to foil the security people. But
that didn't work well because disguises are easy to spot.

I got the impression the huge comps went to the big winners. The
casino did not want him/her to leave until they had a chance to get
their money back.

After 12-18 months they had a long losing streak and most of profits
washed away, plus people started getting ousted as "card counters".
So the team eventually disbanded for a variety of reasons. However,
one part of the original team, a Russian MIT student, then founded a
new team with "improved" rules (profit distribution rules)and huge
profits were made over the next 2 years, until it also was
disbanded. I think this second team included the couple who were
roommates with the poster because the dates he mentioned jibe with
the timeframe of the second team (not discussed in any detail).

The show emphasized the preparation and training of these players ...
weeks of lab practice before they set foot in a casino ... and that
they were MIT people with greater math skills than the average joe.
The guy who trained them was obviously extremely skilled. He has
moved to New Zealand doing computer related work. Are there any
casinos in New Zealand?

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, chiefvrwc@c... wrote: