In the world of blackjack, there have been several card counting teams assembled. However, none has been better known that the MIT Blackjack Team. The MIT Team is by far the most infamous of card counting teams in the history of blackjack.
The MIT Blackjack Team traces its roots to a course that was taught at MIT called “How to Gamble if you Must.” The course taught the students how to take calculated and educated risks in games such as blackjack. The original class was taught by instructors such as J.P. Massar, Bruce Cottman, Don Priori, and Roger Demaree. A few of the instructors and some of the students who were enrolled in this course took a trip to Atlantic City in 1979 to put the teachings to the test.
In 1980, the MIT Team went back to Atlantic City and was led by Roger Demaree, JP Massar. Their intention was to play blackjack and exploit the ruling by the New Jersey State Supreme Court that prevented casinos from banning card counters. The team took on investors and recruited players from MIT, as well as from the blackjack world and they began playing on an initial $89K bankroll. It took the team around ten weeks to double their bankroll.
The MIT Team grew to over thirty players during the 80’s and took on players and backers such as Bill Kaplan, as well as John Chang. The team based their strategy on Blackjack Hall of Fame member Al Francesco’s writings, as well as the writings of Ken Uston, who is yet another Blackjack Hall of Fame member.
In the early 90’s, the team focused on raising capital and reforming the team. During this era, Kaplan, Massar, and Chang formed a limited partnership in Massachusetts called Strategic Investments, which raised over $1 million dollars. The limited partnership was formed quite similar to that of a standard real estate investment company and allowed the MIT team to grow to over 80 players in size. Additionally, this expansion allowed the MIT Blackjack Team to branch out so that they could play in casinos both within and outside of Atlantic City. However, many of the casinos became wise to the tactics that the MIT Team implemented and as a result, they began banning members of the team from playing blackjack in their casinos. To attempt to remain a step ahead of the casinos, new players were brought in from MIT, as well as Harvard.
