Breaking Vegas (History Channel Documentary)

Analysis: "Breaking Vegas" (History Channel Documentary) This story is about group of brilliant students from MIT who were recruited to join a blackjack team that utilized statistics to beat the casino out of its money. This team visited the top casinos throughout the world, betting incredible sums of money and winning millions of dollars. While the team was able to utilize training, strategy and mental toughness to outwit the casino they had to overcome an aggressive security system that specifically designed to stop them. Still they had tremendous success by taking advantage of the elements within the game of blackjack and exploiting the nuances within the rules of the game. The group primarily utilized a technique called "card counting",
This technique allowed them to take advantage of the laws of probability to move the odds in favor of the player. Unlike games of chance like roulette where each spin is a unique instance where the odds are the same, blackjack hands provide odds that change depending on the previous round. This allows a player who can calculate the statistical chances of certain combinations of cards to have an edge when placing a bet. The edge becomes bigger as the round goes on as the card counter can predict what the next card will be. The MIT team utilized several different techniques that employed mathematics and communication to turn the odds and increase their chances. In order to share information with other team members to let them know which tables were “hot” the players utilized various hand signals and body language in a similar fashion as a coach in a baseball game. These signals are an example of communication techniques that we might learn in a speech class in terms of the types of body
The mental pressure was compounded by their having to hide their identities and remain unnoticed at the same time they were concentrating on counting multiple decks of cards. Another interesting point of note is that the gaming industry utilized actuaries to formulate anti card counting strategies and change the rules of the game to favor the house. It was also amazing how much the team did win when you consider that the casinos have the advantage of using the law of large numbers which says that the house will never lose as they have an infinite amount of money to outlast even the luckiest players. With all the tricks and planning that was depicted in the movie and were solidly based on the study of probabilities, and sequential game concepts it turned out that the house still has the advantages to beat most tactics. The unlimited financial resources combined with the ability to change the rules to reduce the edge of the player as well as utilizing legalities which may prohibit a player’s ability to turn the odds to their advantage after a losing streak have greatly neutralized black jack teams like the one put together