- Sunday, 15 November 2009
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A processcor is the brian of the computator - Tamealian on ze Kave
Card counting Iphone app gets Vegas in a flap
CALIFORNIAN GAMING AUTHORITIES have tipped the wink to their colleagues in Las Vegas about a number of card counting programs currently available from the Apple App Store.
The applications, some of which are free, are advertised as training aids, but the gaming police say that they could be used to tip the odds in the favour of punters if undetected.
Card counting drastically increases the odds of predicting the outcome of any given hand of blackjack by accurately guessing the likelihood of a high value card being dealt from a multiple deck shoe. The technique, which involves assigning simple values to 'good' and 'bad' cards, was originally developed by an MIT maths professor who made a small fortune teaching some of his brighter students how to skew the odds.
The technique itself is not illegal, and gaming houses have largely eradicated the problem by using more and more decks of cards in a Blackjack shoe, but using a device to count cards is illegal and very much frowned upon by the large gentleman in a monkey suit looking over your shoulder.
A memo distributed by the Gaming Control Board to Las Vegas casinos has warned security teams to be on the lookout for people sneakily using Iphones or Ipod Touches in 'Stealth Mode' which lets the application do its thing even though the screen is blanked out as long as you know where the virtual keys are on the display.
A spokesman said that it was up to individual casinos to decide how to deal with the threat but it is likely that a blanket ban on electronic devices at gaming tables will bring an end to the underhand electronic jiggery pokery.
Mobile phones are currently banned from most championship poker games but music players are still allowed. µ
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If you had read anything on the subject, you wouldn't have made a fool of yourself by reporting wrong facts.
Adding more decks to the game was thought to combat card counting, but it just changes the standard deviation somewhat, while the overall outcome remains the same. That fact was established somewhere in the early 60's.
Then came playing with multiple decks while only playing half the available cards. That was though to eradicate the accuracy of predictions, because if you really counted all the cards, you'd know with 100% certainty what the last card is, 50% what the last 2 cards are, etc.. Didn't help either.
Nowadays, (house winning) blackjack tables play with multiple decks and immediately shuffle the cards (using a shuffling machine) back into the game after every play. It's virtually impossible to win against the casino without really cheating.
I've never read that Ed. Thorpe, the MIT professor your writing coerces to, taught his students how to win at the game and made them a fortune or whatever. The dude just wrote a book on the subject and made his fortune that way.
You seem to have mixed up his life in the 50's and 60's with the events involving card counting taking place in the 90's at MIT, or at least involving mostly MIT students.
Maybe you're like rain man and have other talents than factual reporting?
Try you luck at the tables!
@Vijay
He may have made a mistake in the reporting however, why do you have to act like a pompous buffoon and deliver your closing tactless remarks?
aNYBODY WHO CAN AFFORD AN iPHONE dESRVES TO BE fLEECED AT gREYjACK. i knOW i KNOW.
@Mark
Boo, hoo, hoo.
If a vendor is lying to the public, then it's the Inquirer's job to give them a spanking. If the Inquirer is lying to the public, then it's the public's job to give the Inquirer a spanking (and a good opportunity for the vendors to retaliate).
Do you actually having anything factual to contribute, or did you just want to call people names because you don't really have anything else to say?
"Genetic junk is normally a part of a genome. With Mark, we're witnessing an entire entity made out of genetic junk."
At least I didn't call you a pompous buffon.
"Wrong facts": what are they?
Well, I've never met Vijay, but what an arrogant person he seems to be. Someone should watch over your shoulder and tune down your writing ecstasy. I bet you make a great manager somewhere, because you know you're always right.
Undereducated people who have nothing to contribute tend to see people with knowledge as arrogant.
And you're right. I'd never hire you or otherwise fire you on the spot. Like many, you have nothing to contribute and only complain about your coworkers which corresponds nicely with aforementioned genetic junk.
There's always a position available as a black jack dealer. Thorp named his book "Beat the Dealer", which would seem appropriate for you as you seem to prefer being on the receiving end.
So what were you saying about Black Jack? Right, nothing.
i, like many, love your sharp sense of humour and advanced intelligence
i'm glad, nay delighted, you took the time to write in the first instance *AND* had the tenacity to respond in the second / third!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK FELLA :-)))