Many card counting histories attribute the invention of card counting to Ed Thorp, which is fair. He did invent the “modern” method of counting cards. However, Thorp himself mentioned in his book “Beat the Dealer” several gamblers who were beating the casinos with various crude card counting methods. These gamblers were system players, but it is unclear how successful they were, as Thorp did not provide much detail. Nevertheless, Ed Thorp’s book is the first and most significant example of a mathematically proven card counting strategy to beat the house, and it is still in print today. Almost all advantage blackjack players recommend owning and reading a copy of it.
In the early 1960s, John Scarne was considered the leading gambling authority globally. He had addressed blackjack strategy in his book “Scarne’s Guide to Casino Gambling,” but Thorp criticized some of the advice as mathematically incorrect. Thorp and Scarne had a bit of a rivalry, but both contributed significantly to the literature on advantage gambling.
Vegas casinos were terrified of Thorp’s methods and made some changes to blackjack rules throughout the city. They eliminated the option of splitting aces, which was a significant blow to players. They also only allowed players to double down on a total of 11. Some well-publicized challenges between Thorp, Scarne, and the casinos generated news, but no one ever accepted anyone’s challenges for various reasons.
Casinos began implementing countermeasures to prevent card counters from gaining an edge throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The most common countermeasure then was to increase the number of decks in play. Games with 2 and 4 decks were considered harsh, but now 6 and 8 deck shoes are more or less the standard.
Another development that would matter to the advantage of the blackjack community was the rise of the Griffin Agency. They were a private investigations company that put together a book of mug shots of known gambling cheats. They eventually included known card counters in these books, called The Griffin Book. They once made a fortune selling their services to casinos, but the company has become defunct.
During these few decades, various teams have engaged in this type of advantage play, too. One of the most well-known groups is the MIT Blackjack Team, which is not a single team. In fact, it is several, and there have been several incarnations through the years. Counting cards has even been the subject of court cases.
In New Jersey, the courts have ruled that since counting cards is not illegal, the casinos have no right to bar players suspected of counting. Atlantic City responded by increasing their countermeasures. You will not find anything less than an 8 deck game there, and most games use a continuous shuffling machine, which makes counting impossible.
