MIT Team
In blackjack history there was one group that had almost been legendary and is still remembered today for
their achievements in the field. Determined to beat the casinos, the group revolutionized the concept of
blackjack by using one simple strategy, card counting. Here is how the famous MIT Black jack
team originated.
The story began with….
It all started when MIT introduced a short term course in the college titled “How to gamble if you
must” in the year 1979. Several students living in MIT’s dorm at that time were already keenly playing
poker regularly in their rooms and decided to attend the course to learn more about blackjack.
The course was geared at teaching students how to play the game and the concept of counting cards. The group
of students who attended the course decided to put together a team to test the theory and see how it paid off
in the real world. This group travelled to Atlantic City that same year and tried the luck. However, they
failed miserably even though they used card counting techniques.
Who was the first?
On graduation, the group parted ways and only two members from the original group were still keenly
interested in the game. Later the same year, one of the original members of the group, J.P. Massar was
contacted by a gambler who was only known as Dave. At that time a new rule had recently been
passed which made it illegal for the casinos to bar players using card counting techniques. Dave and Massar
decided to take advantage of this new development.
They put together a new team and found an investor who chipped in an investment of $5,000. The group of four
travelled again to Atlantic City to try their luck again. However, they were lucky this time and earned a good
profit. The team then decided to expand their operations and offered their own course in MIT on card counting
techniques in hopes of recruiting more players.
First success
The team was successful in getting new members for their team and travelled a number of times through the
next year. For the next few months they travelled regularly to Atlantic City. During the time the team was
successful in making a few earnings on their weekend trips. However, there were many ups and downs and not all
members were able to handle the pressure. The results at the tables were never consistent and many players got
frustrated with it. The interest of the new recruits slowly dwindled and most of them left the group.
Things changed for the group again when Massar met Bill Kaplan in 1980. Kaplan had graduated from Harvard in
1977 in Business and had been running his own blackjack team for three years in Las Vegas. After graduation he
had moved to Las Vegas and had used his graduation money as investments on which he had already won substantial
profits in a very short amount of time.
When Kaplan and Massar put together their own team, things changed drastically for them and the glorious
years of victory started for MIT’s Blackjack team.
Famous Members
MIT Blackjack Team knew how to play and knew how to win at the game. The group of
college students walked away with millions of dollars from casinos in Vegas over the years due to their
skills. They developed a careful strategy and mastered their skills, which allowed them to count cards and
win money each time. It took years of practice and careful training for the MIT members to excel at card
counting.
Several MIT members have since then become very popular.
J.P. Massar
J.P. Massar had been the founding member of the legendary MIT Blackjack Team.
Massar was a member of the first ever team from MIT that had used the card counting technique in a group
format to earn profits at the casinos in Atlantic City.
Bill Kaplan
Bill Kaplan had been managing his own team for three years before he met Massar
from the original MIT Team. Bill Kaplan was the man who turned around the team’s fate by introducing
various strategies and team management techniques in the MIT Blackjack Team.
Mike Aponte
Mike Aponte had never been interested in card games until he attended MIT and
learnt about the MIT Blackjack Team. Mike was soon hooked and quickly became one of the most successful
members of the MIT team.
Dave Irvine
David Irvine, or as he is popularly known, Dave Irvine was a member of the famous MIT
Blackjack Team. He had been a member of the same team as Mike Aponte. The team had won millions of dollars
at casinos all over US and even abroad during their career.
Semyon Dukach
Semyon Dukach had been a member of the MIT Blackjack Team and a professional blackjack
player. He had been featured in the books Bringing down the house and Busting Vegas, and the only player to
be referred to by his real name in the book.
Johnny Chang
Johnny Chang was a member of the famous MIT Blackjack Team. He was also one of the very
few members that had been a part of the team from beginning to end. Johnny Chang has also received the
honor of being included in the Blackjack Hall of Fame.