Movie ‘21’ Helped Bringing the Concept of Card Counting for Blackjack to the General Public

At the height of the popularity of a system called card counting for blackjack, the practice was only known to a few people and groups. Group members of the MIT Blackjack Team (and its other splinter groups), statisticians and eager enthusiasts were the only individuals who were in the system and the idea of beating the dealer. But with the publication of many books focused on the best ways to learn how to count cards, the idea of card counting slowly became popular. And the popularity of this blackjack strategy reached greater heights when a number of films were made that were inspired by the system and the exploits of many who want to beat the blackjack dealer. One popular film made that was influenced by the exploits of the MIT Blackjack team was ‘21’, a 2008 American movie that starred Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth.

21 Movie Trailer

From University Classrooms to Blackjack Tables

The film tells the story of a young university student aspiring to snag a medical school scholarship who was invited to join a team of students who are into card counting for blackjack. The members of the group are trained to know the best tricks on how to count cards black jack and work as a team in order to get the best winnings. In the movie, the system of card counting explained in great detail the process of tracking the values of the cards that have been dealt and the remaining values of the cards still available in the deck. In mastering the ways on how to count cards in blackjack, the idea is to act on an opportunity when there is a high concentration of high cards of cards bearing 10s and aces.  The group is normally divided into two- the ‘spotters’ who do the actual counting and the ‘big players’ who provide large wagers as soon as the count on the blackjack table as soon as the count becomes favorable.

The release of the film may not be well-received by the critics but it brought card counting into mainstream consciousness.


Reference:

1. 21 (2008 Film) at Wikipedia
2. Card Counting at Wikipedia
3. Card Counting Training at CardCountingTrainer.com