MIT Students

[Shaman]

Why do people tend to make a big deal about MIT students that gamble (blackjack, poker)? There are books about them and by them, and there are TV documentaries about them. Are they really that advanced in math (or is it engineering)?

You never hear about "Harvard MBAs" or "Stanford engineering students" that broke the bank in Las Vegas.

[slickpoppa]

Since MIT students can't laid, they have to shameless promote themselves as being smarter than everyone else.

[KidParty]

Agreed...They promote themselves as whiz kids in math...In reality what they do can be taught to a monkey and if the monkey takes the time to study and pratice for hours every day he/she will be good at it...The MIT team was successful because they had many players who allowed the team to get into the "long run" faster and a huge bankroll to get through the huge swings....Card counting, Ace location, Ace/ten cuts, shuffle tracking are powerful ways to play blackjack....The only reason the casinos cooperate with the shows about the MIT teams is so it makes them look like they can only be beat by geniuses...If any of you have ever worked for a Vegas casino you would know that todays casino get rid of the smart employess first so pretty much anyone could pull one over on them today.

[zaxx19]

Ya, I dont get it....

Apparently MIT undergrads and Chess masters could easily be winning 300-600 players with 6 months of play according to half this board... Kinda silly.

[kenberman]

[ QUOTE ]
Why do people tend to make a big deal about MIT students that gamble (blackjack, poker)? There are books about them and by them, and there are TV documentaries about them. Are they really that advanced in math (or is it engineering)?

You never hear about "Harvard MBAs" or "Stanford engineering students" that broke the bank in Las Vegas.

[/ QUOTE ]

are you asking why no TV producer/writer has talked about this yet? probably b/c they don't know of any true stories yet.

also, MIT has 'sexy' name when it comes to math, in the eyes of the general population. more than any other US university.

[ttleistdci]

As a side note...I'm reading "Bringing Down the House" (the book about the MIT blackjack team). Pretty good book.

[mojorisin24]

That's a great book

[Shaman]

Were they math students or engineering students?

[mmbt0ne]

I have a shirt that says "MIT, The Georgia Tech of the North."

[srblan]

I believe that there was a mix of many types of students on the MIT Blackjack teams and even a few non-students if memory serves. To answer your original question, the reason that the MIT Blackjack teams got so much TV time is the level of organization that they had and that they were so well financed. Everyone likes a good spy/detective story, so theirs made for compelling TV.

[felson]

I always thought it was because MIT graduates are smarter than everyone else. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[RiverTheNuts]

Nah, just lonlier