Delving into the seemingly "seedy" side of card counting appealed to me because it was a subject that could ultimately make me my fortune. I had always heard the term "counting cards" and people being asked to leave casinos for doing exactly that. There was an air of mystery and illicitness surrounding the entire subject that piqued my interest, especially after making contact over the internet with a person called "The GameMaster" while researching this subject. However, after doing more research I realized that there really wasn't as much mystery as there was mathematic theory and applications in card counting. I admit, this took a bit of the appealing seediness out of it, but it was interesting to try to understand the concepts all the same. I still may win my fortune yet!
The history of card counting is not completely documented, but all literature pointed to Dr. Edward Thorpe as an early reliable source.
A blackjack game in progress
Beat the Dealer by Ed Thorp, 1966 edition
card game BlackjackDr. Thorpe was a professor at MIT and later an adjunct professor of finance and mathematics at the University of California at Irvine. In reading from the "About the Author" section of his book entitled "The Mathematics of Gambling", I was able to ascertain the little personal information about him I could find. Dr. Thorpe showed an interest as early as graduate school at UCLA in figuring out the probabilities involved in gambling. In his book, there were tips on how to gamble on just about every game in a casino. It appears as though his theories are well thought out and tested, but he does not share any esteemed respect among his peers. This may have something to do with his subject matter. It was surprising that so little personal information appears anywhere regarding this interesting individual. At the present time, I am...