We created a list of 10 blackjack movies that you can watch at any time. How did we do that? We found all films with blackjack scenes in them and picked the ones that can teach us something about 21 or the casino life. We combined our selection with the viewers’ rating and the result is best blackjack movies. We are sure that you will see at least one of your favourite blackjack film would have made it to this list. Check the titles and feel free to binge-watch the movies. We surely will do that after work.

Here are Our Top 10 Blackjack Movies Titles

Games including Download Movie 21 Blackjackpoker, casino, and bingo. To prevent fraud and to protect the real money gamblers in the UK, the Gambling Commission was established Download Movie 21 Blackjackin 2005. This commission is the sole body able to issue licenses to real money online Download Movie 21 Blackjackgambling websites. Another top online casino that you can try out in Australia is Joe Fortune.Efficient customer support, player-friendly bonuses, Free Casino Movie and a great mobile experience make it a great option for Australians. Joe Fortune has been in the casino industry and has proved its. The casino scenes are more realistic than usual, though the drama is a bit over the top and the dramatic license is pretty loose. Indeed, John Chang, a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame and the real-life character played, ostensibly, by Spacey, says, “The book got about half of it right and the movie.

21 (2008)

Ever since 2008, there has not been a conversation about gambling and especially blackjack 21 movies without mentioning the title “21”. The combination of crime, drama, and history that will tell you the story of six MIT students who decided to make money. No, there was no work in the fast-food industry or car washing. They grabbed the big cash from many Vegas casinos by learning how to count cards.

If you are a true movie lover and an enthusiastic gambler, then you should definitely check this movie out. It reveals you another aspect of the gambling world that you can think upon.

Las Vegas (2003–2008)

Las Vegas enters our blackjack movies list for three reasons. First, because there are so many episodes showing blackjack tables and games, making the TV series practically a tutorial. Second, because it is an incredible TV series that showed the world of gambling from beginners to high-stake rollers. And third, because it is an incredible TV show that every player in the LA casinos to New Jersey online casinos and all over the world love.

In Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas you can win and do anything you want. Just don’t try to steal from the casino, or you will meet Ed Deline’s surveillance team.

The Gambler III (2014)

Mark Wahlberg and Jessica Lange take the lead in The Gambler III (2014). This is one of our blackjack movies offers that will leave you wanting to learn how to win big. Mark Wahlberg is a gambler owning a lot of money to his mother, loan sharks, and almost anyone else. His only chance to return to the boring life of a literature professor is to have a lucky break at the tables.

The mix of crime, drama and thriller is the best combination that will dive you in a parallel reality, where gambling is the main focus of the existential point of view.

Casino (1995)

The master director Martin Scorsese and the incredible Robert De Niro combine experience and knowledge to create the masterpiece blackjack film Casino (1995). The movie shows the life of a great gambling expert Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro), who is asked to oversee all activities and operations at a casino in Las Vegas. Sam’s life gets full of personal drama, love, and troubles with the mafia as he increases the casino’s profits.

This gambling classic is a perfect depiction of the world of gambling in its most controversial years.

Blackjack Tutorials

We wish to make your beginners steps or perfecting of players’ skills easier by listing every movie about blackjack there is. Unfortunately, that would be close to impossible because there are hundreds of books, movies, and one-on-one sessions on playing blackjack. Our advice is for you to read and watch a few clips on YouTube in official channels like Blackjack Apprenticeship and wikiHow. Remember that it is always best to see how it is done, before jumping into the deep water.

Rain Man (1988)

Another one of the classic blackjack 21 movies is Rain Man (1988). Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise are brothers who must cross the country together to settle the issues about the estate left by their deceased parents. The older brother Raymond Babbitt (Dustin Hoffman) was sent to a mental institution by his parents when they suspect that he tried to hurt his younger brother Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise).

During the trip, Charlie understands that this was a misunderstanding and gets close to his brother. Their trip has many stops and one of the most exciting and profitable ones is in Las Vegas. Raymond shows his talent to count cards while Charlie uses this chance to increase the profits for both of them.

The Hangover (2009)

Our blackjack 21 movie list can’t go without a comedy title. The Hangover (2009) describes the amazing night of three friends who celebrate the bachelors’ party of their groom-to-be friend. The night starts well, but the morning is a disaster. The groom is missing, the Vegas hotel apartment is destroyed, and there is a tiger in their bathroom.

The three friends spend the day tracing their steps back from the previous night. The easiest task was to return the tiger to his owner. Then they had to give hundreds of dollars to the mafia as a ransom for their friend. They got the amount by playing blackjack in a Vegas casino. The mafia got their money, but the kidnapped person was not their friend. The three men were on square one, and the wedding had to start in a few hours. Now what? Spoiler alert: there are two happy weddings in this comedy.

Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)

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Danny Ocean and his friends gave us a different point of view of the casino world. Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) is a movie about blackjack because it shows ways to cheat and beat the system of the most popular casino table and slot games. The heist of a 5 Diamond hotel and casino allows them to get the big cash while allowing all players in the casino to win. The incredible abilities of Ocean’s team prove that the house does not always win.

This is a very interesting action-comedy that will be perfect for those who like to have fun while watching movies.

The Cooler (2003)

The Cooler (2003) is a unique blackjack 21 movie. The romantic comedy shows the life of Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) who is hired by a casino to bring bad luck to the players. Bernie’s special ability helps the casino to keep its money but makes him miserable. Everything changes when the cooler meets love. Suddenly, his happiness spreads over the players of the casino, and they start winning. Is it time for Bernie to step away from the blackjack tables and start a new life? Watch and see.

If you are more of a table game lover and blackjack is your passion, then this movie is definitely worth watching.

Croupier (1998)

What does a writer do when his book can’t pay the bills? He gets a job, and that is why Jack Manfred, an aspiring writer, becomes a croupier. His employment met him with new friends, filled his pockets with cash, and helped him with ideas for his book. The croupier Jack will show you the casino world from the perspective of the low-level employees who are just trying to make a living until something better comes their way. In the process, you may pick a few blackjack tips he generously shares with the audience.

Gamblers’ Personal Stories

Every gambler’s personal story is worthy of a casino-themed poker or a blackjack film. There are books, news reports, documentaries, and instructional videos that show the personal success or downfalls of many gamblers. They all can teach us tricks of the trade and help us improve our playing skills. The personal stories also serve as a warning on how the great fall when the gambling thirst takes over the sober judgement. Our advice is to learn from the best but avoid making their mistakes.

Best Blackjack Movies FAQ

We all love the threill of the big winnings. There are incredible movies dedicated to all sorts of casino and gambling games. In this article, we showed you the top 10 blackjack movies. Now we will answer questions that show up while we watch a 21-themed film.

🃏 What are blackjack movies?

A blackjack movie is every film and documentary that shows the game of 21 or any of its variations. Every movie about blackjack as a different focus on the game. You can even find films that show tutorials on blackjack and how to cheat to win like in 21 (2008).

✨ Are there Blackjack TV series besides the blackjack movies?

Yes. There are many TV series showing blackjack and other casino and gambling games. The fan favourite and a total classic in the genre isLas Vegas (2003–2008) TV series. The life and work in a casino are shown from the point of view of the employees and the customers.

🤑 What are the most grossing blackjack movies?

The profit made by the movies proves their popularity amongst the people. The highest grossing movie currently is Avengers: Endgame $2,797,800,564. Looking at our top blackjack 21 movies list the first place goes to The Hangover (2009) with $469,310,836. Rain Man (1988) comes second and Ocean’s thirteen (2007) is third with $311,312,624.

💎 Why is Ocean’s 13 a blackjack movie?

We have seen Danny Ocean's team show their wit, knowledge, and skills. Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) is a blackjack 21 movie because it shows us how to beat the casino by cheating and tilting the odds in your favour. We don't say that they are good people, but they surely made the real bad guy cry.

🧐 Can I learn how to play 21 by watching blackjack movies?

Movies with gambling themeс show the game, and sometimes players share a tip or two. In Croupier (1998) or 21 (2008) you learn how to play and count cards. There are also blackjack film, tutorial videos, infographics, and books. Don't skip gamblers personal stories because they can teach you tricks you can't read in a book.

The MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students and ex-students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and other leading colleges who used card counting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casinos at blackjack worldwide. The team and its successors operated successfully from 1979 through the beginning of the 21st century. Many other blackjack teams have been formed around the world with the goal of beating the casinos.

Blackjack and card counting[edit]

Blackjack can be legally beaten by a skilled player. Beyond the basic strategy of when to hit and when to stand, individual players can use card counting, shuffle tracking, or hole carding to improve their odds. Since the early 1960s, a large number of card counting schemes have been published, and casinos have adjusted the rules of play in an attempt to counter the most popular methods. The idea behind all card counting is that, because a low card is usually bad and a high card usually good, and as cards already seen since the last shuffle cannot be at the top of the deck and thus drawn, the counter can determine the high and low cards that have already been played. They thus know the probability of getting a high card (10,J,Q,K,A) as compared to a low card (2,3,4,5,6).

In 1979, six MIT students and residents of the Burton-Conner House at MIT taught themselves card-counting. They traveled to Atlantic City during the spring break to win their fortune. The group went their separate ways when most of them graduated in May of that year. Most never gambled again, but some of them maintained an avid interest in card counting and remained in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two of them, J.P. Massar and Jonathan, offered a course on blackjack for MIT's January, 1980 Independent Activities Period (IAP), during which classes may be offered on almost any subject.

First MIT blackjack 'bank'[edit]

In late November 1979, Dave, a professional blackjack player contacted one of the card-counting students, J.P. Massar, after seeing a notice for the blackjack course. He proposed forming a new group to go to Atlantic City to take advantage of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission's recent ruling that made it illegal for the Atlantic City casinos to ban card counters. Casinos instead have to take other countermeasures like shuffling the cards earlier than normal, using more decks of cards, or offering games with worse rules to destroy the advantage gained by counting—even though these all negatively impact the non-counter as well.^[1]

The group of four players, a professional gambler, and an investor who put up most of their capital ($5,000), went to Atlantic City in late December. They recruited more MIT students as players at the January blackjack class. They played intermittently through May 1980 and increased their capital four-fold, but were nonetheless more like a loose group sharing capital than a team with consistent strategies and quality control.

'Mr. M' meets Bill Kaplan[edit]

In May 1980, J. P. Massar, known as 'Mr. M' in the History Channel documentary, overheard a conversation about professional blackjack at a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge. He introduced himself to the speaker, Bill Kaplan, a 1980 Harvard MBA graduate who had run a successful blackjack team in Las Vegas three years earlier. Kaplan had earned his BA at Harvard in 1977 and delayed his admission to Harvard Business School for a year, when he moved to Las Vegas and formed a team of blackjack players using his own research and statistical analysis of the game. Using funds he received on graduation as Harvard's outstanding scholar-athlete, Kaplan generated more than a 35 fold rate of return in fewer than nine months of play.^[2]

Kaplan continued to run his Las Vegas blackjack team as a sideline while attending Harvard Business School but, by the time of his graduation in May 1980, the players were so 'burnt out' in Nevada they were forced to hit the international circuit. Not feeling he could continue to manage the team successfully while they traveled throughout Europe and elsewhere, encountering different rules, playing conditions, and casino practices, Kaplan parted ways with his teammates, who then splintered into multiple small playing teams in pursuit of more favorable conditions throughout the world.

Kaplan observes Massar and friends in action[edit]

After meeting Kaplan and hearing about his blackjack successes, Massar asked Kaplan if he was interested in going with a few of Massar's blackjack-playing friends to Atlantic City to observe their play. Given the fortuitous timing (Kaplan's parting with his Las Vegas team), he agreed to go in the hopes of putting together a new local team that he could train and manage.

Kaplan observed Massar and his teammates playing for a weekend in Atlantic City. He noted that each of the players used a different, and overcomplicated, card counting strategy. This resulted in error rates that undermined the benefits of the more complicated strategies. Upon returning to Cambridge, Kaplan detailed the problems he observed to Massar.

Kaplan capitalizes a new team[edit]

Kaplan said he would back a team but it had to be run as a business with formal management procedures, a required counting and betting system, strict training and player approval processes, and careful tracking of all casino play. A couple of the players were initially averse to the idea. They had no interest in having to learn a new playing system, being put through 'trial by fire' checkout procedures before being approved to play, being supervised in the casinos, or having to fill out detailed player sheets (such as casino, cash in and cash out totals, time period, betting strategy and limits, and the rest) for every playing session. However, their keen interest in the game coupled with Kaplan's successful track record won out.

The newly capitalised 'bank' of the MIT Blackjack Team started on 1 August 1980. The investment stake was $89,000, with both outside investors and players putting up the capital. Ten players, including Kaplan, Massar, Jonathan, Goose, and 'Big Dave' (aka 'coach', to distinguish from the Dave in the first round) played on this bank. Ten weeks later they more than doubled the original stake. Profits per hour played at the tables were $162.50, statistically equivalent to the projected rate of $170/hour detailed in the investor offering prospectus. Per the terms of the investment offering, players and investors split the profits with players paid in proportion to their playing hours and computer simulated win rates. Over the ten-week period of this first bank, players, mostly undergraduates, earned an average of over $80/hour while investors achieved an annualized return in excess of 250%.

Strategy and techniques[edit]

The team often recruited students through flyers and the players' friends from college campuses across the country. The team tested potential members to find out if they were suitable candidates and, if they were, the team thoroughly trained the new members for free. Fully trained players had to pass an intense 'trial by fire,' consisting of playing through 8 six-deck shoes with almost perfect play, and then undergo further training, supervision, and similar check-outs in actual casino play until they could become full stakes players.

The group combined individual play with a team approach of counters and big players to maximize opportunities and disguise the betting patterns that card counting produces. In a 2002 interview in Blackjack Forum magazine,^[3] John Chang, an MIT undergrad who joined the team in late 1980 (and became MIT team co-manager in the mid-1980s and 1990s), reported that, in addition to classic card counting and blackjack team techniques, at various times the group used advanced shuffle and ace tracking techniques. While the MIT team's card counting techniques can give players an overall edge of about 2 percent, some of the MIT team's methods have been established as gaining players an overall edge of about 4 percent.^{[citation needed]} In his interview, Chang reported that the MIT team had difficulty attaining such edges in actual play, and their overall results had been best with straight card counting.

The MIT Team's approach was originally developed by Al Francesco, elected by professional gamblers as one of the original seven inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Blackjack team play was first written about by Ken Uston, an early member of Al Francesco's teams. Uston's book on blackjack team play, Million Dollar Blackjack, was published shortly before the founding of the first MIT team. Kaplan enhanced Francesco's team methods and used them for the MIT team. The team concept enabled players and investors to leverage both their time and money, reducing their 'risk of ruin' while also making it more difficult for casinos to detect card counting at their tables.

Team history 1980–1990[edit]

The MIT Blackjack Team continued to play throughout the 1980s, growing to as many as 35 players in 1984 with a capitalization of as much as $350,000. Having played and run successful teams since 1977, Kaplan reached a point in late 1984 where he could not show his face in any casino without being followed by the casino personnel in search of his team members. As a consequence he decided to fall back on his growing real estate investment and development company, his 'day job' since 1980, and stopped managing the team. He continued for another year or so as an occasional player and investor in the team, now being run by Massar, Chang and Bill Rubin, a player who joined the team in 1984.

The MIT Blackjack Team ran at least 22 partnerships in the time period from late 1979 through 1989. At least 70 people played on the team in some capacity (either as counters, Big Players, or in various supporting roles) over that time span. Every partnership was profitable during this time period, after paying all expenses as well as the players' and managers' share of the winnings, with returns to investors ranging from 4%/year to over 300%/year.

Strategic Investments 1992–1993[edit]

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In 1992, Bill Kaplan, J.P. Massar, and John Chang decided to capitalize on the opening of Foxwoods Casino in nearby Connecticut, where they planned to train new players. Acting as the General Partner, they formed a Massachusetts Limited Partnership in June 1992 called Strategic Investments to bankroll the new team. Structured similar to the numerous real estate development limited partnerships that Kaplan had formed, the limited partnership raised a million dollars, significantly more money than any of their previous teams, with a method based on Edward Thorp's high low system. It involved three players: a big player, a controller, and a spotter. The spotter checked when the deck went positive with card counting, the controller would bet small constantly, wasting money, and verifying the spotter's count. Once the controller found a positive, he would signal to the big player. He would make a massive bet, and win big. Confident with this new funding, the three general partners ramped up their recruitment and training efforts to capitalize on the opportunity.

Over the next two years, the MIT Team grew to nearly 80 players, including groups and players in Cambridge, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, and Washington. Sarah McCord, who joined the team in 1983 as an MIT student and later moved to California, was added as a partner soon after SI was formed and became responsible for training and recruitment of West Coast players.

At various times, there were nearly 30 players playing simultaneously at different casinos around the world, including Native American casinos throughout the country, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Canada, and island locations. Never before had casinos throughout the world seen such an organized and scientific onslaught directed at the game. While the profits rolled in, so did the 'heat' from the casinos, and many MIT Team members were identified and barred. These members were replaced by fresh players from MIT, Harvard, and other colleges and companies, and play continued. Eventually, investigators hired by casinos realized that many of those they had banned had addresses in or near Cambridge, and the connection to MIT and a formalized team became clear. The detectives obtained copies of recent MIT yearbooks and added photographs from it to their image database.

With its leading players banned from most casinos and other more lucrative investment opportunities opening up at the end of the recession, Strategic Investments paid out its substantial earnings to players and investors and dissolved its partnership on December 31, 1993.

Casino Movie Blackjack Dealer

1994 and forward[edit]

After the dissolution of Strategic Investments, a few of the players took their winnings and split off into two independent groups. The Amphibians were primarily led by Semyon Dukach, with Dukach as the big player, Katie Lilienkamp (a controller), and Andy Bloch (a spotter). The other team was the Reptiles, led by Mike Aponte, Manlio Lopez and Wes Atamian. These teams had various legal structures, and at times million dollar banks and 50+ players. By 2000 the 15+ year reign of the MIT Blackjack Teams came to an end as players drifted into other pursuits.

In 1999, a member of the Amphibians won at Max Rubin's 3rd Annual Blackjack Ball competition. The event was featured in an October 1999 Cigar Aficionado article, which said the winner earned the unofficial title 'Most Feared Man in the Casino Business'.^[4]

In the media[edit]

Books[edit]

• A variety of stories about a few of the players from the MIT Blackjack Team formed the basis of The New York Times best-sellingBringing Down the House, written by Ben Mezrich. While originally marketed as nonfiction, Mezrich later admitted characters and stories in the book were mostly fictive and composites of players and stories he had heard about through hearsay. The private investigation firm referred to as Plymouth in Bringing Down the House was Griffin Investigations.^[5]
• Mezrich wrote a follow-up book, Busting Vegas, which took even greater liberty with the actual happenings of the team. Many events in this book were at least partly based on incidents that occurred during the team's Strategic Investments era.^[6]
• Jeffrey Ma wrote a book titled The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big in Business about his time on the 1994 MIT blackjack team.
• Nathaniel Tilton, a student of former MIT team captains Mike Aponte and Semyon Dukach, authored The Blackjack Life detailing his experiences playing and being trained by the MIT Blackjack Team players.^[7]

Films[edit]

• The 2004 film The Last Casino is loosely based on this premise and features three students and a professor counting cards in Ontario and Quebec.^[8]
• The 2008 film 21, inspired by Bringing Down the House and produced by and starring Kevin Spacey and Jim Sturgess, was released on March 28, 2008 by Columbia Pictures. Jeff Ma and Henry Houh, former players on the team, appear in the movie as casino dealers, and Bill Kaplan appears in a cameo in the background of the underground Chinese gambling parlor scene. The script took significant artistic license with events, with most of its plot being invented for the movie, hence it refers to being 'inspired by true events' rather than 'based on true events.' One of the most significant departures from reality was the portrayal of the team being run by a professor (the Kevin Spacey character), when in reality the team was always run by students and alumni. The characters in the movie were also fictionalized amalgams of various players throughout the years of the team's existence - for example, the character Choi is very loosely (and inaccurately) based on Johnny Chang, and the character Ben Campbell, is an amalgam of numerous players, with the opening scene based on Big Dave's interview, and subsequent admission to Harvard Medical School, where much of the interview revolved around his participation on the team.
• The 2010 film Teen Patti is an uncredited remake of 21.

World Casino Blackjack

Television[edit]

• The Mysteries at the Museum series on the Travel Channel featured the story of the MIT Blackjack Team in the episode titled 'Siamese Twins, Assassin Umbrella, Capone's Cell'.
• The story of the MIT Blackjack Team, in its incarnation as Strategic Investments, was told in The History Channel documentary, Breaking Vegas, directed by Bruce David Klein.
• The Bringing Down The House period was featured on episodes of the Game Show Network documentary series, Anything to Win, and HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (episode 116).
• The BBC documentary, Making Millions the Easy Way, addressed the Bringing Down the House period as part of the renowned 'Horizon' strand (directed by Johanna Gibbon), told the story of a Strategic Investments breakaway group, and revealed the science behind the winning formula.
• 'Double Down', an episode of Numb3rs concerned a counting group, led by a High School teacher, which launders money through casino winnings.

Other[edit]

Several members of the two teams have used their expertise to start public speaking careers as well as businesses teaching others how to count cards. For example:

• Mike Aponte of the Reptiles co-founded a company with former MIT Blackjack Team member David Irvine called the Blackjack Institute.
• Semyon Dukach of the Amphibians founded Blackjack Science.

References[edit]

1. ^Griffin, Peter A. (1979). The Theory of Blackjack. Huntington Press. ISBN0-915141-02-7.
2. ^'How a team of students beat the casinos'. BBC.com. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
3. ^Blackjack Forum interview with Johnny Chang
4. ^The Twenty One Club: The annual blackjack ball hosts Gambling's Most Furtive (and Quirky) FraternityArchived 2009-04-20 at the Wayback Machine cigaraficionado.com, Sept/Oct 1999
5. ^Ian Kaplan (March 2004). 'review of Bringing Down the House'.
6. ^ThePOGG (10 November 2012). 'ThePOGG Interviews – Semyon Dukach – MIT Card Counting team captain'.
7. ^'ThePOGG Interviews – Nathaniel Tilton author of 'The Blackjack Life''. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
8. ^The Last Casino on IMDb.Retrieved 2009-11-03.

External links[edit]