The card game of chemin de fer was brought to the US in the 19th century but it was not until the middle of the 20th century that a strategy was developed to defeat the casino in Blackjack. This material is going to grab a quick look at the development of that system, Counting Cards.
When casino gambling was made legal in the state of Nevada in 1934, Blackjack screamed into recognition and was most commonly wagered on with 1 or two decks of cards. Roger Baldwin wrote a dissertation in ‘56 which detailed how to lower the casino advantage based on probability and statistics which was very complicated for players who weren’t mathematicians.
In 1962, Dr. Ed Thorp utilized an IBM 704 computer to refine the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s dissertation and also created the 1st strategies for counting cards. Dr. Ed Thorp wrote a tome called "Beat the Dealer" which outlined card counting strategies and the strategies for lowering the house edge.
This spawned a huge growth in chemin de fer players at the US casinos who were trying to implement Dr. Ed Thorp’s strategies, much to the anxiety of the casinos. The technique was not easy to understand and difficult to carry through and thusly heightened the earnings for the betting houses as more and more folks took to playing black jack.
However this huge growth in profits was not to last as the gamblers became more sophisticated and more aware and the system was further improved. In the 1980’s a bunch of students from MIT made card counting a part of the regular vocabulary. Since then the casinos have introduced numerous methods to counteract players who count cards including, multiple decks, shoes, shuffle machines, and rumor has itnow sophisticated computer software to scrutinize body language and identify "cheaters". While not against the law being discovered counting cards will get you blocked from the majority of casinos in sin city.