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"Holy Rollers, The True Story Of Card Counting"
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Irish Mike
Feb 13, 2013, 4:14:07 PM2/13/13
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"Holy Rollers, The True Story Of Card Counting"
This is a 2011 documentary on Netflix streaming about a "Christian"
Blackjack card counting team that claims to have won $ 3.2 million dollars
from casinos between 2006 and 2009. There have been numerous Blackjack
card counting teams, including the infamous MIT team, but this is the
first time I'd heard of a "Christian" team.
Card counting just means that the Blackjack players keep a mental, running
count of the cards that have been played from a single deck or a
multi-deck "shoe". Depending on the rank of the cards, they are assigned
a value of +1, -1 or 0. When the "shoe" contains a lot of Aces and face
cards, the odds favor of the player, as opposed to the house (casino).
When the odds are in their favor, the card counters increase the size of
their bets, thus giving themselves a slight edge over the house. It
should be noted that this is by no means a full-proof system and many
self-proclaimed card counters lose money and some go broke. In addition,
a casino can nullify a card counter's advantage by simply using automatic
shufflers to reshuffle the cards after every hand.
Casinos call card counters "advantage" players and will immediately stop
their play and throw them out. Which prompts many well known card
counters to wear various disguises to avoid detection. The truth is that
unless a card counter is using some physical cheating device or working in
collusion with a casino employee or another team member at the same
Blackjack table, his only "advantage" is his brain.
Hardly seems like a crime given that everything in a casino from the
lighting to the carpet pattern is designed to give them an advantage in
taking the player's money. I've seen casinos deal Blackjack to guys who
were so drunk they were literally falling out of their chairs and they
never viewed that as an unfair advantage.
That said, I had a hard time liking any of these "Christian" card
counters. Most of them were young hippie types who seemed a lot more
interested in putting money in their own pockets than serving God. None
of them were part of any real organized church, some claimed to be
"pastors" or "spiritual leaders" but had no religious training and most
of them could not complete a sentence without using the word "like" at
least twice. They constantly talked about how much they hated casinos and
how evil they were. But I never saw them donate a single dollar to feed
the hungry, house the homeless or rescue kids from the streets. There was
also no mention of the IRS so it was unclear whether or not they paid
taxes on their winnings.
They repeatedly professed to be one big happy Christian family but there
was a lot of individual maneuvering and at least one member was suspected
of cheating the team and subsequently fired. The team leaders and
investors took most of the money while some of the team players ended up
broke. Some had invested all of their savings, cashed in 401Ks and took
out second mortgages on their homes to help bankroll the team. They
"closed a bankroll" (i.e. divided up the profits) every time they were
ahead $100K. Which sounds like a lot, until you consider that it was
being chopped up among 20 to 25 people.
The documentary showed the big emotional and financial swings associated
with gambling for a living. At first team members were euphoric about the
money they were winning and the divine guidance directing their every
move. But ultimately the team hit a long losing streak, started firing
members and eventually just broke-up. To be sure, this team booked some
significant wins and some of the team leaders did end up with a net
profit.
But as you watch their ups and downs and realize that many of them had no
benefits, health care or retirement, you ask yourself if they wouldn't
have been far better off just getting regular jobs. I mean on some of
their road trips traveling between casinos, they would drive hundreds of
miles only to get recognized and thrown out of the casino in less than
half an hour. Some of these road trips netted a profit but others cost
them most of their bankroll.
This documentary provided some interesting perspective on how these
Christians rationalized their actions and how they dealt with the
emotional and financial roller coaster associated with trying to earn a
living by gambling. I came away with three main points. First, trying to
beat a casino anywhere but the poker room is nearly always a losing
proposition. Second, some people can justify any action or activity by
declaring that it is "God's will" . Third, get rich quick plans are often
the fastest way to go broke.
Irish Mike
"I stood on the Dublin docks and my future was uncertain in a place where
fortunes are won or lost on the turning of a card."
This is a 2011 documentary on Netflix streaming about a "Christian"
Blackjack card counting team that claims to have won $ 3.2 million dollars
from casinos between 2006 and 2009. There have been numerous Blackjack
card counting teams, including the infamous MIT team, but this is the
first time I'd heard of a "Christian" team.
Card counting just means that the Blackjack players keep a mental, running
count of the cards that have been played from a single deck or a
multi-deck "shoe". Depending on the rank of the cards, they are assigned
a value of +1, -1 or 0. When the "shoe" contains a lot of Aces and face
cards, the odds favor of the player, as opposed to the house (casino).
When the odds are in their favor, the card counters increase the size of
their bets, thus giving themselves a slight edge over the house. It
should be noted that this is by no means a full-proof system and many
self-proclaimed card counters lose money and some go broke. In addition,
a casino can nullify a card counter's advantage by simply using automatic
shufflers to reshuffle the cards after every hand.
Casinos call card counters "advantage" players and will immediately stop
their play and throw them out. Which prompts many well known card
counters to wear various disguises to avoid detection. The truth is that
unless a card counter is using some physical cheating device or working in
collusion with a casino employee or another team member at the same
Blackjack table, his only "advantage" is his brain.
Hardly seems like a crime given that everything in a casino from the
lighting to the carpet pattern is designed to give them an advantage in
taking the player's money. I've seen casinos deal Blackjack to guys who
were so drunk they were literally falling out of their chairs and they
never viewed that as an unfair advantage.
That said, I had a hard time liking any of these "Christian" card
counters. Most of them were young hippie types who seemed a lot more
interested in putting money in their own pockets than serving God. None
of them were part of any real organized church, some claimed to be
"pastors" or "spiritual leaders" but had no religious training and most
of them could not complete a sentence without using the word "like" at
least twice. They constantly talked about how much they hated casinos and
how evil they were. But I never saw them donate a single dollar to feed
the hungry, house the homeless or rescue kids from the streets. There was
also no mention of the IRS so it was unclear whether or not they paid
taxes on their winnings.
They repeatedly professed to be one big happy Christian family but there
was a lot of individual maneuvering and at least one member was suspected
of cheating the team and subsequently fired. The team leaders and
investors took most of the money while some of the team players ended up
broke. Some had invested all of their savings, cashed in 401Ks and took
out second mortgages on their homes to help bankroll the team. They
"closed a bankroll" (i.e. divided up the profits) every time they were
ahead $100K. Which sounds like a lot, until you consider that it was
being chopped up among 20 to 25 people.
The documentary showed the big emotional and financial swings associated
with gambling for a living. At first team members were euphoric about the
money they were winning and the divine guidance directing their every
move. But ultimately the team hit a long losing streak, started firing
members and eventually just broke-up. To be sure, this team booked some
significant wins and some of the team leaders did end up with a net
profit.
But as you watch their ups and downs and realize that many of them had no
benefits, health care or retirement, you ask yourself if they wouldn't
have been far better off just getting regular jobs. I mean on some of
their road trips traveling between casinos, they would drive hundreds of
miles only to get recognized and thrown out of the casino in less than
half an hour. Some of these road trips netted a profit but others cost
them most of their bankroll.
This documentary provided some interesting perspective on how these
Christians rationalized their actions and how they dealt with the
emotional and financial roller coaster associated with trying to earn a
living by gambling. I came away with three main points. First, trying to
beat a casino anywhere but the poker room is nearly always a losing
proposition. Second, some people can justify any action or activity by
declaring that it is "God's will" . Third, get rich quick plans are often
the fastest way to go broke.
Irish Mike
"I stood on the Dublin docks and my future was uncertain in a place where
fortunes are won or lost on the turning of a card."
dhayni...@gmail.com
Mar 9, 2013, 7:29:55 PM3/9/13
to
Nice I'm a Christian wanted to be a devou
dhayni...@gmail.com
Mar 9, 2013, 7:29:57 PM3/9/13
to
Andrew
Mar 26, 2013, 2:44:01 PM3/26/13
to
Louis Theroux. His film are in english (at least the ones I've seen)
and he did a very good one on gambling in Vegas. He also did a
very good one on the Porn industry -the idea might sound offensive
but the film was mostly just sad and pitiable Losers. A lot of his
stuff is made in America and can be critical but mostly he lets his
subjects tell the story for him and all his films are worth a watch.
If you know your way around Usenet and can grab binaries, make
use of Winrar and Pars files than some of his stuff is out there for
the grabbing.
_Andrew
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