So Bill Kaplan and J.P. Massar got together and realized what was hindering the blackjack team from succeeding in their endeavors at the tables. What happened next?

Bill Kaplan, having observed the team in action, made a proposal – he would back the team and manage them as well. On the outset, members of the team did not like the idea. What Kaplan wanted was to find financial backers AND to run the team as a formal business. Management procedures were to be followed, a required betting and counting system was to be put in place, players would have to go through training and approval processes, and so on. Naturally, the free spirits of the team felt affronted.

However, their passion for blackjack and the knowledge that Kaplan had a handle on things he dealt with won out eventually. Thus, the first MIT blackjack bank was born. This happened on the 1st of August, 1980. The total bank amounted to almost a hundred thousand dollars, with the money coming from the players and other financiers. Within 10 weeks, their bankroll was more than double of what they had when they first started out.

And so the story played out. What started as a theoretically unbeatable but practically unsuccessful team was developed into a lean mean card counting machine. The MIT Blackjack Team went far and wide, experiencing humongous successes in various casinos and in the process, earning a name for themselves all over the world.

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