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This American Life

Blackjack

4/26/20261 hr 5 min

The casino game everyone thinks they can beat. 

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Prologue: Host Ira Glass and producer Robyn Semien get a blackjack lesson from Andy Bloch, who played for the MIT blackjack team. He teaches them the basics of card-counting, the technique that gives players an advantage against the house — enough of an advantage that most casinos will ask you to leave if they catch you doing it. (9 minutes)Act One: Jack Hitt tells the story of the Christian card-counting team featured in the documentary Holy Rollers, and why...

Clips

Founder Admits He Stole
Insider Rebuts Company Line
High-Stakes Split Of Tens
“I Wanted To Get Banned”
“There’s Only Math”
Lying At The Table Backfires
Counting Cards Breaks Your Brain
Legal But ‘Repugnant’
The One Number That Wins

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 00:00

    To make our newest bonus episode of This American Life, [door opening] Ira Glass went digging.

  2. Ira Glass· Host0:05

    Okay, we're in.

  3. Speaker 00:06

    Digging for an old recording in a storage space with 70 boxes of old tapes.

  4. Ira Glass· Host0:11

    [laughs] Oh, my God.

  5. Speaker 00:13

    And as luck would have it- I can't believe it.

  6. Ira Glass· Host0:15

    This is the one, two, three. This is the fourth box I'm opening, and literally right here, [box moving] I think this is exactly what I was looking for. I can- To hear what he found, plus dozens of other exclusive bonus episodes, and most importantly, to help us keep making the show, subscribe at thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners. Okay, I really am stunned.

  7. Speaker 00:36

    That link is also in the show notes of this episode. Thanks.

  8. Speaker 20:40

    First floor.

  9. Ira Glass· Host0:42

    From WBEZ Chicago, it's This American Life. [crowd cheering] Okay, here we go. Blackjack $10 tables. $10.

  10. Speaker 20:54

    $10 tables.

  11. Ira Glass· Host0:56

    High limit room, which no one is in. Monday, late morning, This American Life producer Robyn Semien and I are in a casino that will remain unnamed here on the radio because we did not have permission to record. I did not ask for permission due to the nature of our visit. Come on, let's, let's see over here. We stand by one of the blackjack tables, and Robyn does a quick scan of the cards. What's the count on this table?

  12. Speaker 21:20

    Negative six.

  13. Ira Glass· Host1:25

    We were there to count cards, to play blackjack and count cards

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