Know that story about MIT students taking vegas?

[Descartes]

I'm working on a large project for an accounting firm, and as a result we have people from all over the world on the team. We have several consultants from Microsoft, and one of the guys is in good with Ray Ozzie of Lotus Notes fame (Microsoft acquired one of Ray's companies just a few months back).

Anyway, one day we were talking about Ray, Lotus, Microsoft, etc. and conversation around hiring "the best of the best" came up (Microsoft people tend to think like that ). He brought up the fact that he went to MIT, and so we segued into a conversation about projects he worked on.

Fast forward a few hours later and one of the other guys on the team brought up the notion of going to Vegas, and Mr. MIT acquired a rather strange look and uttered some nonsense about not being able to go. Further investigation (read: interrogation) on our part uncovered who he was......

One of the kids from MIT who took Vegas.

How cool is that? We went out for beer that night and discussed all the details of the operation, card counting in general, etc. They had a seriously organized ring.

Just thought I'd share.

 

[tami]

that's pretty neat. is he banned from vegas for good?

 

[Nebor]

That's like saying you used to be a navy seal. I'd demand :camera:s.

 

[PoPPeR]

which one is he?

 

[her209]

Good... I hate casinos.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Nebor
That's like saying you used to be a navy seal. I'd demand :camera:s.

For geeks like us it's far better than that Everyone on the team said the same thing: "Wow, I suddenly have a lot more respect for him now." Said half in jest to be certain, but there's something Robin Hood'esque about a geek beating Vegas at precisely that which they serve to prevent.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: tami
that's pretty neat. is he banned from vegas for good?

He gave a list of hotels from which he was banned. When I asked if he could go back he said , paraphrased, "Only if I play with cash." I guess if he asks for a frequent player card they'll find his name?

I'm not familiar with gambling in Vegas.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: PoPPeR
which one is he?

I'm not going to say for obvious reasons. He has no qualms about talking about it, but it might bring him a little esoteric fame that he'd rather not have. I had initially questioned the veracity of his statements, but just a little bit of Googling confirmed.

 

[MeanMeosh]

that's awesome! i still hate him for lotus notes though =P (i have to use it at work and it BLOWS!)

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
that's awesome! i still hate him for lotus notes though =P (i have to use it at work and it BLOWS!)

We use it on this project as well and I absolutely hate it.

 

[sygyzy]

Very cool story. And Descartes, when he says play with cash, he is speaking about just that. No markers, no credit, etc. It's not really a logical conclusion that the alternative is playing with a players card. Besides, no card counter is going to play with a player's card. Those are reserved for grandmas on the slots.

The book is an excellent read in case any of you haven't checked it out.

Also, it should be noted that after the initial (and what I consider the best) team broke up, there were a dozen (plus?) after then. It's cool to say you are part of the original crew, but if you are one of the 100+ guys after, whoopee.

 

[chuckywang]

Wow, cool. I've known about that ring operation for quite some time now.

 

[EyeMWing]

VERY cool.

 

[jds2006]

Wow :Q

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
VERY cool.

INDEED :thumbsup:

Koing

 

[quakefiend420]

got a link to this story?

somehow i must have missed it...sounds pretty interesting.

 

[wiredspider]

http://www.casinowatchdogs.com/MIT-Blackjack-Team.aspx but there is actual book as well i think it's called Bringing Down the house...

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: wiredspider
http://www.casinowatchdogs.com/MIT-Blackjack-Team.aspx but there is actual book as well i think it's called Bringing Down the house...

thats awesome...i'm gonna look for that next time i'm in a bookstore

 

[Safeway]

Nice.

 

[Liviathan]

Is a pretty good story. I wish i had the dedication, talent to do something like that. Better than sitting 9-5 behind a desk wasting my life like I do now.

 

[NakaNaka]

Yeah I remember these guys. IIRC it was all perfectly legal, the casinos just can enforce whatever rules they want to make sure they dont get taken by people working together and/or winning a lot of money. Like if you count cards, they don't take your winnings, they just give you your winnings and tell you to leave. Right?

 

[spanky]

hahaha

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Descartes
hiring "the best of the best" came up (Microsoft people tend to think like that ).

Bieing a software engineer, I find that funny seeing how we make software 100 times better than Miocrosoft does. Hell, we made a redundant OS here from scratch. If one instance fails, the other takes over.

Micsrosoft has the GPA/piece of paper problem. People with good grades only understand theory. They don't know sh!t about getting things done in the real world. It's funny to. I am 2/2 at picking these guys out at work.

-- 1 ---
PhD in CS
One guy made a program that was 80,000 SLOC in Java. Talk about CODE BLOAT. Hwo hte hell is someone supposed to maintain that. Knowing what it is, it should have been 15,000 to 20,000 tops.

And we did an estiamte. I and another guy came up with estiamtes of 5500 and 7500 SLOC. The PhD came up with 20,000!!!!! Whath te hell? There is no way. I would say 12,000 would be a result of code bloat and Mr. PhD think 20,000?

-- 2 --
PhD in CS
"What is Oracle and what is it used for?"
need I go on?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: MeanMeosh
that's awesome! i still hate him for lotus notes though =P (i have to use it at work and it BLOWS!)

We use it on this project as well and I absolutely hate it.

Setting up one's user account on a different PC should not require a call to my companies help desk.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Liviathan
Is a pretty good story. I wish i had the dedication, talent to do something like that. Better than sitting 9-5 behind a desk wasting my life like I do now.

Learn about investing, real eastate, etc. Card counting has risks (like loosing you job if you get cought). Investment though, little to no risk.