A new movie that focuses on the exploits of the controversial Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) blackjack team will lead to renewed interest in the card game, it has been claimed.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, the publicity surrounding 21 is likely to echo the interest that was generated in the early 1960s when Ed Thorp's Beat the Dealer was published.
This resulted in a new generation of number crunchers taking on the casinos. But some experts believe that while skilled players can win big, less talented gamblers will boost the takings of casino owners.
"People will buy a book, read it halfway through and think they can beat the game - and they lose," said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter.
The newspaper says that only a few hundred people may be exceptionally good at card counting, which may be a small price the casinos are willing to pay for piece of the action.
Mike Aponte, once a member of the MIT blackjack team, went on to win the championship in the inaugural World Series of Blackjack in 2004.
A new movie that focuses on the exploits of the controversial Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) blackjack team will lead to renewed interest in the card game, it has been claimed.