The MIT Blackjack Team consisted of current and past students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), plus some other top colleges.
Who was Bill Kaplan?
They were led by a chap called Bill Kaplan, who was a Harvard graduate that had an interest in Blackjack due to reading books about card counting.
He was not actually the original founding member of the MIT Blackjack Team, but he was the one that turned it around to make a profit.
Who was JP Massar?
JP Massar ( also known as Mr M ) was a Mathematics student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His interest in gambling started when he read a book called “ How to Gamble if you must “ He got a few students together, and they started the original MIT Blackjack team. They had a few wins but were overall, not incredibly successful.
Joining Forces
In 1980 JP Massar and Bill Kaplan met at a Chinese Restaurant, and JP Massar asked Bill Kaplan to join his team to observe their mistakes. Bill Kaplan spent a weekend with them to observe the mistakes they made and then decided to join.
He set about making it a serious business which meant putting in place a formal card counting and betting system. The new MIT Blackjack team started operating on the 1 August 1980.
It turned out to be a successful team for ten years, and investors received high returns. However, Bill Kaplan was eventually banned in many Vegas casinos, so he had to stop managing the team.
JP Massar formed another team with Johnny Chang, which was successful for two years until it also had to close down as the casinos got wise to their tactics and banned them too.
Where are they now?
Bill Kaplan is currently running various property businesses, and an emailing solution Company whilst JP Massar plays Professional Poker.
Antonia Esfandiari ( The Magician ) was born in Tehran, Iran on the 8 December 1978. His original name was Amir Esfandiary which he changed in later years.
He is a Professional Poker player who has won two WPT (World Poker Tour) championships and three WSOP (World Series of Poker) bracelets. He was also the face of UltimatePoker.com which has subsequently closed down.
The Early Years
When Esfandiari was 9, his family moved to San Jose, California. His friends used to call him Antonio, which led to him changing his name at the age of 19 as he identified with this name.
He always wanted to be a Magician, so embarked on a career in Magic and did various shows in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Introduction to Poker
His first introduction to Poker was at the age of 20. He was doing a magic show when an associate invited him to a private poker game of Texas hold ’em. Once he started playing, he was fascinated by the game and started playing Poker regularly from then onwards.
WPT and WSOP Tournaments
In 2004, Esfandiari won $1.4 million and his first World Poker Tour title at the L.A. Poker Classic. A few months later he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet for coming first in the Pot Limit Event. He won $185 000 from this event.
In 2010, he won his second WPT title by winning the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. He earned in the region of $870,000 from this event.
Where is he Now?
Nowadays Antonio Esfandiari lives in Las Vegas with his wife Amal Bounahra, who is the daughter of Poker pro Badih “Bob” Bounahra.
He co-stars with Phil Laak on the show I Bet You, on MOJO HD. In this show, the pair of them travel around the USA betting on various games except for Poker. Esfandiari also serves as the face of the WPT’s Poker Made Millionaire marketing campaign.
Dr Edward Oakly Thorp was born in Chicago, Illinois USA on the 14 August 1932.
He is an American maths professor, blackjack player and hedge fund manager.
His claim to fame was to develop a wearable device which uncovered mathematical advantages at the Blackjack tables. He also mathematically proved that the player could remove the house advantage in blackjack by using card counting techniques.
The Early Years
Thorp studied mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles and received his PHD in 1958. He worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1959 to 1961. From 1961 to 1965 he was a professor of mathematics at the New Mexico State University. This was followed by Professor of Maths and Finance at the University of California from 1965 to 1982.
It was here that Thorp used an old IBM computer to work out his blackjack theories.
Playing Blackjack
Thorp started playing Blackjack at Lake Tahoe, Reno and Las Vegas to test his theories. He won $11 000 in the first week. Furthermore, he got a Baccarat team together, which was also successful.
While working at MIT Thorp met Claude Shannon who co-developed the wearable computer with Thorp, and both of them wore it at various casinos whilst playing Blackjack and Roulette.
Gambling Books
In 1966 Thorp wrote the Book – Beat the Dealer which sold over 700 000 copies and made the New York Times bestseller list. In 1967 he wrote the book “ Beat the Market” which was also very successful.
Where is he Now?
Thorp operated his own hedge fund for 30 years. It was called Princeton Newport Partners and was one of the most successful hedge funds before disbanding. Although Thorp left the gambling world, he is still active in the trading world, and at the age of 87 years old is worth $800 billion.