The MIT Blackjack team were a renowned group of players from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Harvard University who used a number of sophisticated techniques to beat casinos at the game around the world.  The main strategies the team used to increase their chances of success were card counting, hole carding and shuffle tracking.  The team was originally formed in 1979 and operated until the turn of the millennium.

Several students at Harvard created the team to test the theories they had learned while attending a ‘How to Gamble if you Must’ seminar at the Business School.  The group were unsuccessful on their first trip to Atlantic City and parted ways on graduation.

However, original member, J.P Massar, was contacted a year later by a gambler who was interested in testing the theories again following a ruling that made it illegal for casinos to ban players who employed card counting techniques.

Massar and his new team revisited Atlantic City on the back of substantial investment stakes and earned a healthy profit.  Massar later met Bill Kaplan in 1980.  Kaplan was a Harvard Business Graduate and the duo became the back bone of the legendary MIT Blackjack team throughout the next two decades.

Their finest hour came in the 1990s when a trip to Las Vegas earned them over $400,000.  However, casinos soon began to identify and bar team members and the group eventually disbanded.  Mike Aponte, Johnny Chang, Dave Irvine and Semyon Dukach are some of the team’s most famous members.

Out of all the games one can play in a casino, blackjack is no doubt one of the best. If you play this game correctly, you have a better chance at winning than with virtually any other casino game.  

Before you even play your first game of blackjack, at your local casino (or online), you should first make sure you know the basic rules of the game. There are many websites where you will find detailed instructions on how to play blackjack.  

Start off by taking an open seat at the casino table. Then wait until the current hand has ended. This is the time you should buy chips for the amount you are prepared to risk. There will normally be a sign to say what the minimum and maximum amount is you can bet at that specific table.  

After you have placed your bet, the dealer will give you two cards. You then have to decide whether you want to stand, hit, double-down or split.  If you want to hit, you have to tap the table. Should you wish to stand, the correct way to indicate this is to wave your hands over your cards. If you want to double down or split, put down an additional bet adjacent to your first bet. Now all you have to do is to wait for the dealer to play.  Keep in mind that in a multi-deck shoe game you should never touch your cards!  

Why choose an online casino over a visit to a real casino where there is interaction with other gamers? Both a real casino and virtual casino offer the same games such as poker and blackjack, so what benefits are there for playing online?

Well, playing at an online casino games means playing in the comfort of your own home. This is ideal for those with young children who fancy an evening of doing something different without the hassle of trying to get a babysitter. It means having the option to play without the necessity to dress up, as many real casinos have a dress code to abide by.

Online casinos offer the chance to play practice games where no money is needed to play, although no money is won either. This gives the novice the chance to learn how to play before heading into the ‘live’ online games where real money is bet and won. Playing for free is just as much fun as betting cash, and reputable sites try to encourage gambling as entertainment and not as a way of making a lot of money.

Playing online offers the security of being able to set limits on the amount of money spent; that gives the gamer peace of mind knowing that they are only gambling with a certain amount of money, and there is no risk of adding a credit card payment or spending extra cash unnecessarily.

Playing in online casinos from home can also be a social event. There is no reason not to get a few friends round to play also and of course if ‘live’ casino interaction is needed, most online sites offer this too through their chat facilities.

As technology has advanced and the Internet has spread across the globe, online casino operations have continued to spread. As more and more individuals have access to sites such as 888, Spin Palace, Ladbrokes and Jackpot City, to name just a few, the enticement of games like blackjack, roulette and online slots has proved to be a boon for the online casino market.

One of the reasons that online casinos have become so popular is the fact that participants are no longer required to go to a physical location, which means they can gamble from the comfort of their own home without actually needing to get dressed up, spend money on petrol, deal with parking and traffic or any of the other associated factors with visiting a bricks-and-mortar location.  Online casinos are also open 24 hours a day for 365 days a year.

There are literally dozens of online casinos operating websites on a global basis. Companies such as William Hill and Ladbrokes lead the pack in the UK as two of the largest online casinos in the world, pulling in literally hundreds of millions of pounds every year with a great variety of games on offer. The convenience factor aside, these online casinos offer individuals the opportunity to collect winnings from games that they might not otherwise have had access to.

Given the limitation of time factors in our busy lives, online casinos are the perfect way to dabble in a little bit of fun without actually having to worry about taking time away from our hectic working schedules.

The online casino experience has the ability to capture the entire excitement that everyone feels going into a casino for the first time. The physical experience is being dramatically transformed into an online shape as many people can now gamble from the comfort of their own home.

Online casino games can now be played in any form. Anyone can choose any game and set themselves responsible betting limits that they can stick to. This means that any casino game can be played at a time when it suits the customer and not the casino. This may not always be the case in a real casino because a table may be full or the floor just too busy.

The development in computer graphics has also made the online casino experience a more complete one. Visual clarity is linked to people playing computer and online games for longer. These graphics make a casino game online very entertaining and exciting.

Jackpot City and 888 are two companies that have some of the latest computer software installed to give their customers the best possible casino experience. The gambling industry is more popular than it has ever been and because of this, online companies can spend more money on computer graphics and their online outlets.

The online experience will never be the same as walking into a real casino to play blackjack or roulette. However, what it has done is bring the casino to a greater number of people and encourage them to play more responsibly.

Gambling is one of mankind’s oldest forms of entertainment and the very latest technology is being deployed to bring it into everyone’s reach.

Online gambling is taking off with the advances in information technology and there are literally hundreds of sites where those who trust their own skill, with a little help from Lady Luck, can try their hand at hitting the jackpot.

Littlewoods and Ladbrokes, familiar from the high street, both have substantial online presences where you can place your bets on the outcomes of football matches and greyhound racing without having to leave your house.

Ladbrokes Casino, Jackpot City, Bet365, 888 and many, many others offer a wealth of choice when it comes to laying the stakes, and as they are all in competition with each other, the customer is the winner in terms of an enjoyable and cost-effective experience.

Games like blackjack and roulette are available alongside a wide range of online slots – the old fruit machines or one-armed bandits – and many others, catering for all tastes from the skilled gambler to the interested passing browser.

Some of the games require downloads of software whereas others do not. Simply set up an account and deposit some money to get started. Online slots take as little as one penny per spin, and there are hundreds of other fun games also available.

They can even be played on your mobile phone, and full instructions are always available whatever the option you choose. There’s never been a better time to start gambling.

Casinos and other forms of gambling have always been popular pastimes and they have taken on a new lease of life in the age of Information Technology.

Exponential improvements in download times and sophistication of software and hardware have enabled online gambling sites to offer all the excitement of the real thing in the privacy and comfort of the home.

All you need is an average PC and an Internet connection to get started on any one of the online gambling sites such as 888, Bet365, Jackpot City and William Hill.

The user interfaces have been carefully designed to make the customer experience as straightforward and enjoyable as possible. The Casino style games such as Blackjack and Roulette are usually grouped together as they often require downloads of special software, whilst a range of online slots – the Internet equivalents of fruit machines – occupies the lower half of the screen, and these can be played for as little as a penny.

To get started on any of these, you need firstly to set up an account and make a small deposit through any of the secure payment systems on offer. Games may be played simply for practice (with no real stakes), and when you’re ready to really start playing, you have the options of going solo or competing against other players in real time.

Games can also be played on a mobile phone where prizes typically range from a few pounds to many thousands if you manage to hit the jackpot.

The Internet in recent years has changed the way we shop, travel, communicate and enjoy leisure time and one of the fastest-growing virtual activities is online gambling.

With already well-established players such as William Hill, Littlewoods and Ladbrokes having a substantial online presence, and many others like Spin Palace and Bet365 increasingly dominating the market, there is no shortage of options for those wishing to make a flutter or test their skills at the tables.

Every game imaginable from blackjack and roulette, to online slots and fun games of luck built around treasure hunting and other themes, can be played in the comfort of one’s own home.

The usual procedure for getting started with an online casino such as 888, Intercasino or Littlewoods Casino is to follow a few simple instructions for downloading software, then set up an account and make a deposit via credit card or PayPal. Then all you do is click your game of choice and off you go!

For some games such as Jackpot City’s Super Slots, no software downloads are necessary and you can dive straight in. All the online casino sites have a colourful, interesting interface in the Vegas tradition, with 24/7 online help and support and full security.

With Internet crime scare stories rife, it is in the interests of the online gambling sites to make their customers feel as secure as possible, and all the latest technologies are deployed to ensure that this is the case. Internet gambling has never been easier or more fun.

Established in 1997, English Harbour Casino is one of the oldest online casinos on the web.  Focusing on quality over quantity, English Harbour has won awards for their blackjack games, for their customer service, and for their rewards programme.  The software designed by Vegas Technology is still one of the most innovative programs online.

The online casino has about 80 different games, not nearly as much variety as some of the newer sites out there.  English Harbour’s specialty is slots games, featuring traditional, bonus, video and progressive versions.  Players can also choose from a decent selection of table games including one of three different blackjack games, craps and American or European roulette.  There are a few video poker games, too.  Daily slots tournaments, blackjack tournaments, or video poker tournaments let multiple players complete live against one another for cash and prizes.  English Harbour also boasts free Flash games—no download or registration required—and free game previews.  This is one of the best online casinos for Americans, as all US players are welcome.

English Harbour’s welcome bonus is relatively generous, matching 100% on up to four £200 deposits with a maximum of £800.  New account holders have tournament entry fees waived, and there are loyalty bonuses and a VIP plan.  Separate promotions are offered for international players.

Lots of payment and deposit options mean transactions are smooth and fast.  English Harbour also has some of the highest payouts on the web.  Players can check the online casino’s daily payouts or their personal account information at any time by engaging the full audit feature, which details every transaction in their account history.

Customer support is available 24/7 through phone, live chat or email.

In order to play on the Blackjack site, you have to register, but downloading is optional.  The site is dedicated to blackjack in all its forms.   As such it has become the world’s largest blackjack site on the net.  Games can be accessed as single-, multi-, and tournament users.

For those potential players who are blackjack challenged, blackjack.com has a free online school for your convenience.  In existence since 1995 it is constantly being revised and updated in order to provide their users with the very best online blackjack experience.  The online school is divided into twenty-four written lessons and has its own customer service support, which you can ask any questions not covered.

For first-time customers, a $100 bonus is offered upon a first deposit which is also matched up to $500.  Tournaments happen often and Blackjack.com offers three types – Continuous or Sit and Go, Knock Out, and Elimination.  Continuous and Sit and Go are very similar except that with Continuous, once a table has a sufficient number of players, the tournament begins and continues as long as the number of players remains sufficient.

Sit and Go, on the other hand, waits until a table is full, at which time, the tournament lasts for only one round.  In this mode, multiple tables, usually not more than four, can be used simultaneously.  Knock Out is similar to Poker Heads Up where the players compete one on one and the winner advances to the next round.  Elimination requires six players playing up to thirty hands and the top one or two advancing to the next round.