This Friday, the film 21 will hit cinemas in the USA, followed by a 10th April release in the UK. 21 is a film based on 'Bringing Down The House' – the best selling book that tells the true story of some MIT students who won millions by card counting in Blackjack games at casinos in Las Vegas.
The film stars Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Lawrence Fishburne, and is a modernised version of the story told in the book.
Casinos are hopeful that the film will encourage many people to play Blackjack, expecting to come to the table and emulate the heroes of the film. "People will buy a book, read it halfway through and think they can beat the game - and they lose," commented blackjack aficionado and publisher of the newsletter 'Las Vegas Advisor', Anthony Curtis.
Blackjack is a game that has a small house edge compared to many other casino games, and a competent non-card counting player can reduce the edge to around half a percent. A player with a strong card counting strategy can beat the house, but, according to Jeff Voyles, a casino management instructor for the University of Nevada, only a handful of people have the finances, card counting skills, and demeanour required to have a successful card counting blackjack career.
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