Card counter to be challenged again by casino
Posted by Carl Barnett on 15 Jan 2010 at 15:01
A US casino is trying to overturn a ruling that could enable a card counter to gamble at its venue.
The Grand Victoria Casino and Resort in Indiana has asked the state's top court to overturn a ruling by one of the lower courts that has allowed the counter to go unchallenged.
Thomas Donovan is well known in the area for his card counting skills, which he says can be emulated by a young child.
The state's casino operation has backed up the Grand Victoria challenge, and they say that Donovan's aptitude at counting cards while playing blackjack is 'unfair'.
The casino and the association want to move towards banning card counters from the premises of casinos, because they feel that the practice allows a vast advantage over the experience of other gamblers.
Card counting has been a popular option for gamblers who want to play the system since the 1960s, with players like Donovan mentally counting off the cards that have been played in a blackjack game, and therefore knowing when decks are 'hot'.
Recent card counters have been responsible for wins in the hundreds of thousands, such as the Atlantic City card counters, who in 1979 won $150,000 in ten days using the system.
While card counting cannot be readily pursued in online gambling, there have been signs of some players working in teams online to count cards virtually.
