All language subtitles for Inside.the.Edge

I would guess that if you walk
into a crowded casino,

maybe ten percent
of those customers

think they're advantage players.

But of those ten percent
fewer than one percent

have any hope
of actually taking

any substantial amount
of money out of a casino.

[man] Casinos don't like it when they get people in there

who have the expectation
of walking out the door

with more money
than they walked in with.

[music]

Any card counter knows
that heat comes quickly

if you're counting cards.

It's the thing that casinos look for first.

[Nelson] The casinos feel emotionally toward card counters,

the way they feel towards
cheats. So they hate you.

[music]

For the past four decades

blackjack players
have been saying,

"Oh the game is over.
It's the end of times.

We're not going to get
to play anymore

because a new technology
comes along."

When I started playing in 1978

from that moment and every
single year since then,

I have had people tell me
blackjack is dead.

It's over.
You can't make money anymore.

And then we went and made

ten million dollars
or whatever it was.

And KC started his career.

So, it all depends
on how you look at it.

[KC] Most people realize
the game of blackjack

is vulnerable and can be beaten.

But very few people take
the time to master the skills

necessary to do it and/or build
the required bankroll

to play professionally.
When I started
playing blackjack, I knew

I wanted to play at the highest stakes available.

I started playing at a very young age. I had a subscription

to Arnold Snyder's,
"Blackjack Forum."

I read every issue cover
to cover. I loved it.

Realizing there were people
beating casinos for a living,

I was attracted to it.

I would read books,

go to websites.
Check out the forums.

I had a computer software
I'd practice on,
on a regular basis.

And at the time, I was playing very low limits,

learning the game, learning how to play, learning techniques,

and I slowly built up
a bank roll over the years.

I learned a lot of hard lessons. I went broke a few times,

but it's when I really
became a professional.

There was a definitive point
where I went from playing

under the radar
at lower states

recreationally
without giving my ID,

I decided I was going to set up credit lines

and play at high stakes.

It took me years and years
to get to that point,

I not only had the bankroll
but I also had the skills

to play blackjack
at nosebleed stakes.

This is where like my whole plan
came together.

And every weekend
I was traveling from Berkeley,

where I was a full-time student, to Las Vegas

where I was working full-time as a professional blackjack player.

It was a pretty exciting
period of my life.

[music]

[KC] My optimal high-limit strategy required disclosing my identity

and establishing credit lines all over Las Vegas.

I knew I only had one shot at this,

once the casinos identify you
as an advantage player,

the whole game changes.

I went to grad school with KC

and while we were doing
our homework together,

I quickly
understood that his lifestyle

was not financed
by working at Starbucks.

What makes KC so good? I mean he's been playing the game

for so many years, that any little edge he'll find,

he'll take advantage of it
and push it to its maximum.

[KC] There's something
extremely satisfying

about beating a casino
for a large sum of money,

even better
when they pick up your tab

on an enormous weekend
of extravagance.

That's a great feeling.
I'm not only winning.

But them paying
for the whole thing,

knowing you had the advantage the whole way.

And the whole time
the casino was a sucker.

Sidrit] Comps are what we give
back to a customer

who's willing to risk
his money in the casino

and play up to a certain level.

We base comps on the level
of play of a customer.

[KC] The extravagant lifestyle afforded to casino high rollers seems frivolous but actually

it's an important calculated
element of a professional
blackjack career.

Comps range from room,
to food and beverage,

to spa, to expensive flight tickets,

jet air fares, very expensive
nightclub bills.

We're talking about all the way to 50,000 dollars.

For a big enough player,
the sky is the limit.

[Max] It adds up a lot.
So it can probably

add as much as twenty
to forty percent

to your overall
expected earn per hour,

if you really work
the comp system well.

[KC] Casinos are constantly looking for advantage players.

So as a professional, a bit of acting is required.

I'm ordering cocktails. I'm buying bottle after bottle

of champagne--Cristal,
Dom Pérignon.

I'm throwing a party
in the high-limit pit.

And as long as I am there
gambling and partying

in their eyes I'm not working.

[Max] Hiding your skill, most people want to show off.

A blackjack player
wants to hide

whatever skill
he may happen to have.

And the more you can act
like a complete jerk

the better off you are.

KC] So having some type of act

you feel comfortable executing,

really does distract them

from evaluating your skills.

In that timeframe,
I beat the Hard Rock

for 1.4 million,

which is probably my greatest score in my blackjack career.

I didn't know how long
it was going to last.

And it ends
when you become so hot

you can't enter a casino
and you can't play.

All of a sudden
you're unwelcome.

You don't know when that day is going to happen.

[KC] There's a very drastic
change from being welcomed

to the casino to them
basically throwing you out.

And maybe even treating you like a criminal.

The Casino has a
surveillance department
that's very good.

Cameras everywhere, personnel trained to look for people

that either might be cheating or counting cards.

They don't care what you're
doing, if you're a threat

to their bottom line in any way, they get you out of their.

The casinos have every
right to bar you

for doing an advantage play,

for using your brain--
you hate it,

but, yes, the casinos
have the right to throw you out.

[Nelson]
Gambling is a state issue.

Nevada law is that any business

has the right to exclude anyone,

for any reason
or for no reason at all

with the obvious exceptions
of by statute,

race, gender,
other forms of discrimination.

So casinos in Nevada
have the right to exclude

anybody they want. If they want
to exclude card counters

or people wearing green hats,
they have the right to do it.

And the casinos also have
the right to 86 you,

formally 86 you, which means
to read you the Trespass Act,

which means if you return,

they can arrest you
for having trespassed.

The relationship between casinos

and advantage players,

it's a thin line
of love and hate.

APs hate the casinos
for limiting their play.

Same time APs love the casinos
after crushing them.

And the casinos
hate them because they did.

Your subsequent return
to the premises

will subject you to immediate
arrest for trespassing.

Some casinos are more friendly
than others

in getting rid of players.

Some players
are much more persistent

than others in playing.

In my opinion, the relationship

between the casino
and the advantage player

should be a cat
and mouse relationship.

Obviously, I am biased.

It seems there's
some illegal conduct

that goes on, either
on the part of the casino

or on part of the card counter.

Most of the illegal conduct

or immoral conduct
is done by the casinos.

The player also enters this
environment under the assumption

that the game
is going to be fair

and the casinos are going to act
in a fair and legal manner.

This is probably true for 99.9% of casino players.

But for advantage players
or players willing to risk

enough money that could
potentially disrupt

the finances of the casino,
this couldn't be further
from the truth.

Casinos, in my opinion, they are
the worst of both worlds.

They'll get people drunk.
They'll take advantage of them.

If you try to take advantage
of them legally,

they will employ
illegal methods to stop you.

It runs the gamut
from illegal detentions,

search and seizure,
confiscating chips,
cheating in the games.

Casinos have refused
to cash my chips.

Casinos have stolen
chips from me.

I've had money
illegally confiscated from me.

I've been cheated
numerous times.

In the past, I have been drugged

in the back, I've been punched,

friends of mine
had been burned with cigarettes,

friends of mine
have had their jaws broken,

friends of mine have been
threatened to be murdered.

I've seen intentional payoffs
against me.

I've been arrested
for crimes I didn't even commit.

I know people who have been
beaten up.

I was once drugged
by a casino.

Casinos planted narcotics
on a friend of mine

that was being detained
illegally.

The list of casino crimes

goes on and on
with never anything
but a slap on the wrist

from local gaming authorities

which are supposed
to regulate games

but we've found
just protect casinos.

People say is it dangerous
to play in these casinos.

And I immediately say,
"No. I don't feel any danger.

I never felt really,
the danger, you know."

But then I think
about visiting Ken Euston,

on his hospital bed when he had
73 broken bones in his face

from a security guard
that punched him

just outside a casino in Reno.

There is a safety issue.

I generally feel
I'm safe in a casino.

Um, but it's not unusual
for security

to get out of line
and overreact to the situation.

This is part of the reason.

They send out
these bolo reports.

They say, be on the lookout
for this player.

He's got this skill,
this skill, and this history.

And one here and one there
and these casinos, freak out.

Usually they tend
to very quickly overreact

and bring security, police

and other goons
to treat us like criminals.

But playing is my job.

It's what I do professionally.
I want to play,

I don't feel
that I should quit playing

just because
they're aggressive,

and willing to break
the laws and intimidate me.

From being both a player
and a casino operator,

I'm just kind of--
sometimes I'm amazed

at some of the techniques
that the casinos use

to try to discourage
card counters.

As any card counter or other
casino player would know

that the hardest part about
the game is avoiding the heat

over an extended period of time.

The casino's willingness
to break the law

and create a hostile environment
for advantage players,

forces advantage players
to take countermeasures.

I've used disguises.

I use camouflage when I play.

I use aliases.

I would say creativity

and hard work are the two
most important characteristics

that an AP can possess.

I lasted for years.

I had these accents, I was
a Texan, I talked like this.

Come on in, I'd hide whiskey,
I'd put tea in there

and I'd knock them down,
order a double wild turkey,

make it a quadruple
wild turkey and a beer.

And I'd already have an O'Doul's
poured it into the beer I had.

I'd have this one here.
I'd knock them down,
knock that down.

I'm talking like this,
acting like that,
tipping like crazy.

I've done some ridiculous
things to try

to avoid heat
or detection or whatever.

But they were kind of ridiculous and I got caught,

I got dressed up as a woman.
I mean, come on, you know.

Welcome to "Gambling
with an Edge." I'm Bob Dancer.

-Hello, Richard.
-Hello. Good to be here.

All right. Tonight's guests will
be KC, a professional gambler.

[KC] At the time,
in the peacock lounge which used to be the high-limit pit

-in the Hard Rock.
-Yes, right by the front door.

Yep. They used to have
chips with RFID

that they used to rate you.

As you bet these chips,
there was a computer screen

that the pit-boss had access to and it could see

exactly how much you were wagering on every single hand.

And I realized that if you took
one of those chips and placed it
underneath the table,

it would also trigger
in the betting circle.

I wore Under Armour
underneath my pants.

Then, sewed these chips
into the Under Armour.

And I could lift my knee up,

it would trigger as if I bet
on top of the circle.

-Underneath the table?
-Exactly.

[Richard] Attention, advantage
players, this is exactly

the way the mind
of an advantage player works.

You automatically get extra
2,000 dollars on to your bet.

You might be spreading
from 100 to 500,

but it looks like
a spread from 2,100

to 2,500, which isn't much
of a spread at all.

-Exactly!
-Something like that?

It looked like
I was betting pretty big.

I might change my bet a little,
when I go down to 500,

I put the 1,500
and chips underneath the table,

so it would still read
as if it were 2,000.

So my bet, according
to their computer system,

never looked like it was going
between 2,000 and 3,000

all the time which isn't
that big of a variation.

And I think that they were very
dependent on this technology.

So, I was able
to beat them up, pretty good.

KC was one of those players
that I noticed in the circuit.

He was one of my players
that I liked to follow

because he had
all these personas.

He looked like a mountain man one day and GQ'ed up the next.

I didn't really talk very much
about the art of implementation

because I feel that it would be
presumptuous of me

to talk about it when KC I think
is better at it than I am.

I am a professional
blackjack player.
I'm forced to evade

the most advanced surveillance
systems known to man.

I'm scrutinized
by biometric software.

I'm constantly observed
by casino personnel.

My identity changes every day.

This is the price
I pay to be a winner.

KC has taken this to some kind
of new level, you know.

The disguises he puts on,
the variety

and the IDs and all that stuff.

I don't know anybody
else who does it like that,
to that degree.

[KC] I was getting a lot of heat from the casinos,

changed my look, grew a beard,

grew my hair out,
changed the way I dressed

and I've been able to get back into the casino.

So, I'm going to take
another shot at them,

start playing every day,
see how things go.

Yeah, so we just got booted
from the Orleans.

Unfortunately,
he was on a tail end

of a very good run of cards

using a 100 dollar unit,
one over 6,000 which was good.

[man] What did the guy say
when he went up to you?

He introduced himself.
He was very friendly.

"No more blackjack at any of the boy gaming properties."

-[man] Did he ask you
who you were?
- Nope.

Didn't ask me. Probably knew
I wouldn't tell him.

Just to be safe when we left the property we jumped in a cab,

circled around the block, came back and jumped in the car.

When I walk out of a casino
and I know I've just either been
backed off, or trespassed,

I never get into my car.
They've got cameras all over.

Even if you don't think
they're following you, they are.

We're going to head
over to Silverton lodge.

It's right
on the outskirts of Vegas

and work our way
north from there.

Just do as many hit
and runs as we can.

In and out, playing
aggressively, you know.

Most of these places I've been thrown out before.

We're going to take dead aim at them until we have to go.

[KC] The hair. To go or not to go? To cut or not to cut.

My hair has been pretty good
to me lately.

You know, it's provided quite a bit of cover for me.

The problem is
it's very difficult to handle

other day-to-day functions
looking like the caveman.

[music]

[KC] Fresh out of salon
at the Palms,

got my new haircut,
my new look.

We'll see how it goes.

There's only one way to tell
and we should go play.

[music continues]

There's nothing like walking
downtown 7:00 in the morning.

T. Dane] Camouflage plays will efinitely help your longevity.

Eventually, no matter how good
you are, you will get caught.

Duly appointed representative
of the owner of this property,

I hereby warn
you you are trespassing

according to the Trespassing Act

as defined by Statute 207.200.

[sighs]

Six a.m. Spent all night
playing at a crappy casino.

It's getting really tough.
I'm not welcome in the city.

I'm finding myself playing in,
you know, poor casinos

and off shifts at low limits.

I've had two faces
at this blackjack career.

One, learning how to play,
playing in lower limits,

building my bankroll and two,
playing at the highest limits

as an invited Casino guest.
But things have changed.

Now, I'm a known entity, I can't play in Las Vegas anymore.

I've come to a crossroads
in my blackjack career.

I need to determine,
if I want to go
down this road further.

I'm going to have to leave
Las Vegas,

travel around the country
to other casinos

or, two, I'm going to have
to find a new career.

It's not clear to me
what the right decision is.

But it is clear to me that
playing professional blackjack

in Las Vegas
is no longer an option.

[music]

[KC] I think there might be another half a million out there

for me to earn
playing blackjack.

There's so many
casinos I haven't been to,

I'd really like to spend
one year in the RV,

traveling around the country trying to extract

as much as I possibly can out of the game of blackjack.

[music continues]

[KC] So pulled
on the road heading east,

our nationwide blackjack
tour begins.

We just entered Louisiana,
first town on the border
in Shreveport,

there's a nice group
of casinos here at boomtown.

And we're trying to work our way
down to New Orleans

which is going to be
our home base

as we take on all the casinos

in this region here.

[music continues]

I wanted to play
my third session at Harrah's,
New Orleans.

And within five minutes,
a casino manager trespassed
me from the property.

I hadn't gotten a lot of heat during my first two sessions

but I had a lot of big bets
out there.

Probably got their attention,

they may have rewound
the footage and analyzed

my play later and realized
I was counting cards.

Card counting is professional blackjack 101,

the first technique
an aspiring AP would learn.

Counting is a simple technique, players sign values to cards,

contract them as they are dealt.

I use the high-low count

and assign the value

of plus 1 to 2 through 6,

0 to 7s, 8s and 9s

and minus 1 to tens,

face cards, and aces.

As the cards
are dealt in real time,

values are added to create the running count.

The running count needs to be adjusted by the decks remaining

to establish an adjusted count
or true count.

The true count determines the player's edge

or mathematical advantage
or disadvantage

which in turn determines
how much a player wagers

on any given hand. When the true count goes up,

the player wagers more. When the true count goes down

the player wagers
less or not at all.

Changes in true count determine strategy decisions.

Similar hands are often played differently

depending on the true count at the time the hand is dealt.

On my first hand
I have an ace seven

or soft 18
versus the dealer's two.

A basic strategy
would suggest that I stand

but because the true count
is plus three,

my strategy indicates I should double down in this situation.

On my second hand I have
six-three or nine
versus the dealer's two.

Again, basic strategy would suggest I hit in this situation

but as the true count is plus
three my strategy suggests

that I deviate and double down in the spot.

Using this strategy,
an advantage player

can expect to play with an advantage over the casino

of approximately one percent.

Changed my look, I'm going to try playing in another casino.

I don't have much of a history with them, that might go well.

[KC laughing] Shit.

Now they got a cop up here.

He's turning his lights
on coming to get me. Shit!

-What disturbance?
-[policeman] I don't know.

They said the white car,
you're in the white car.

The casino asked the Kenner,
Louisiana police,

to pull us over
outside of the casino.

Casino surveillance is trying
very hard to get us

to show identification
which we're not going to do.

We haven't broken the law.
We didn't even play blackjack.

-I have a supervisor
coming to the scene.
-Okay.

I have one of their supervisors
coming to the scene

so we can see what we have
going. We try to resolve this.

I have no idea
what they're talking about.

That's what I'm trying.
He just pointed to you.

He said the white car, stop them
they're causing a disturbance.

That's where we're at right now.
So give me a few minutes.

Yeah we'd love to go,
you know, it's...

The casino manager who
trespassed us from the property

is now explaining to the officer
why his security personnel
asked him to pull us over.

The good thing is the cop
has no idea what to do.

He said, "what do you want
me to charge him with?"

I think, the cop realizes
we haven't done anything wrong.

This guy is starting
to sweat a little.

Do you have some identification?

Can I ask what the problem is?

-I just need your ID.
-Okay.

Now they just extracted my ID out of me illegally.

They finally figured it out.
It's me.

So, new disguise, new look.

The two trespassings
made it clear

that Griffin was aware
that I'm in this area.

There's no doubt in my mind
that they sent out a flyer

with my picture on it--

updated picture
to the local casinos.

Griffin is a big thorn
in any blackjack player's side.

Griffin holds itself out
as a detective agency

that publishes
an electronic database

of purportedly known cheaters,

advantage players,
card counters,

and other people who casinos
might want to know who they are.

It's very bad to be a card
counter and get placed
in the Griffin book.

That's like considered somewhat
traumatic the first time

you find out that you're
actually in the Griffin book.

There's the famous black book
called the Griffin book.

This is a rogue copy given to me
by another blackjack player.

It's a little bit older version. They take a picture of you
and disseminate it.

And they file a report.
This card player's here in town and blah, blah, blah.

We got to work against them. It's a game of cat-and-mouse.

[music]

[KC] We got to rotate.
Session, session, session.
Keep it small and quick.

Three casino shifts.
I'm going to change my outfit,

every few hours.
Go and play 45 minutes.

Get some maximum bets down. Try not to get too much attention.

Come back eight hours later, do the same thing.

Biloxi is pretty good down here. Nice weather,

a little pool time
in at the Beau Rivage.

I won 7,700 at the Hard Rock

and then I won 11,800
at Beau Rivage

in about ten minutes. These
double dead games are so juicy

that it's actually worth it

to go in and just play
for 15 minutes spreading,

you know,
you can probably make--

the way I'm spreading,
you can probably make

about 2,000 an hour,
playing those games.

Three days and 26,000,
two 28.

Yeah like what you created huh?

My background in gaming? I grew up my father was a games player.

He was a serious backgammon player, poker player, blackjack player,

and he was an innovator
in these fields.

He took the game
very seriously.

he played it in a time
when very few people
knew how to count cards.

dad] Ah, this is 1960, 61'-62'.

There were
no resources available

but no history of blackjack
is complete

without mentioning John Scarne,

who was the first person to my knowledge, to ever make

a public statement
that blackjack was a game
that could be beaten.

I remember getting on the bus

and going to Reno
before he was 18 years old.

[dad] I had developed
my own counting method

based on what I think
at the time

was actually the first point count, ever used in a casino.

And using the crude
basic strategy

I learned from John Scarne's
work, I found myself winning.

And we gambled around the world

in blackjack, backgammon,
play blackjack in casinos

in Biarritz, in @@,
in Monte Carlo.

So as a child I was able to see
some of his adventures playing,

traveling to tournaments,
traveling to Las Vegas,

playing
and it certainly influenced me.

[dad] By the time
he was growing up,

he'd see it occasionally.
But not on a several hours
a day basis,

the way I was engaged
in my youth.

I was kind of surprised really
that the he took it up

and got into it to the degree
he did, but maybe it's genetic.

[music]

[KC] We are in Greenville,
Mississippi.

These places are great
because they're so small,

they don't really
belong to a big--

where the hell am I?

They're so small I don't know
where the hell they are.

They have very unsophisticated surveillance.

I was able to shuffle track
which added

doubled
my advantage rating more.

Shuffle tracking
is a great technique

used to take advantage
of weak shuffles,

can enhance the card counting experience

and increase your advantage

with less heat
than card counting alone.

As I count the shoe, I notice a lot of tens and aces

grouped together
in the first deck dealt.

I mentally labeled this
group of cards

or slug in the discard tray. As I continue to count the shoe,

I noticed the consistency of the remainder of the shoe.

After counting
the entire six-deck shoe,

I'm able to follow
the interesting slugs

through a weak,
one pass shuffle.

Notice the two slugs with negative counts of minus 16

and minus eight will be shuffled together to form a two-deck slug

with a running count
of minus 24.

The new group of cards
is presented
at the front of the shoe

after the shuffle and I want to target this slug.

I cut a small group of cards from the back of the shoot
forward noted in green.

I'll play through the green group of cards at minimum bets

until I reach
the red target slug.

With a true count of plus 12 and an advantage over 5%,

I will increase my bets
to the table maximum,

until I play
through the entire slug.

Once you begin to include techniques beyond

counting in your repertoire,
it makes it more difficult

for casino surveillance operators to analyze your play.

So it was great,
a couple thousand here,

a couple there. It adds up.

I just went
into Sam's Town to play.

They had a great single-deck game I was playing,

very small, trying not
to get any attention.

Casino's shift manager
approached me

along with head of security, another security guard,

they were rude and unpleasant,
told me to color up,

I was being trespassed
from the property.

I was very calm
and friendly with them.

They kind of escorted me
towards the door and I said,

"Listen, I've got these chips. Where's the cashier?"

The casino
shift manager told me

the cashier
was in the parking lot,

that I had to leave right now.

"If you come back,
we'll arrest you."

So I'm meeting with agents
from the Mississippi
Gaming Commission,

it's unlawful
for them to kick you out

when they know you have
chips and tell you

that you cannot cash the chips.

That's equivalent to stealing.

The gaming agent
walked me in today,

and cashed them with me. He
walked into the casino with me

so that I could cash them.

They might get a fine.

They're going to get
some sort of violation.

You have to fight this,
this web of surveillance

and counter surveillance to try and get your bets down.

All you want is walk
into a casino and play

and use your mind
ike anybody else

but there's a whole web
that you can get caught in,

once they find you, they're going to kick you out.

Despite the usual dramas
and challenges

you face while you're playing blackjack professionally,

such as getting kicked out
and a heat,

I'm having a blast.

Enjoying my time in the RV,
the freedom,

being on the road,
had a great winning streak

in the south and now I'm ready to head west.

I'm going to stop in Vegas for a couple of days

and then head to California.

There's 40 or 50 casinos
I haven't even been to.

I'm looking forward to that and I'm just excited right now.

[music]

We're back on the road,
heading west to California.

Yeah I started
Golden Acorn last night,

Indian casino
in San Diego area.

Once we arrived, there were only two tables open

at a six-deck game
with a maximum bet of 500

and a two-deck game
with a maximum bet of 250.

I ended up winning
under 2,000 there.

Then we drove to Viejas casino,

walk in there and had two
amazing shoes back to back,

sky-high counts.
It happened so fast

as he would go press,
press, press.

Next thing I knew
I was at maximum bets.

And I won over 10,500

in probably about half an hour.

[music continues]

KC] And now we drove to Barona. 'm going to play here today,

it's most high-end casino
in the San Diego area.

How are you today?
Quick session in Barona,

they had no problem
with me winning 5,000.

A little bit of cover
play went a long way.

For sure the hat
and glasses I was wearing

were a must because
they practically advertise

on the table
they use facial recognition.

I've never seen it.

Biometrica is a software company

that came into being,
specifically,

to provide game protection
software to casinos.

They have people they'd like
to keep track of.

Good guys, bad guys,
high rollers,

advantage players, cheaters.

Here's a new guy in our casino.

We checked our databases,
we don't know who he is.

He's winning
a heck of a lot of money.

They grab your picture, click,

with the touch of a mouse
it can go up and out

to 175 little
surveillance rooms.

The camera will freeze
an image and instantly check

all the pictures in the database

and come up
with the most likely matches.

The best way to think
of it is in terms of,

we grab an image of your face,
as soon as you grab that,

the software measures
your face,

maybe 1,000
different measurements.

So it's important to understand
that we use the eyes

just as anchor points to start
the measurements all around.

There's
so many measurements there.

If you put it on a mustache
or you put on a beard,

you covered up, what,
15% of your measurements?

I mean you could go
through a makeup artist

and come into a casino
dressed as Tootsie

instead of Dustin Hoffman,
then you probably won't be seen.

It's unlikely that somebody's
going to have so much on them.

If they do what's going
to happen is they're not going
to need face recognition

"Look at this guy."
They attracted
more attention to themselves

than our software ever could.

[waves splashing]

I got to scout it out and figure
out what her shift is

and how she moves around.

It's a 12 o'clock, it's 12:30.

I don't know if I may caught
the very end of her shift.

All right. Well, I'll keep you posted. Bye-bye.

Well I just hit a quick session
at Pechanga, San Diego,

and stumbled across
an incredible opportunity.

I came across a dealer
who unbeknownst to her,

would show me her hole card
every single hand.

The game is such
a slam-dunk where

this could be easily,
a six-figure opportunity.

Hole carding means
that the dealer

is exposing their hole card
in blackjack.

Normally, that's supposed
to be dealt face down

but sometimes the way
the dealer takes it out

of the shoe or the way they check for the blackjack,

some sort of mannerism
that they have

the player
might be able to see it.

Hole card play is one
of the best things

that they could do
nowadays I believe.

Anytime you're in a card game,

you know the value
or even some partial information

about what a hidden card
is likely to be

then you could adjust your
strategies accordingly

to get a much bigger edge
than you would have
through counting cards.

[KC] Approximately one to two percent of dealers

use poor or sloppy techniques

which can be exploited
by advantage players.

This dealer is unknowingly
flashing his hole card.

Given the extra information

I adjust my playing
strategy accordingly.

On my first hand
I have a nine,

would normally
hit against a 10

but given the extra information

that the hole card
is the six of clubs,

I changed my play
and double down.

The hole card information
provides an advantage

of about ten percent.
So, I flat bet

the table maximum, every hand.

On my second hand I have 14.

I would normally hit
14 against a 10,

but I'm playing my 14
against the dealer's 16

and opt to stand according
to the hole card strategy.

The erratic plays combined
with consistent bet amounts

make the technique
more difficult for casino operators to detect.

We read up and we consult
with attorneys

and find out
before we even play

is this something
we can do legally?

And since it is,
we have no qualms.

Just you know hitting that game
and others as hard as we could.

My last session
with Pechanga went really well.
I played an eight-hour shift,

on graveyard

um... with my favorite dealer

who happens to show me
her hole card almost every hand.

I followed her around, figured out her table rotation

and when she would be there.

I play a little bit
before she rotate in

and after,
it went really well.

I did get a fair amount of heat.

They knew I wasn't counting
they couldn't figure out
what was going on.

Ninety-five thousand
eight hundred,

I think for a total
of six days of play,

not bad at all.

I started out strong in Mississippi, in Louisiana,

with a series of big wins.

The winning
continued in San Diego,

followed by a six-figure hole card score.

This trip really couldn't have
started better.

I'm up already
over 250,000 dollars.

I pulled
in Palm Springs last night

to Morongo, crushed them,
won over 20,000.

He drove down further
into Palm Springs

to Fantasy Springs
at which point I took off

my sports coat and my jacket and my nice outfit

and put on a wig and some camo,

pad and changing into black shirt and shorts.

Then I headed on
deeper into Palm Springs,

went to Spa,
had a quick clobbered

beating up for 5,500
and got some heat.

As soon as I raised my bet they came over and booted me.

Said that-- told me I was
a known advantage player.

[music]

[engine roars]

You know we're getting deep,
went around dirt roads,

and you have
no cell phone reception.

This casino over the trip
because we're so far out
in the boonies.

I started playing, another
gentleman sat down, he was
playing five dollars a hand.

And another kid came up
and had four one-dollar chips.

I went on a bit of a hot streak,
cleaned out their whole rack.

We got a lot of attention.
I mean a 1,500 dollar bet

in Vegas term isn't very big.
But out on a place like this

you know, created quite a crowd.

[music continues]

We've landed in Reno.
I've got my list,

I planned out my route of all the casinos I want to hit.

I'm looking at about 15 to 20 casinos I want to play.

They've been hit hard
over the years
by a lot of card counters

and teams of professionals.
It's pretty hard
to get down some big bets.

Does the casino have a right
to demand identification

and have it produced?
The answer is no.

The casinos are always
trying to get your ID.

They want you
to have a player's card.

So, security guards will say,

"You know, it's illegal not
to have ID." Complete horseshit.

It's this simple.
It's a lie. It's a lie.

Let's see if I can think
of another way to say it?

It's untrue. Okay.

There is nothing
in God's green earth

that says you have
to have papers, anywhere,

in the United States
merely to be there.

If you get in or cash out

more than 10,000
dollars in cash,

then you do have to show ID,

they have to file this form

called
a cash transaction report.

Everybody knows what to do
if you're over 10,000.

But when you're
sort of above 3,000

they typically,
internally ask for an ID

for their own
internal records.

But they're not legally
obligated to get an ID,

nobody really knows how
to handle those transactions.

Normally, they're not supposed
to ask for your ID

unless they're charging you
with a crime.

But if they're smart,
they'll say wait,

we're just trying to keep track
to make sure you

because we may have to file
a currency transaction report.

[KC] Now, they cash out
8,250 for me

without an ID.
But they basically told me,

they wanted to file a suspicious activity report.

They tried
to ask me for my name

for that report.
I didn't give it.

But yeah, it's like drugs.

When they want your ID,
just say no.

[KC] I've now been kicked out
on nearly every shift

from every casino.
I feel I've done a good job

extracting value from the city. I'm actually probably
right about expectation

for the amount I've played. I got logged in a lot of hours.

We are in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
The heat is through the roof.

I'm going to get
one more session in,
then we're out of here.

The good news is Reno, Tahoe, has been a pretty good area.

I am up about 35,000 after 11 days of play in Reno.

Tahoe's been a bit of a grind, but I've gotten a lot of hands
in here,

came out ahead. So,I'm feeling good having won

in each area
and they never got my ID.

[music continues]

This like one of the best
blackjack games I've seen
in a long, long time.

I was only planning to stop by it might be a one session place.

I'm so surprised by the conditions, it's juicy.

They don't seem to give
a shit who I am.

They don't belong to Griffin or anything like that.

They don't use any facial recognition software

and they don't seem
to mind that I'm spreading

from the minimum to the maximum, ideal situation.

For the day I am down 30--
just under 50,000.

I'm going to take
a little break,

run a simulation on the game

just to make sure my numbers are all up to date.

This is like the needle in the haystack to play here, then to take a big loss.

I'm going to have to play
20 more casinos
to try to win it back.

That's the benefit
of betting bigger.
If you have a big win,

it takes you to the next level.

Big loss, you really have to

grind and grind
to get your money back.

[Arnold] Blackjack players understand the concept of risk.

They understand the fact
that there are going to be

fluctuations, ups and downs,

but they want
to control the risks.

People ask me, "What's different
about new card counters

that you can make this
work?"

And it's a really interesting
question.

I think we're all
pretty wacky.

We have niches
where we get really good

at doing simple math
under pressure.

There's no gut feeling,

there's no I just busted
three hands in a row,

there is an exact right
play and a wrong play.

Other people will analyze
a situation and think,

"Oh my god,
I don't want this outcome

and I know that outcome is
possible. So, I won't do that."

And we analyze
that situation and we say,

"Well, if I did that
a million times.

How many times would
that outcome happen?
how many times would the other?"

It's a really different
way of looking at the world.

[KC] I went back, ended up playing a marathon and graveyard shift

of nine and a half hours.
I bought it for 5,000.

I lost 2,500. I was down by about down to 2,500 left.

I ran 2500 and 70,000.

So, we just got escorted out by Bear River security.

Unlike recent security escorts this one was quite
a bit more friendly.

They gave us a courtesy escort all the way to the RV

because we cashed out
so much at the casino cage.

[music]

It's so pretty up here.
It's a beautiful drive.

We're up in the northwest corner
of California, Humboldt County.

Quite a few little Indian casinos scattered around here.

I've never played in this area of the country.

So I didn't
really know what to expect

and I've stumbled across a couple of really good games.

We were going to come up
the west coast of California

into Oregon, up to Seattle
before we go east.

I really enjoyed the Northwest. It's beautiful up here

and I keep
stringing together wins.

So, I'm feeling good
about my play.

Unfortunately, I am getting
a little bit lonely.

I think two to three
months here in the RV

is starting to take
its toll on me.

I thought maybe with the excitement of travel

and the wins and losses that go along with playing, I'd be fine.

But I am getting
a little bit lonely

and I think a good cure for that
would be picking up my dogs

in the Bay Area. I'm going to drive down to San Francisco,

load up the dogs, bring them along for the rest of the trip.

Hit the Thunder Valley
this weekend.

Should have
a pretty good session there

in terms of the ability
to bet big this weekend

and then work my way
to the Midwest.

[music]

The Mohawk and the outfit
definitely helped a lot.

Booked a small win
just under 5,000 but opted

to call it a night. Friday night's a bit busier.

There's more action.
The place was kind of dead.

I don't want to get burned
tonight and thrown out

betting 2,000
when I could bet 10,000.

Hi, I just had the casino steal

my personal property
in the amount of almost 40,000.

No. they surrounded me with security, they trespassed me,

I was in the parking lot
in my RV, trying to get
a hold of the sheriff.

They started giving me
a hard time saying,
I wasn't leaving.

I was leaving, I'm trying to call the police to handle it myself.

I'm about three blocks away
from the casino I just left.

All right. They're going
to have a deputy come here.

So, you know, the sheriff went
in there was sympathetic to me

and said, "I'll help
you go get your chips."

They were doing everything
they could just to be

as difficult as possible.

[music]

You got to leave the property.
I'm not going to give you
whole lot of time.

Or we can go to county jail.
It's a 130 miles that way.

They just gave me a real hard
time. I didn't even play a hand.

I just bought in and they were just real nasty.

Salt Lake City. We're in an area
that is completely isolated

from any casinos. Just driving across the country.

[music continues]

[KC] Made it to Nebraska.
It's been a long night.

Done about
five-hundred-something-mile
drive so far.

We are in Iowa.
I played a few sessions.

I had session
at Ameristar,

a couple of sessions
at Horseshoe

and I am just in the middle
of a tailspin losing streak.

Fifteen thousand last night, 10,000 yesterday,

eighteen thousand
the day before that.

From a mathematical perspective,
it's not that big of a deal.

But it's not always easy

to detach yourself
emotionally from it.

Just had a very bad experience at Harrah's.

Tried to get me
into a back security room

but they couldn't give me
a reason why.

We're leaving the Iowa area.

I've been asked
not to play at Ameristar

and I've been trespassed from the Horseshoe and Harrah's.

This was pretty
much a losing city for me.

[music]

[KC] After five days battling these three casinos in St. Louis

just feeling a bit frustrated.
I'm down 3,000.

I feel like in five days
I've logged in

over 40 hours of play,

got a head, lost it, got behind

ten-fifteen thousand,
won it all back,

got down again. It's really just been a grind.

I'm heading
through Northern Iowa. We had one casino on our list.

Unfortunately, I used a casino
guide book from last year.

Showed up and the casino
had been turned into a theater.

They must have gone bankrupt
in the last six months.

Either way, it's actually good
to have a night off.

I've played already three,
if not four casinos today

and I'm freaking losing
like crazy.

Sit back, take it easy,
have a couple of beers,

watch a movie,
lick my wounds, move on

and it sucks. I've been on this blackjack train for so long,

I felt like I might as well ride it to the end of the station.

When you put in that time
and effort and get the RV

travelling around,
have the bankroll,

deal with all the stress
of getting kicked out

and treated like a criminal,
you end up losing 100,000,

that's brutal. I don't think a lot of people in the world

could deal
with working two months,

ten hours a day
and end up losing money,

there aren't that many jobs
you can do that.

But if you want to be
a professional blackjack player,
play every day for years,

five years say,
this is what I'm going to do.

Traveling around the country,
play at every single casino,

you can bet your ass you're
going to go a two-month period
and you're going to be down.

[music]

Playing our route through the Midwest. Basically the whole Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin,

Minnesota, Michigan,
not a lot of good casinos

but a lot of places
worth peeking into.

I like coming to these
out-of-the-way places usually
you could find good games.

They tend to be less networked
with other casinos.

So it's easier
for me to get some action.

Majestic Pines Casino, Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

I lost 1,000 bucks
which again is not a big deal

in terms of absolute value of the loss

but I went to two hands at 50

and I lost eight of them
in a row. It's just brutal.

For safety reasons,
I only travel with a portion of my bankroll

which is fine unless
I go through a sustained losing stretch which I've done.

So today, I flew
from O'Hare to Las Vegas,

picked up 200,000
and flew back two hours later.

There's nothing illegal about carrying large amounts of money domestically.

You can cross state lines
and there's no problem.

The only thing that happens
is people tend to freak out

when they see a lot of cash,
they report it
to various agencies.

They immediately think if you
have more than 10,000 in cash,

you're a drug dealer or you're
doing something illegal.

I can put 200,000 on me
and I feel pretty comfortable.

I don't feel like I'm bulging.
I don't feel like

people are looking at me
or anything's funny.

Joliet, Illinois.
Didn't even get in there.

I got right
to the gate of the boat

and security said, "We just
got a call. We're expecting you.

I can't let you in."

I've had a good run
and play all the way through

from Chicago,
and we played four east of Chicago and Indiana.

Played all over Indiana.

The casinos have been
very close together

they communicate and take
a lot of photos of me.

Various casinos have taken down

license plate
and description of the RV.

I walked in,
they had a file

of probably
12 different photos of me,

all from the last week.

So, it's getting
a little tricky right now.

Bob] Stepping out of the realm of state-regulated casinos

that are not Indian related
and on to a reservation casino

can be as different as deciding that you want to have dinner

in downtown Las Vegas
or dinner in Liberia.

The tribes of the United States
are considered domestic nations.

They have the rights
of sovereign governments,

similar to the states
to some extent even greater
than the state.

They have you tied up hook,
line, and sinker

and can do their will upon you,

physically and financially.
Bad place to be.

Other casinos can do that too, but you have civil recourse.

A difference with the Indian
casino is the threat of recourse

isn't there, so they might feel
much more free to do it.

You have about the same
amount of rights

that a U.S. citizen
would have in Mexico.

The heat is so high right now
that each casino

is notifying the other casinos
in the area. Griffin's on to us.

I think the only solution
right now is to break our trail.

So rather than following
our route up through northern
Michigan and Canada,

I think that we need
to probably just break off,

do a long driving session, move a couple of states over.

[music]

[KC] After traveling
across five states,

I showed up in New York
at Turning Stone.

I booked a small win,

I was able to log
in a multi-hour session

which meant
that they weren't expecting me.

Just played my second big session in the Connecticut area,

I'm going to go play
another graveyard session

tonight and play
a little smaller.

Try and stay out of the radar and book a small win,

basically
to regain my confidence.

And grind out
a little bit of more EV.

Travel is a big part
of the game.

Moving around constantly
and it's an aspect of the game

that it makes it difficult
for some people.

At first the travel
can be fun,

but sometimes
the travel was very grueling.

You know, constantly
being on the road.

[KC] We just had
a minor disaster.

The RV broke down
in the Mohegan Sun.

We're having trouble
finding someone that can come
out and fix it.

And towing this thing
is a nightmare.

To make matters worse,

the bankroll
is secured and unlocks

at a place that you can only get
to when the car was on.

We did finally find a guy--a mobile truck service

that could come out. As I
suspected, the starter went bad.

One of the amazing things
about KC, as far as I'm aware,

he's a lone wolf.
That's a tough road.

You can't really specialize, you have to be a master

of everything or a jack-of-all-trades at least.

To survive
as a lone wolf is very rare.

Basically,
Connecticut was a disaster,

a 100,000 dollar downswing.

I come to Atlantic City,
drop down my bets a bit,

only to have a really bad first night here.

[Nelson] New Jersey has said
that card counting is legal

and that the casinos
cannot exclude card counters.

There's no regulation saying they can kick them out,

but they do have
these horrible regulations

such as changing the stakes for a single person at a table.

[KC] Pretty rough day today,
played three sessions,

had three 10,000 dollar losses back-to-back-to-back.

As of this morning, around noon, I was up 20,000.

I lost that back,
plus, another 30,000

for a 50,000 dollar downturn,

plus 8,000
that I lost last night.

This blackjack trip
for me is like a company, a business that I am running.

I need a place get
as many of these bets in

and create as much
expected value.

Along the way I have to deal with a fluctuations

which is the risk and I don't want to end up tapping out at any point, going bankrupt.

When you start losing,
you need to buckle down
and grind it back out.

And you just have to let go, you know. You get your bets in

then the cards fall as they may. And you just really have to hope

that you can ride out the storm.
So, right now, this is all about
riding out the storm.

By far the most important
characteristic of someone

who is going to be a success
at this is emotional control.

You can't be subject
to emotional involvement

that will take your losses

and turn them
into your downfall.

[music]

[KC] Trying to fill up
with the Flying J.

We're out of propane. It's been a rough two nights

Ran out of propane and it's been
freezing in Atlantic City.

Spent two nights shivering
with the dogs.

I wrapped them up in a blanket
using to keep me warm.

The good news
is we're heading south.

Hopefully, it's going to get warmer from here.

[music]

KC] It's nice to be in Florida. The weather's a bit better.

The losing seems
to have slowed down a bit.

I'm starting to log in a couple of winning sessions,

playing in the Tampa-Miami Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood area.

I'm going to jump on a plane and hop over to the Bahamas.
Check out the Atlantis.

They get some decent action there, should be a good spot.

Just arrived at Atlantis
Casino and Resort,

played my first
session at the casino,

went straight in, played 14,500.

Last 24 hours in the Bahamas has just been awesome.

Got some pool time, some R&R,

I have been able to get
solid table max bets

without ever even
disclosing my ID.

They've got a table
up by the pool.

I've been able to get a deep afternoon session in.

I had a great situation
last night in a shoe game,

a few aces came out and I was able to shuffle track

a sequence and it worked out perfectly.

I basically got three aces
in a row.

They all landed on my hand,
I won all three hands

at maximum bet.
That was fantastic.

Sequencing is
an advantage play technique

which involves following a string or sequence of cards.

Keep in mind that aces are very valuable to the player

in the game of blackjack.

A player has a 53% advantage

when dealt an ace
as his first card.

In this example a sequence

of three consecutive
aces is observed.

Location of aces are mentally noted in the discard tray.

In the following hand
a sequence of key cards

are observed and memorized.

These cards will precede

the aces in the following shoe.

In this example
the key cards in order are

the nine of diamonds,
Jack of Diamonds,

King of Diamonds
and seven of Spades.

While the cards will get
shuffled the sequence
gets shuffle tracked

and cut
to the front of the shoe.

After the first three key cards appear in order,

the bet is raised to table max

in anticipation of the arrival
of the ace sequence.

The three aces shortly
follow an order.

Sequencing is a powerful
technique

when the opportunity
presents itself.

There's very little heat
as few casinos have

the ability
to detect this method.

After getting up 600,000
I've had a dreadful winter,

playing every day
for three months. I've given back over 300,000.

Finally, I've strung together six wins in a row, including

a 77,000 dollar
win in the Bahamas

I feel like things are starting to turn for the better.

We're basically
on the home stretch

of this giant circle we've done around the country.

[music]

I just got off the phone with my dad, I piqued my dad's interest talking to him over

the last year and a half.
And he told me today

that he's going to join us through New Mexico and Arizona.

It's going to be fun for me to pull him out of retirement

and have a little bit of camaraderie.

-Good to see you.
-Yeah. We are on Albuquerque

-ready to start our adventure.
-Are you ready for some work?

-All right, let's do it.
-All right.

[music]

[KC] Yeah, it's fun having my dad in the RV. You know...

he lives in California.
I live in Las Vegas.

I've been on the road a lot. It's good for us
to spend time together.

You can write down
the stakes in advance.

-All right. That's not fair.
-Go ahead.

No, you've lost
your score keeping

and I'm keeping score now
and driving. You can't do that.

So when we're together,
it's just non-stop games,
non-stop competition.

All right. The next
alphabetical state, Indiana.

Stop writing it down.

I'm not supposed to write
your answer down?

Do you challenge me?

Yeah, my dad and I
are very competitive.

You know he has been
a professional games player

for a large portion of his life

and has this competitive spirit
which I probably inherited.

We were playing a state game

and we just found evidence that

there was a little bit
of foul play going on here,

but he was busted. He used
the score-- the privileges.

The competition got out
of control to the point

where he's accusing me of stuff,
I am accusing him of stuff,

it got so heated that we had
to quit the game in the middle.

It's double after split we split
aces, six-deck game, shoe...

We cut off a deck and a half.

This isn't his idea
of finding in the airport

getting picked up
by a limo, playing golf

going out to nice dinners.

We're grinding it in an RV,

driving across the desert,

places with 500 dollar
maximum bet.

So it's not really
glorious here.

Dad, we need a signal,
we're going to be
playing these shoe games

If you get a count that's good, I want to know,
so I can come and play.

If you can do a call
in it's okay

if you don't know the count, you can come in betting big.

That's classic team theory,

but most casinos have seen that

so it's not
some original idea anymore.

The man that invented
team play is Frank.

-Yeah. We call him Al Francesco.
-[man] Yeah.

My name is-- I have three names.

In the blackjack world,
it's Al Francesco.

My original, real name
is Frank Schipani.

My legal name
is Frank Salerno.

Yeah, the people
in a blackjack world

understand why
we have different names.

He was the guy that years ago

before when I was still
in grade school

he went into the casinos in Las Vegas and just watched what people do.

Where do people put their hands? What do they do with them?

And he made up these signals
that were the basis of team play

and these signals that many
which we still use today.

Put your hand into your hair,

but like you were
there playing yesterday.

-Mm-hmm
-But if the count is good go up.

My hand will either be
on my on my chin

or if my chin means nothing.

If I'm like this at the table

but if my fingers
are touching my hair

-at all it's a good situation.
-Alright.

I really like this area.
I haven't really done

any in-depth play
in the New Mexico region

and I'm finding
some really good games.

-That's a good game.
-I was getting some heat,

well not heat,
but he was watching me.

[dad] You've establish
yourself as--

You were talking
about he's hitting 13

against fives and sixes

and standing on 15
against sevens and eights

and you get up from him and,
"Hey, I played horribly,"

the woman was just, "Yeah,
I mean he was just awful."

And they're talking
to the pit-boss

and the dealer that way,
it was funny.

-That's what they said
about me after I left?
-Yeah.

It's a good game. Their dealing is five decks.

I think you should go back
in there and punish them.

All right.

[hubbub]

[KC] We're continuing
through Arizona.

I've got my father with me

we're playing at Camp Verde at Cliff Castle.

And I had a solid,
two or three decks

I got to play with in a really high count situation

This winner was the worst losing
streak I'd ever sustained.

I played every day
for three months and was
down over 325,000 dollars.

I've been able to maintain the momentum I had in the south

and the Bahamas and Florida
through Arizona, New Mexico

and have recovered about 60
to 70 percent of that back.

That was quite a shoe.

[dad] The shoe after was better.

-What?
-My very last shoe.

[music]

[KC] Here you go. Finished it.

- The finish I was looking for.
-[woman laughs]

Blackjack I think
has probably ran its course.

But then if you look at it, it's
been going around since 60s.

So how much farther is
the course going to go?

Back in 2000
I was at a gaming conference

and I ran into Arnold Snyder and we got talking.

I said, "Arnold, I think blackjack is going to be history

as being
attackable in five years."

Well, it was 2005,
so, obviously, I was wrong.

The blackjack players
are smarter

than the casino operators,
fact of life.

Those guys are watching somebody
else's money.

We're playing our own.

While the casinos are sleeping

and those guys are at home,
we're thinking.

There's always a new move
coming along.

Right now people in blackjack
are making as much money

as they made five years ago,
ten years ago, 20 years ago.

There's always
something else out there.

Not just card counting,
there's always going
to be something.

I think the future of advantage
play is very bright.

The people that adapt
continue to make money

and still make money
to this day.

Every year somebody
tells me blackjack is dead

and every year
advantage play

has just gotten
better and better and better.

I don't see in the reasonable,
foreseeable future

that blackjack is going
to be dead to any of us.

For us the clock
never stops working, you know,

working all the time.
And so the game goes on.

[KC] Coming back to Las Vegas,
I'm exhausted.

The last 12 months
I spent grinding in casinos,

working
in a hostile environment,

it took its toll on me,
the wins, the losses.

I'm glad this chapter of my career was profitable.

Oh he's taken things that I did

and gone to the next level
with them.

He's ambitious
and he's done very well.

And has no reason
not to be successful,

but I hope he realizes that there are better things

to do in the long term
with his life.

But I think it should form
a good basis,

some good experience,
things will carry over
in no matter what he does.

It really makes no difference
where KC ends up.

The skills that he's learned
from blackjack,

where does that lead?
Only the future will tell.

People in life, who are going to be successful

as his dad was and KC is very much like his father that way.

[KC] I still like the rush
of beating a casino,

but for me the game has changed.

I'm no longer, you know,
a welcomed high roller.

I'm now trying to fly
under the radar

having to work really hard
just to play.

And it's tough.
It's a super grind.

It's not what I want to spend
the rest of my life doing.

I am thankful
that I had this experience.

I am thankful
that I've got skills

I should hopefully be able to
take to a new phase of my life.

And I don't know
what the next step is

but it's become clear
to me at this point

that professional Blackjack
is behind me.

[music]

Hey, Stevie! What's up?
It's KC just checking in.

I just got a call from my dad.

He's down in Florida,
was playing golf

and came across
a hole card game.

He said it might be
a six-figure opportunity.

So I'm jumping on the next plane and heading down there.

Hope all is well with you.
Give me a ring.

[music]