Irishman pioneers card counting detector

2008-08-26 15:38:10

An Irish student has developed the technology to spot blackjack players trying to gain an advantage over the house by counting cards, it has been reported.

Wesley Cooper of Dublin's Trinity College has invented a system which combines statistical analysis with surveillance cameras in order to take the task of catching 'cheats' out of the hands of dealers and pit bosses, according to the Times.

Card counting is not illegal although it is often frowned upon by casinos, as highlighted by the recent blackjack movie 21, starring Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey.

In the film, a team of gamblers from MIT take millions of dollars from gaming resorts across the US by using this method, but many of them eventually quit for fear of reprisals from gaming operators.

The feature is loosely based on a true story, first written about by Ben Mezrich in his book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Million.

FitzWilliam Card Club spokesman Teddy Hickson commented on Mr Cooper's invention: "If a system could be found to streamline the monitoring, it would be hugely popular with casinos."

"But my instinct is that it would be difficult to replace human intuition."