Since my senior year in college, blackjack has been a focal point of my life in one form or another. If you’ve read the bestselling book, Bringing Down The House, you may know me as “Jason Fisher”, one of the leaders of the MIT Blackjack Team. We were a group of MIT students that used card counting to legally beat the house for millions. You also may have seen our team’s story depicted on the big screen in the major motion picture, 21.

Intellectual curiosity and the promise of the high roller life style were what initially drew me to card counting. However, blackjack quickly grew into something much more than a lucrative hobby with appealing perks. Blackjack became my passion and full-time profession. Beyond the mathematics of card counting, I learned how to run a business and how to manage a team. I also learned a great deal about human nature, including why people often make irrational decisions.  Our team played based on a mathematically proven approach that guaranteed we would win over the long run.  During my playing days I witnessed countless blackjack players gamble away their hard earned money as they played based on hunches, emotions and misinformation.

I was fortunate to enjoy a very exciting and profitable blackjack career. I had the opportunity to live the life of a high roller, but as much I enjoyed the penthouse suites and limousines, these luxuries didn’t compare to winning big at the blackjack tables. I took great pride in mastering a unique set of skills and doing what only a select few have accomplished – beat the house at its own game. After our team’s incredible run, I had become one of the most infamous blackjack players in the casino world.  Card counting is perfectly legal, but casinos reserve the right to take countermeasures against those who are identified as “advantage players.”  Information sharing among casinos and the Griffin Investigations detective agency helped put me at the top of the casinos’ black list of professional card counters.

Several years after I retired, I was able to hit the blackjack tables again in several televised blackjack tournaments, including the World Series of Blackjack and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. Although tournament blackjack is quite different from live blackjack I had a blast competing against the best players in the world.  I was fortunate to win the first World Series of Blackjack Championship.

When my playing days ended, I got involved in the non-profit sector as a volunteer, tutoring and mentoring high school students in math and SAT preparation. I quickly discovered that I love teaching as much as I do blackjack. I started an after school program with the mission of helping young people achieve higher education. Combining my two passions, I now offer my blackjack knowledge and expertise through a number of instructional offerings that teach players how to turn gambling into a winning investment.

So now, even though I’ve been declared persona non grata at casinos around the world, I’m fortunate to be just as involved with blackjack as I was during my playing days. I’m blessed with the opportunities to speak professionally about my experiences, and provide blackjack coaching to players who want to turn the odds in their favor.