~ ‘The Quants’: It Pays To Know Your Wall Street Math : NPRThorp’s system, based on complex mathematics and hundreds of hours of computer time, relied primarily on counting the number of Ten cards that had been dealt. In blackjack, all face cards — kings, queens, and jacks — count as Tens along with the four natural Tens in every deck of fifty-two cards. Thorp had calculated that when the ratio of Tens left in the deck relative to other cards increased, the odds turned in his favor. For one thing, it increased the odds that the dealer would bust, since dealers always had to “hit,” or take another card, when their hand totaled 16 or less. In other words, the more heavily a deck was stacked with Ten cards, the better Thorp’s chances of beating the dealer’s hand and winning his bet. Thorp’s Tens strategy, otherwise known as the Hi-Lo strategy, was a revolutionary breakthrough in card counting.
Thorp snatched up his winning and turned to go. As he glanced back at the dealer, he noticed an odd mixture of anger and awe on her face, as if she’d caught a glimpse of something strange and impossible that she could never explain.
