The Hot Shoe
When I saw the ads for a card counting DVD, my heart skipped a few beats. In this high tech era, there should be more hi tech blackjack media, but for some reason, blackjack has somehow fallen behind in this area. Most advances are done in back rooms with billion hands per hour simulators, but the face of blackjack was still basically unknown. That is until The Hot Shoe was produced.
Talk about a star studded cast. There has to be close to ten minutes spent with the Father of Card Counting Dr. Edward O. Thorp alone. Stanford Wong and Arnold Snyder are constantly consulted through out the entire documentary. The list of blackjack heavy weights seems to go on for ever. Most of them appear as themselves simply because the casinos already know who they are. Some are shadows, like the "Wooden Spoon Spanking Team" that probably doesn't want to shock Mom n Dad into a heart attack! The producer David Layton says:
"We shot interviews with Stanford Wong, Ed Thorp, Ian Andersen, Arnold Snyder, Tommy Hyland, Peter Griffin (just days before he passed away), Nelson Rose, Bill Zender, and many others. I attended a Green Chip party some time back and shot a round of table discussion. We also shot tape of several members of the MIT team putting down plays in casinos (with hidden cameras) and discussing strategy in hotel rooms."
For years I have been chatting online with many of the people that show up in The Hot Shoe. It was great to see the person behind the alias, see how they conduct themselves and get a glimpse of their personalities. Layton learns the High Low count after reading every book he could grab at the Gambler's Book Shop in Vegas and takes on every two deck game he could get himself in front of.
"When I first got interested in card counting, I was very frustrated that there was a lot of bad information about it in the popular media. I think I would have been very excited to come across this movie then, and I really hope that's how you will feel about it. I play in Las Vegas for ten days with $5000 so folks can see what happens when an ordinary person (read: not a math guy) gives it a serious whirl."
When the DVD starts up you can either play the movie or select from an index of these scenes:
Overview
The Birth of Card Counting
The Realities of Blackjack
Scouting
Barring
Ken Uston
Computers
Counter Culture
Teams
Cat and Mouse
Finale
These chapters of the documentary are amazing by themselves. Thorp takes you through The Birth of Card Counting in a very easily followed display of screen shots and his interview. The Four Horsemen begot Thorp, who begot a never-ending line of authors and counters.
"The history of how card counting was developed is told, along with some of the social and political aspects of the culture, including tales of how counters have been mistreated by casino interests over the years. Some of you will know about the mathematical and technical aspects of counting already, but we chose to cover those issues very carefully. We tried to explain in detail all the elements that make up a winning blackjack game, and not just show how to count."
Ken Uston is described as a "ham," the MIT team as "anal," and Hyland's team as "aggressive."
"This is the movie about card counting I've been working on for over five years. It has been a long and tough process to get this movie finished and available to the public, but I'm very proud of it and I think you will enjoy it."
For $30 this hour and a half long documentary is a must have for any blackjack player or casino patron. The five years was worth the wait. Shipping was fast. It took three business days to travel from Texas to Toronto! There is no way you could re-create what David has done. The personal interviews are priceless. It is a treasure to have Peter Griffin on DVD. Like the Four Horsemen before him, he carved the Theory of Blackjack into stone. David's hands on style of journalism is to be commended. He had the faith to trust the math. Though he faltered at times, he did not fall, and realized a 20% return from the steady grind that pro card counters face day in and day out. Congratulations Dave! The grand finale of David's last night in Las Vegas is recorded by a hidden camera. You'll love it!