Shaan's Failed Blackjack Schemes

Shaan tells a story about his failed attempts at blackjack schemes during college.

"I read this book about counting cards in blackjack and became convinced we could do it. I told my buddy Trevor, and we spent 3 weeks practicing. Trevor was the counter, I was the signaler, and our friend Dan was the 'whale' who'd place big bets when the count was high.

We drove to South Carolina to a riverboat casino. But in real-world conditions, things fell apart. Dan got too into his 'drunk tourist' character and missed our signals. By the time he placed a big bet, the count had dropped. We lost all our money.

Undeterred, we decided to become the house instead. We planned an underground blackjack club at school, thinking we couldn't lose with the house edge. We spent weeks simulating and planning.

But our skeptical friend showed us the fatal flaw. He came in, lost some money, then demanded it back, threatening to report us for running an illegal gambling operation. We realized every losing player would have this leverage over us.

In the end, I learned that leverage is more important than an edge. I should have just been learning to code in college instead of all these harebrained schemes to make money."