"The Hot Shoe"

"The Hot Shoe"
A documentary movie about card counting in the casino game of 21 by David Layton. Executive producers Michael Berkaw & Bill Petrick music Dylan Keefe.
The history, mathematics, the politics and the practical realities of blackjack are addressed in this documentary, the most complete and accurate treatment of card counting ever made.
Here are the elements that make up "The Hot Shoe":
Interviews with blackjack experts, casino managers, authors, detectives, a legal expert, and the most legendary players in the world.
Behind-the-scenes footage of casino pits, surveillance rooms, members of the MIT card counting team strategizing and playing in casinos during a busy Super Bowl weekend (shot with hidden cameras).
Demonstrations of the high-tech methods that casinos and detective agencies use to identify and track card counters, including facial recognition technology.
A case study, wherein the director of the movie learns how to count cards and takes the $5000 that was budgeted for the music and uses it as a stake to play blackjack in Las Vegas over ten days.
1.Gordon Adams - Griffin Investigations 2.Ian Anderson - Author, Burning the Tables in Las Vegas 3.Andy Anderson - Casino Visual Identification 4.Andy Bloch - MIT team 5.John Chang - MIT team 6.Richard Chen - MIT team 7.Anthony Curtis - Huntington Press 8.Mark Estes - former card counter 9.Steve Forte - Author, Read the Dealer 10.Peter Griffin - Author, The Theory of Blackjack 11.Tommy Hyland - card counter 12.Jim Kilby - UNLV 13.Nelson Rose - Author, Blackjack and the Law 14.Max Rubin - Author, Comp City 15.Howard Schwartz - Gamblers' Book Shop 16.Arnold Snyder - Author, Blackbelt in Blackjack 17.Ralph Stricker - card counter 18.Ed Thorp - Author, Beat the Dealer 19.Olaf Vancura - Author, Knock-out Blackjack 20.Stanford Wong - Author, Professional Blackjack 21.Bill Zender - Author, Card Counting for the Casino Executive

[@superste533]

After I heard him say he was going to gamble the music budget for the film I couldnt help but think as I watched the video that he lost it all. Haha that was some crazy music

[@sahil8home]

Major problem for people is fear of busting. Busting gives you 0 chance of winning while standing on a 16 when a dealer shows a 10 gives you a very small chance of winning. Odds are you lose regardless if you stand so just go ahead an hit, chances are that you will get a low card especially if the true count is neutral or negative. PS: STOP SPLITTING 10S WHEN THE COUNT IS NOT AT LEAST A +4!!!!!

[@Lord_Sully]

If I have a 16 (hard) and the dealer shows 10, I am surrendering. Lol

[@richardle899]

Splitting 10's is betting 3 to win 1, it's never a good bet in any situation.

[@AnthonyJamesMusician]

Splitting is statistically sound if the count is very high and the dealer shows low. Still a gamble, but an informed one. But, it is a GUARANTEED way to bring heat from the pit...

[@briandraper7630]

+4 only for dealer 6. Dealer 5 has to be +5 and 4 is +6

[@garysharp849]

I play blackjack for fun using a few blackjack deviations with a high low system, sometimes I lose and sometimes I win. Its entertainment for me

[@sahil8home]

Same, I recreationally count cards. Not good enough to be pro or even semi pro, but I have been consistently making money playing 5 dollar mins using hi lo and deviations

[@marztar]

I count people at train stations. I make no money and sometimes I lose count but it keeps by mind distracted from the fact I am homeless and smell of urine.

[@derrikferguson3219]

@@sahil8home any backoffs?

[@briandraper7630]

TKO system is the best. So much easier to remember the deviations. I’ve mastered it

[@briandraper7630]

TKO count in color of blackjack by far the best

[@Fuzzlecakes1]

Literally spent the first 20 minutes thinking "the music blows, it'll go from practically dead quiet to in your face acid trip techno and whoever mixed this thing should be fired"...when he said he was bankrolling the trip with the music budget it all made sense. The fact he came out profitable was a bigger twist than the Red Wedding... All things said and done great great documentary though

[@Fuzzlecakes1]

+Fuzzlecakes1 Bigups to da gawd, Edward O. Thorp.

[@crypto2frens]

Was a great twist. If he came up with profit why didn't he decide to then spend the $5k on music? Great documentary. I wish he spoke about playing himself more rather than just results. Was the 2 deck shoe game easy to count? Ever lose the count? Didn't go much into detail.

[@Dafoodmaster]

i liked it! thought it was vibey

[@lonnieo4676]

lol,,, i hope the didn't spend 5000 bucks on that music...

[@885Blackjack]

Casinos aren't scared of blackjack players. They are just greedy corporations. Period.

[@jamesstephenbritton9723]

I'm wondering if the director was tested out to insure he was playing a perfect game before he started playing,

[@polok890]

1% advantage for a card counter

[@YankeeDoodleDandy]

It's amazing just how many people still can't process the math, even with thousands of books written on the subject and all the resources in the world out there. Take a tour through the comments section of this very video if you want to see what I'm talking about.

[@Phlegethon]

What’s scary isn’t the gambling heat it’s that if this guy was in his 30s shooting this video in the early 2000s he’s now in his 50s. Time is the scariest thing

[@Phlegethon]

And now I’m three years older. That’s scary right.

[@lexhashim8671]

Wow, that's an excellent point​@@Phlegethon

[@HarryJohnson69]

@@Phlegethonparadoxical AF

[@paulsuprono7225]

Easily the best show . . . I've ever had the pleasure in watch i ng. Probably will watch it, maybe 5 more times !

[@katewild2194]

Good people in The Gambling book store we had a good laugh when my friend and I went there.

[@daves2520]

Casinos should welcome card counters but limit their time at the table. Besides, most people who think they are card counters are actually losing players.

[@ratataran]

I have an app called counter UX, simply an app that let's you add or subtract one, using your volume buttons. I keep this under the table and keep count this way, however, it hasn't really helped me much. The thing with counting cards is, it will only give you at most a 1 percent advantage, and you will still lose. And when the high cards left count is high, the chance for the dealer to get those same cards is the same for you. It's gambling.

[@themomentalist]

@@ratataran Don’t get caught, that’s illegal. Also, you’re making a classic mistake… it doesn’t matter that the dealer is just as likely to benefit from high cards as the dealer, that’s not what makes the difference. The difference is that blackjacks pay 3:2 to the player but not the dealer… think about it…

[@starkparker16]

Great upload thanks very much

[@paulsuprono7225]

Jus watched it, again !

[@DoYouEvenRift]

Great documentary, pretty much gets everything right

[@haroldcochran6081]

"They need that profit to keep the economy" lol. What the hell was that. Someones been drinking the casino security koolaid for too long. He may as well have said, come here to have us rob you so we can pay our employees. That guy makes me want to be a card counter all the more lol.

[@joemiller95]

That guy is an example of the kind of people who make religious police. He's an unintelligent person, that's obvious, and he has a very poor grasp of logic, a minimal education, and he doesn't understand rational analysis. He's perfect for his job.

[@terpsurfer7221]

I would like to ask him if his new hires start at the same salary as him. That explanation of you have no right to win more than the next guy because your smarter is so asinine.

[@joemiller95]

@@terpsurfer7221 It is. But he didn't know how to say what he meant. He didn't understand what counting actually is so he put it badly. What he was more or less trying to say is that we aren't willing to play blackjack with you when you have an advantage, something any intelligent non-addicted person is saying when they walk by this table and choose not to play with us because WE almost always have the advantage. Just as an ordinary player shouldn't play with us, and that is always your option, we choose not to play with you, as is always our option. The most intelligent way to play blackjack, except for counting, is not to play. That is THE winning blackjack strategy. It's much, much more successful than Basic Strategy can ever be. I play poker in a casino for money. And I am one of the best blackjack players in the entire casino: I don't play. So I'm always getting the very best outcomes that anyone can get long term. All a casino is doing when they exclude a counter is exactly what I am doing when I choose not to play. Why should the casino play with someone who can beat them long term? They're not stupid. They're not addicted. They're in it for the money.

[@nedschneebly5424]

I would kill to argue with that surveillance guy cause his logic is just ridiculous. So if I practice and use my brain to lower the edge a casino has it’s unfair for the guy sitting next to me? What a fucking loser.

[@grifter84]

Transfer the same logic to any other competition and it falls apart so comically. If I'm better at basketball, chess, poker, anything, it's not unfair that my skill and practice set me up to win more often against lesser competition! And he says it so smugly too, I can't tell if he's just that sincerely stupid or a complete cynic. Moreover, at points he makes it sound like card counters are taking money out of the pockets of "regular Joe" gamblers. Obviously that's not how it works. This isn't poker - we're after the casinos' money and nobody else's. The casino already fleeced Joe from Kokomo to get that money, I'm just taking it for myself. Joe's still SOL, but that's between him and the casino.

[@25FATTY]

Counting cards is unfair because your taking money from the casino, but its ok for the casino to get the average player drunk as shit and empty is wallet.. hmmm

[@texans221]

Yea what he said

[@HarveyBacktheBeatles]

What I find interesting is how in this documentary Tommy Hyland is not in silhouette or blurred out but other interviews he is.

[@Savagemister]

Yeah, this is the first time I'm seeing his face.

[@derrikferguson3219]

I saw a totally drunk guy pushing stacks of $10 chips for bets. I looked at the dealer like “you gonna cut him off?” But he didn’t. The guy ended up losing about $1,000 and stumbling off pretty much blackout drunk.

[@tetis677]

Which is a big motivation of an advantage player to continue to take money from casinos

[@DwazeHoer]

I was playing this week and this exact thing. Guy was fading. He didn't know it was his turn and had to be told. When he finally left he could barely walk. If this wasn't a casino but a bar and they kept serving him they could be held responsible if something happened but the casino kept bringing him drinks. His play was so bad and it didn't stop. They took him for so much. Seriously evil stuff. I didn't have a bad night I was up but under expected. I was so mad I couldn't deal. Kept my cool until I got home and just felt dirty. Casinos are evil and that environment can get to you.

[@oldmanstyl3]

Sneaky basic strategy chart at 1:30:59 in the hotel windows.

[@igorgerlovin3185]

25: 17 -- He said "there are very few good one-deck games." There's one right behind your back! (Its called the Stratosphere).

[@zamiadams4343]

Great documentary! Cheers man.

[@pwcrabb5766]

Excellent production

[@priayief]

I enjoyed that video. Informative. Real life. Even if it is 7 years old.

[@ianandersen265]

BJ21 has gone downhill in the years since. People are afraid to post information anymore for fear of casinos finding out, alienating other pros, or because people have taken more than they contributed. The information on their newsletter is somewhat, but not fully accurate, and doesn't compare to playing in person and finding out yourself.

[@billzbounce]

As odd as it sounds, and as corrupt as Mr. Andy Anderson appears, it's an almost "necessary evil." The back-and-forth, "cat-and-mouse" back-offs are the only way that a beatable game can still be provided by casinos. It thins the heard of potential card counters and allows only the very diligent counters to profit...otherwise the casinos would be overrun by counters, and the Blackjack game may cease to exist (personal opinion). BTW:... Respect to the background Jazz/Fusion music, and God Bless Ken Uston.

[@csrstlo]

Can you send me the soundtrack used for this. I’d like to use it for my gym sessions.

[@Bankable2790]

lmfao

[@MikeKleinsteuber]

Thanks for the upload. Great little programme

[@ELCLAVE300]

Really? Mr. Anderson, card counting is unfair? The casino is allowed to have an edge but the player is punished for overcoming the house advantage? Don't forget that your casinos advertise winning, not losing. To mislead people in to losing their money is just dirty business. The casinos deserve to lose their money since it is the casino that advertises it. Now that is completely unfair.

[@juanshaftpatel7488]

umad?

[@dd1984mm]

THIS!!

[@jrd8526]

This guy pissed me off listening to him. He is saying it is unfair to the other players at the table that the counter might be gaining an advantage. Totally illogical. The player is playing against the house, not the other players. It is ok for the casino to have the advantage and take money from all the normies playing, but if someone plays by the rules and gains an advantage it is unfair.

[@mercster]

Here cuz of Norm.

[@derrikferguson3219]

Norm is God.

[@billzbounce]

Wattenberger...?

[@workaholic2022]

Ace 7 against a 456 is my favorite double down and always hit against 9 10 ace

[@themomentalist]

That’s a good one, but doubling a soft 21 against a 4, 5 or 6 is even sweeter. Especially as you would only do it after splitting 10s and getting an Ace as the second card… drives the rest of the players absolutely crazy 😝

[@billzbounce]

Wow...😂

[@briandraper7630]

A7 you should double 2-6, stand 7 and 8 and hit 9,10, ace you aren’t playing it right

[@Mike-fj2ln]

So if a bunch of people show up and know how to play craps, and another group shows up, but doesn't fully understand it and makes mistakes, we PUNISH the first that first group and have them arrested? Really. Start at 1:20:00 and watch.

[@squidbaffler]

Great soundtrack.

[@qwaszx2]

Dylan Keefe I think is a #1 hit writing musician and band member.

[@xoxLESLYxox]

The guy at the end as far as fairness goes? uhhm surprise surprise then mr fair i hope you are making the same amount of money as your employees under you...its not fair>>pfffft. hate to break it to you knowledge rewards sometimes.

[@richardle899]

Using chips to keep track of counts isn't illegal, is it?

[@Tommy-lv2pr]

No, but it’s very obvious that you’re counting cards when doing it

[@Dafoodmaster]

tearful spankin'

[@jackhenry9373]

In Blackbelt in BJ Snyder doesnt outline the Red Seven count thouroughly

[@kennydanis]

As much as I hate barring in my opinion I think that a preferential shuffle is a lot worse because it hurt the game's integrity.

[@kennydanis]

+Sheldon Cooper While you still take a chance if they do not shuffle. No matter it still doesn't change the fact that it in some ways alters the games outcome fundamentally.

[@ChefClary60]

Read Beat the Dealer in 1991 and started going to Vegas a couple times a year. Playing Basic Stradegy kept me even. When I started to look for trends in ten count vs low cards i started to win. Since I just got laid off, thank you Mr COVID, thinking about gambling. Probably a really bad idea.

[@waynerogers5485]

Bad for gambling. Good for probabilities, statistics. Not for "fun".

[@bridgittjones9074]

This was a very informative video for someone who’s going on a gambling vacation and would like to come home with some of their money... thanks a lot.

[@aran125]

Bridgitt Jones Hope you played in poker room. Best spot to play and win in a casino.

[@jessek8524]

How do u know John and Richard and Dan?

[@LEFTaTIP]

Andy Anderson , thinks it should be "A level playing field" with all casino players and gives his example of a Advantage Blackjack player knowing more Aces and faces are coming but Ol Tommy from Cocomo Indiana doesn't know it.......well it doesn't get more of a level playing field than that Mr Anderson. As Ol Tommy could be getting those Aces and faces too. lol

[@aran125]

LEFTaTIP He’s a total prick that guy.

[@Agent0range67]

Andy Anderson is true communist

[@dd1984mm]

When he said that, then followed with how the casino has to be profitable to pay their employees and stimulate the economy, I laughed so hard. Bruh, that's not how it works. If you have to do that to "make your money", you need to rethink your business model because it's flawed.

[@OHIOPOLICE]

Where's all the views

[@dylanschang6386]

Could definitely tell the music budget for this film took a hit

[@lonnieo4676]

amazing how they can get millions of hits on poker videos but not much on a game you can actually beat the casino at...

[@ianandersen265]

Because this video quality is less good compared to other documentaries.

[@MrFang333333]

Dealer has a 10 vers A 7 (soft 18) = 6 under double, 7 and 8 stand, 9 through ace HIT. Hit on the 10.

[@briandraper7630]

The $5000 was not good bankroll management for the $25-$200 spread. You want MINIMUM 100 big bets so 200x100 is $20,000 bankroll as a minimum. His risk of ruin must have been sky high

[@briandraper7630]

Still can’t stand people that claim that card counting is cheating. It is just using your brain. It’s like a student studying hard for a test for a week and then getting 100% and the teacher saying he actually gets a 70% because he studied too much. Ridiculous.

[@aran125]

What yr did this documentary come out??

[@danielbutcher8108]

By the looks early 90s

[@dd1984mm]

@@danielbutcher8108, yeah, that bulky laptop and seeing Windows 3.01 on that screen gave it away. Lol.

[@CrashRebootL3]

using logic is cheating, lol, that's a load of shite.

[@MondoLeStraka]

BTW, RIP Vivian.

[@paulklemer]

Anthony Curtis looks very young here

[@Son-ke9fp]

11:49 Did someone fart?

[@cookiesforu1]

I think the guy who did the movie just played himself out, burned out to many hours a day.

[@austinthrowsstuff]

1:12:00 is gold lmao

[@briandraper7630]

Griffin book is gone now

[@sylvanpeursum1264]

lol. the guy thinks he's getting heat over $135. that is the funniest thing i've heard all day.

[@MrFang333333]

Actually...He may just have been "getting heat".

[@NicverAZ]

You can get heat for any amount.

[@MondoLeStraka]

I got backed off in Reno for going to maybe 2 x $20.

[@KaliAndy2]

You get heat not over amount of money but betting patterns.

[@jackhenry9373]

And barely explains the Zen count

[@sanfranciscobay]

1:20:01 Facial Recognition Software use by the Casinos.

[@MondoLeStraka]

OT but I have moved to Iowa temporarily and can't wait to make it back to the Bay Area.

[@fodolocraigo8426]

@@MondoLeStraka does bay area have? casino's

[@MondoLeStraka]

@@fodolocraigo8426 yes.

[@MondoLeStraka]

@@fodolocraigo8426 I love River Rock, BTW. The rest are card room on the BA. However you could take an hour and fifteen minute (or so) ride to Cache Creek. I have reopened my website: www.BlackjackSolutions.net. You're more than welcome to sign up of course.

[@woodrowjr.7166]

Yeah, he obviously used that $5,000 he was going to use for the music.

[@Phlegethon]

The casino surveillance dude sounds like a religious nut

[@stewyoder1806]

Ive watched to 42 min and you obviously lost all the music money. Haha great movie though

[@xrogu3_sniip3rx81]

How to turn a 30min vid into an HR and a half vid let's just have everyone talk about getting kicked out of a casino lol

[@jackhenry9373]

Calling All AP's who have gotten tired of poor running counts in BJ: There is one bet at baccarat post shiffle: BEt player if its 7 and under and banker if 8 and over.

[@terryshadow82]

I never lose at BlackJack, I double down on 18 when dealer showing a 9 or 10 and I hold on a 16 when dealer is showing a face card.... Yeah, I'm that good

[@alejandrorodriguez2426]

Jaja

[@BlackjackLover]

Bravo

[@dr.options]

I'll open a table for you any time you would like some action, if that's actually how you play.

[@MX-CO]

I hare hitting 16, I usually stay on them. The only way I hit is if I've seen a lot of high cards go out, and I know there are more small cards left than high cards, I win staying on 16 sometimes (dealer busts) and I consider it lucky when it happens but 95% of the time When I watch for the next car I can see that I woukd have busted, Very rarely it will be a card that would have helped me. And I feel my chances are better if staying and praying for a bust. Than taking a hit on 16

[@thegrassyknoll7792]

If you put in endless hours and maybe ends up as a good bj player, you imo have earned the right to win more than the other poor souls at the table , btw i think its so unfair that i dont get paid the same as messi when i kick a football, its just not fair right 😁🖕🏻

[@garysharp8871]

A perfect card counter has a small 1 percent advantage due to the blackjacks they receive, now if you are using playing variations your advantage may be about 2 percent. Still with such a small player edge you are risking more money and you definitely can lose. There are countless card counters that have lost their shirt simply because they are not perfect counters and or they don't have the cash to handle the lossing streaks remember the advantage only comes from the Blackjacks you receive and trust me when I tell you the dealer can get the big cards as well. In my opinion your better off just playing basic strategy if you dont have a big bankroll to count cards

[@PBLTD]

so TRUE

[@SOLINAKIAS]

so wrong

[@jrd8526]

That 2% edge adds up when betting large enough and for a large enough sample of hands. It is simple math. It is not easy to execute, but it is doable.

[@garysharp8871]

@jrd8526 it'd doable if you have hours of time to play and you can handle loosing streaks without chasing losses.The blackjack, double downs and splits is the counters advantage, but with such a small edge counters will lose alot

[@briandraper7630]

All this surveillance for people using their brains and following casino rules lmao

[@terryshadow82]

15:04 he mentioned Fortran computer language - are you kidding me, that's like rocks compared to a calculator .. He programmed in Fortran, you need to listen to him

[@lagosfury5142]

Hope you got your money back for video quality,editing and especially the MUSIC chooser,,just horrible,the content was good and interesting tho

[@375GTB]

A lot of water under the bridge, since 2003. I wouldn't try it… UMMV

[@jackhenry9373]

6/10 of a percent edge on top of the 50 % that the house already has

[@retiredreseller8399]

very poorly constructed video.. wide variations in sound volume ,non related video clips.

[@marztar]

My grandad used to love blackjack. Then my grandma found out and kicked his gay ass out. Now he lives under the bridge and Jack won't even visit him.

[@88KeysIdaho]

HaHa- Worst joke, EVER! lol

[@albertodeulofeu5277]

Hahahahahaha

[@blueartistathotmail]

This would be much better without the directors’s personal counting experience.

[@anthonytripp2251]

Card counting is a fallacy. It is worth noting that the MIT team ended up losing money. And give credit where credit is due. John Scarne is never mentioned.

[@warcazza]

The casinos are the only ones who give credit and thanks to Scarne. Years later, degenerate plebs like yourself still idolise him.

[@alexvicaire142]

You do stand on 7,A against 10 though...

[@kfullmer89]

Nope.

[@MondoLeStraka]

You double down 2 through 6, stay 7,8 and hit 9 through Ace.

[@phantom5185]

The main problem is: When ones-self thinks of something, they tend to need to spill the beans, and fucken open there mouth and broadcast it to everyone or anyone. The most is this fucken clothe is he a "Reporter working for the News". Peoples ego hey have you heard about this. Story story, advertise broadcast. It's the worst anyone can do. This flick is a joke, going to Vegas for 10-days doing research. Not that I didn't watch it, but it's a joke.

[@chilidog73]

So Mr. Anderson, what you're saying is I can come in and do your job and you'll pay me at the same rate that you're paid. Because there no value in skill or experience, correct? When shall I start packing?

[@derekowen9098]

He counted wrong