It was being developed in the mid 90's through an experiment done at Stanford University. It was a difficult system to put together but once it worked the casinos involved were ecstatic to think it could actually work, and then they would have to get their gang of lawyers together to prove its legality. It was called Mind Play and it was simply a system that kept track of the cards from a camera through a computer that set off a red light when the count was heavy in the players favor and stayed green while it was in favor of the house.

It just simply recognized 10's-Aces, nothing anyone could do if the house didn't throw them out. A small model was made and it was tested and then brought in front of the Gaming Commission for approval. The way they presented it was that it was nothing than an adding machine done with a camera and computer instead of a guy doing it with a pencil and paper. Of course the players, knowing when it was time, in their favor to shuffle had no power to tell the dealer to shuffle, the casino could tell them to shuffle after the second hand and the player had nothing to say about it. None of the Commissioners liked the idea but it didn't count cards, it didn't mark cards, it just kept a running count of the face cards and Aces. It was approved on a temporary basis.

I don't know if they informed the players that the Mind Play was being used on their table. Although I don't believe anyone in their right mind would sit at a table that had a sign that said "Mind Play in use at this table, simply a computer used to tell the dealer when to shuffle." So I'm sure they didn't advertise Mind Play and they probably just wanted to see if it worked and if it made any difference as to weather the club had a larger advantage using the machine. I still call this cheating since they used the machine at all without letting the public know it was even a possibility rather than just use it without their knowledge, and how would the public react finding out the machine was even being produced yet a single person that was "suspected" to be counting cards could be asked to leave.

So what do you do when the casino's using a machine against you yet you're not allowed to use anything more than your intelligence? Then one day a big player from Las Vegas got wind of this and decided to spend a couple of nights at the El Dorado Club to see for himself if it was a true story. He'd been playing for over 30 years and knew everything about Blackjack there was to know. After a short time he noticed the floor man would whisper to the dealer and the dealer shuffled the cards but the player noticed after the second shoe that they weren't using a cut card. It's legal not to use a cut card as long as you don't run out of the cards being used. But when the rumor came out about their way of dealing Ross went to see for himself. He got a drink and sat at a slot machine near the tables. Nothing unusual after 20 minutes. He was on his second drink when a player came in and spoke in private to the shift boss and the table limit was changed from a $5 limit to a $25-$500 limit. He was the only player at the table. The shift boss made a call and did something at the podium and after Ross watched for less than a half hour he could easily realize they were shuffling at different times, different places. They used a cut card so the game wouldn't look illegal, but after the cut the cut card went to the very back of the shoe so they could shuffle when they wanted to and not have to give some kind of excuse why they're shuffling before or after the cut card came out. He was rich and he was mad. He couldn't care less about the El Dorado casino but they knew for sure if it worked almost every casino would start to use the Mind Play system "legally" He flew back to Las Vegas and hired a lawyer and the courts are hearing the case right now and until they OK it's use the casinos will not be allowed to use the device. Going up against the casinos is like trying to get the government to move the Washington Monument twenty feet to the right so they can get a better view of the White House.

So what was the casinos defense? The dealer is an agent of the casino, not a player. The house has the right to shuffle at any time; they can deal one hand from a shoe to one player and shuffle if they wanted to, of course no one would play but it's legal. the El Dorado was hit with a big law suit from Ross Jacobs. He hired Frank Cremen, probably the sharpest lawyer in Las Vegas and in the gaming community. He's taken on the largest casinos and never lost. He took Frank in to the El Dorado and got a dead game and asked the shift boss to make it a $25 to $500 limit which the casino gladly did. No body recognized them so the game went on. He bought in for $1,000 and since it was Reno he really didn't think he would have any problem with cheating, and especially from the house. He ran the $1,000 up to almost $4,000 with big bets to start. He knew it would take time for Mind Play to come up with a determination so the first few hands were his best chance. The floor gave a sign and the dealer shuffled the cards. Ross wasn't paying attention since he was winning. But after a short time he lost back more than half the money. He knew he was being scammed. The way it was done was the phone had a regular ring and it also had a beep tone. When the beep tone came, and it wasn't a loud beep so nobody noticed. Well these things happen, right?

Benny Binion said "It's impossible, you might be able to tell me there are a lot of big cards or small cards but you sure as hell can't tell me what card is coming up. What Benny didn't understand was that these new card counters didn't have to keep track of all the cards, just how many big cards or small cards. It's easier to track the big cards since they're easier to spot and you have to figure where the big and small cards cut off. Is a 7 a big or small card, what about an 8? But everyone agrees the 10-A are the big cards and the counters all know the cards are in their favor when there's more large cards than small cards. Dealers make their hands with small cards. Hitting the 15's and 16's with threes, fours, fives etc.

The Mind Play system was just discovered and we don't know how long it was in use or exactly where it was used and how it was used. It could have been much more sophisticated and refitted when they found out the Gaming Commission got wind of it from the player at the El Dorado. If the courts find against the casinos all hell will break loose. What money they make on the tables will be gone along with all the players. No body will trust playing in a casino again, not the table games, certainly not the slots. The casinos argument is totally lame, they say that if the players can use systems to beat Blackjack and the casinos claim they can also easily cheat a Crap table and maybe even a Roulette game, which is hard to believe. If the courts find against the casinos all the casinos will have to be checked that there are no system isn't in use on any of the games, What if the MGM had used it? You're talking about the biggest casinos on the strip, the biggest casinos in the gaming industry using machines against the player and since there are so many ways to signal the dealer it's difficult to tell when and where the system is being used. The casinos are just saying it's because they want the dealers to keep to procedure but when one dealer shuffles after three hands and the next dealer lets it go five hands against the same amount of players that's just goddamn cheating. The casinos are winning, they always win. Even a loss is worth no telling how much advertising goes out when word gets around that somebody won big at a hotel. Look at the signs at the Vegas hotels. Every one of them says "Bob won $89,000 and Jackie won $112,000 and so on because they know everyone wants to win and with all the casinos around those big numbers on the billboards attract as much attention as a naked Jennifer Lopez on the next billboard. Although people wouldn't stop to take pictures of the money winners.

If this is the first time you're hearing about the Mind Play system go to your search engine and type in Mind Play system and read it for yourself. It will truly scare you what's being done now to beat the player and what's on the horizon. And it's not all pretty. To build a $2.5 billion dollar casino you'd better win, and win big and win fast. Until Bill Gates builds his own casino with his own money, creditors want to get paid back quickly and the machines like Mind Play may become necessary to try to retrieve their loans. My question is, how did Steve Wynn borrow $900 million bucks and pay it back in half the allotted time without using computers or any "advantage" machines? It was simple; He just gave them a classy place to play, beautiful rooms and pool. He gave them a beautiful atrium with water falls and pina colada scent to calm the people down and make them feel their comfort and beauty was more important than slot machines and table games and he was totally right. He did the same on a bigger scale at the Bellagio. A huge flower and plant atrium when you walk in. The pina colada scent. Beautiful vases and art. The Chahully glass flowers brought thousands in just to see the $10 million dollar pieces of blown glass flowers. The retail shops are few but the highest end retail shops in the world. So what if people aren't aware or don't really care about Mind Play, they just want the atmosphere. Except atmosphere in a casino is what draws people to Las Vegas. The Mind Play machine can't stop you from winning, just over a long period of time. Eventually shuffling the cards at the best spot will give the house too much of an advantage over a long period of time and people that do play will only play for a short period of time and only when they're winning, as soon as they hit a losing tendency they'll quit if they're smart.

So what's the simplest answer? The only answer is to stick to the smaller casinos that can't afford the technology and certainly can't afford the bad publicity and the loss of their regular players. Players will flock to the small North Las Vegas casinos and the small casinos on the Boulder Strip. And if you don't believe me, try us? See how long we'll play on the Strip with machines like Mind Play being used against us? What kind of reputation will Las Vegas take on if we start using these devices? We'll never be trusted again. And certainly the other gaming areas like Mesquite, Laughlin, all the other small Nevada towns that don't use the devices will advertise they don't use the machines and the players will start spending their weekends in Tonopah and Ely and the Las Vegas casinos will have to change back to their original "honest" ways or Las Vegas will soon look like Rhyolite, a ghost town 90 miles north of Las Vegas. After all, one lost job based on the perception of cheating leads to everyone following in kind.

So the new casino mentality has changed thanks to the gaming empires, they're rich but they're never rich enough. Instead of milking the cow slowly and friendly, now they want to take an axe and chop it up and eat it raw for dinner. Welcome to the possible new Las Vegas mentality, and get your gambling in now…just in case the courts make a huge mistake. Nothing they haven't done before.

-Ken Pearlman