MIT graduate Jeff Ma visits the UI to share the gambling strategies that helped him win more than $2 million
When most people stare at a card deck, they see a stack of paper-thin rectangles stamped with an ornate pattern. Jeff Ma sees negative and positive values.
The 32-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate spoke about his experiences outwitting legendary Las Vegas casinos at blackjack in the IMU Main Lounge on Wednesday night. As a member of a group dubbed "hyper-geniuses," Ma and friends meticulously studied card-counting, a legal strategy based on probability formulas.
The group, the MIT Blackjack Team, refined a strategy introduced by MIT Professor Edward Thorp and won roughly $5 million over six years. Ma pocketed roughly half of the 10-member group's earnings.
"People call us 'ultra-geniuses,' but I could teach anyone in this room how to card-count," he said. The difference between his team and those he sees on flights to Nevada is, "We really took it to a point where we treated it like a business."
The Boston native described a typical outing to an audience, a great many of whom were rapidly took notes. The MIT group logged an average 20 hours at the tables between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday - between which they spent hours refining strategy and setting earnings goals.
Ma challenged the 550 attending to consider alternative career paths than those the academic system deems acceptable.
"Don't be restricted by what society says you should do as long as you're learning and being challenged and it's legal," he said.
When a friend introduced him to the blackjack team in the fall of 1994, Ma said he felt interested to join but apprehensive.
"I mean, how could you go and gamble and make money off of it?" he remembered thinking.
After graduation in 1994, Ma moved to Chicago to trade stocks. Lonely for his college buddies, Ma saw bimonthly trips to America's playground as an opportunity to eat great food and spend time with close friends. Making up to $130,000 in a weekend proved a perk, he added.
