Card Counting Church Group

[Bou]

Thoughts?

Colin Jones has toiled in the cacophonous, windowless, artificially lighted corridors of casinos across the country in an effort to beat the house with math. He has worked to master the art of card counting, long scorned by casino operators, in which players try to gain an advantage over a blackjack dealer by keeping track of all the cards seen, and then adjusting their bets.

Colin Jones and his group of Christian card counters are said to have won $3.2 million over five years.

Now he is selling his tactics to others. On March 24, 10 people from across the country will arrive in Las Vegas and pay $1,500 each for Jones to teach them how to count cards.

What those students may not realize is that their teacher belongs to an unlikely subset of blackjack players. Jones is a Christian card counter.

Until last year, he and his high school friend from Bible camp, Ben Crawford, ran a group of more than 30 religious card counters. Based in Seattle, the rotating cast of players says it won $3.2 million over five years

 

[Izdaari]

Hmm, I don't know what to think about this, but some first reactions...

1) I don't think gambling is inherently immoral, though it's a bad thing to addicted to. I also don't think it's immoral to make a living by gambling, if one does it honestly.

2) I don't know the details, but it doesn't sound like it's cheating, just using math skills to calculate probabilities. Since math isn't my strong suit, I might not be any good at it.

3) If those students thought their enterprise had anything to do with their Christian faith, they were mistaken. It's as purely a secular pastime or occupation as there is.

 

[ALAYMAN]

Sad, but predictable in this postmodern mushy pleasure seeking hedonistic culture.  Pushing the boundaries and self-absorbed Christianity is the norm today, not the exception.

 

[rsc2a]

Hmm, I don't know what to think about this, but some first reactions...

1) I don't think gambling is inherently immoral, though it's a bad thing to addicted to. I also don't think it's immoral to make a living by gambling, if one does it honestly.

2) I don't know the details, but it doesn't sound like it's cheating, just using math skills to calculate probabilities. Since math isn't my strong suit, I might not be any good at it.

3) If those students thought their enterprise had anything to do with their Christian faith, they were mistaken. It's as purely a secular pastime or occupation as there is.

Mostly agreed. I'm not a fan of the sacred/secular divide though.