Card counting iPhone app frowned upon in Vegas
By Darren Murph 
posted February 17th 2009 4:47PM
posted February 17th 2009 4:47PM
[Via TUAW]
posted February 17th 2009 4:47PM
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I'll pass. Wouldn't want to get the circular saw to the fingers...it would render my iphone useless.
Really? I always find out about the good stuff when its too late to use it.
So can someone explain to me how exactly this works? How can a phone help you count cards?
it's not just a phone. Its an iPhone!
I don't really get it either, whenever you use a cellphone/anything at the tables, they'll call you out on it and wont let you play until you put it away. I don't see how you can use it without anyone noticing
There are a sheer countless number of reasons to avoid vegas aren't there, not even an iphone app could count those.
Every casino I've ever been in has made me, and anyone I have ever seen, stand up and away from the table when using a cell phone. To think this is some huge deal and some body was tapping away on their phone and consulting it before staying or hitting is a little far-fetched.
I'm sorry but how stupid do you have to be to wager money in a place where basic math skills are considered cheating?
Ahh...No, you just enter the cards you see.
eh? Card counting isn't illegal, but using a device to facilitate the card counting is. Casinos might not want to waste their time calling the cops, but they sure as hell are going to kick you out.
Companies have been selling us products we'll willingly (and are in no way forced to) buy for years, its time we use illegal methods to get those products for free!
Casinos have been boning us for years, its time they got screwed.
I can tell nobody here can count cards because nobody has mentioned that this app wouldnt even make you very much money if you could use it to count. Counting only gives you a percentage or two at most over the house so it would take more than your average Vegas weekend to even make any serious money with it. In fact, if youre only a casual player you could very well be down even while counting. It would take a team and many many many hands (8 hours a day) over the course of many weeks to make any real money with this thing. The average loser at the table playing for a couple hours should just get a job.
Brings new meaning to "Killer App."
For what it's worth, the app in the screenshot above, "Card Counter", does not appear to be an app to be used at the actual table but rather a "tool" to teach people how to count cards (i.e., in your mind, without the use of a device). This is why there's a slim chance the quotes are accurate - if those people did learn how to count cards in their head then it might have helped them. Maybe.
A different app in the App Store, "A Blackjack Card Counter", appears to be the one with all the real controversy. Not sure how it works exactly but it looks like it vibrates in your pocket and you touch the screen with your fingers even though the screen is black. This app looks to be the one that could get you in real trouble.
the iTouch isn't a cellphone, i listen to mine all the time while playing in the vegas casinos
Its not called an iTouch, jesus christ people... you sound like freakin foreigners every time you say iTouch...
www.apple.com/ipodtouch
^^^^^^^^^^^
The creator is gonna get whacked.
I just downloaded the card counting App, two of them in fact. The one pictured here on engadget is $2.99 and all it does is give you a practice scenario to teach you to count cards WITHOUT the iPhone. The one that actually keeps track of the true card count is only $1.99 and is the second result when you search for apps on the iPhone its called "Black Jack Card Counter" to make it work you basically need the first App to teach you which cards are +1 and which are 0 or -1 so that you can press either the left or right hand side of the screen. once you get to +6.0 or higher the phone vibrates. In stealth mode nothing is displayed on the phone. Im gonna give it a shot here in vegas at some of the lower end casino's and see what happens.
And RouterGuy was never heard from again.
Watch the movie "21" if you get a chance. It was VERY interesting.
Vegas won't even let you use your cell phone on the tables anyway... so this wouldn't work to cheat... whatever
I already have a card counting device: its called my next-door neighbor's autistic kid. Little bugger can count like a calculator on steroids. I put him in a tux and sit him next to me at the table. As long as no one touches his ears, we're golden.
hahaha
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just need an app that gives you texas holdem odds and then play online.
Consequences? Are you talking about a beatdown by Fishburn or no respect from Spacey?