It began as an academic interest in the early days of computing. Dr. Edward O. Thorp, a California professor, wanted to test a theory that blackjack could be beaten. He devised a simple counting method to track the ratio of high to low cards played. When there are more high cards left in the deck the odds favor the player. When there are more low cards left in the deck the odds favor the dealer or "the house." He presented his findings in academic papers and in a popular book, "Beat the Dealer."

As the casinos became aware of the danger of hosting a game whose odds did not favor the house, they took countermeasures: by shuffling the deck they kept players from the advantage of "deep counts." They could also bar anyone, any time, and they did, throwing "counters" off the property.

But the Genie was out of the bottle.

Coming along in the wake of Thorp were such blackjack greats as Stanford Wong, Arnold Snyder, Ken Uston, and Jerry Patterson. Thorp, Wong, Snyder, and Uston are members (there are only 12) of the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Their work was capped by the famous MIT team that hit Vegas and other gambling spots in the 90's and took millions from their tills.

Stanford Wong (John Ferguson) has a Ph. D. in Finance from Stanford University. In 1975 he published a book, "Professional Blackjack," which is still a standard in the field. Years ago he traveled to Macau to test their tolerance with counters and did well. He self-published a book, "Blackjack in Asia," which he priced at $2,000. Another book, "Winning Without Counting," sold for a paltry $200.

Arnold Snyder is a northern California player and writer who created "The First Church of Blackjack." He is, of course, the Bishop. His books include "Blackbelt in Blackjack." He publishes a newsletter, "Blackjack Forum." He has testified as an expert witness in trials on the rights of blackjack counters.

Ken Uston formed player teams. He trained them and turned them loose on the casinos. Uston, at one time Senior Vice President of the Pacific Stock Exchange, challenged the legality of casinos barring skilled players. Though he won the casinos introduced draconian measures that actually hurt card-counting teams. He also introduced training videos to the field.

Jerry Patterson is a New Jersey-based professional gambler. He is best known as an author ("Blackjack"), was one of the first to track "non-random deck shuffles," and started franchised Blackjack schools. Today he writes about many games, and like Wong and others, believes that craps can be beaten through "dice control," the way the dice are thrown.

The MIT team, immortalized in Ben Mezrich's book, "Bringing Down the House," purportedly separated casinos from three million dollars during their brief run. These math and computer geeks developed counting systems to go along with a new innovation - a division of labor - in team play where one player would act as a "Spotter," counting cards but calling no attention to him/herself while another player, the "Gorilla," watched. When the Spotter signaled the Gorilla, the Gorilla would come in, make big bets only when the odds were in favor of the players, then split.

So, where are we?

Blackjack is still one of the most popular games for players. It is still a substantial center for the house. Andy Bloch, one of the MIT players, has a new DVD series out that trains in the manner of the MIT team. He says, "Blackjack can still be beaten."

So, who's winning? Grab a seat and start counting. It ain't over till its over.