About Mike

For most of my adult years blackjack has been a focal point of my life in one form or another. If you’ve read the book, Bringing Down The House, you may know me as “Jason Fisher”, one of the leaders of the MIT Blackjack Team. We were a group of MIT students that used card counting to beat the system. You also may have seen our team’s story depicted on the big screen in the major motion picture, 21.

Intellectual curiosity and the promise of the high roller life style were what initially drew me to card counting. However, blackjack became much more than a fascinating game with appealing perks. Blackjack became my passion and full-time profession. Beyond the mathematics of card counting, I learned how to run a business and manage a team. I also gained insight into human nature, including why people often make irrational decisions.

I enjoyed an exciting and successful blackjack career. I did get to experience the life of a high roller, but as much I enjoyed the penthouse suites and caviar, these luxuries  didn’t compare to winning big at the blackjack tables.   After our team’s incredible 6-year  run, I had become one of the most infamous blackjack players in the casino world.  Card counting is perfectly legal, but casinos reserve the right to take countermeasures against those who are identified as “advantage players.”  Information sharing among casinos and the  Griffin Investigations detective agency helped put me at the top of  the casinos’  black list of professional card counters.

Several years after I retired,  I  had the unexpected pleasure to hit the blackjack tables again in several televised blackjack tournaments, including the  World Series of Blackjack and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. Although tournament blackjack is quite different from live blackjack I had a great time competing against the best players in the world.

When my playing days ended, I got involved in the non-profit sector as a volunteer, tutoring and mentoring high school students in math and SAT preparation. I quickly discovered that I love teaching as much as I d0 blackjack. I started  an after school program in the Washington DC area with the mission of helping underrepresented youth achieve higher education. Combining my two passions, I co-founded the Blackjack Institute, a company with a line of instructional products that teach players how to win at blackjack.

Now, even though I’ve been declared persona non grata at casinos around the world, I’m fortunate to be just as involved with blackjack as I was in my playing days. I’m blessed with the opportunities to speak professionally about my experiences,  and provide blackjack coaching to players who want to learn how  to turn the odds in their favor. My wife and I now live in Los Angeles with our beloved dog, Ellie Lou.