Jack Hitt

Okay, a quick explanation for those of you who don't play.

In Blackjack, you're trying to get close to 21.

Two 10s add up to 20, so that's a really good hand.

Splitting 10s is crazy, what they call a deviation.

And Shirley has just done it.

Twice.

But it's not crazy if you happen to know that the deck is momentarily packed with high cards and that the dealer probably would bust.

Even though the dealer didn't bust as he was supposed to, it didn't matter.

Splitting those tens and making such massive bets gave her a way to security.

For some of the other card counters, they faced a different crisis of faith, the commandment about stealing.

Remember, you're carrying around tens of thousands of dollars in your pocket and winning tens of thousands more, and nobody knows how much you've won or lost, except you.

Here's another team member named Dusty.

Which means he was faced with a choice.

Keep the money or confess the mistake.

Dusty confessed.

But you can see how easy it would be to steal.

And they all knew it.

In time, their trust in each other began to fray.

And suspicions that some of the members were stealing grew.

One player lost big one night and phoned a lot of the other players.