Brunmarde.com

The team worked at the mathematics — the expected advantages, the proper Spotter payouts, the appropriate BP betting scheme — in rigorous detail, with the aid of computers and countless hours of simulated play. Average profit percentages ranged from between 10 and 20 percent per gambling foray, but could go much higher depending on the number of open tables and the number of possible player hours. 'The first year I played, we returned 154 percent to our investors,' brags Lewis. 'That's after paying off expenses. You try and do that on Wall Street.' The real genius of the MIT scheme was how it turned the casinos' own profiling techniques against them, using stereotypes to camouflage the big money bets.

"Mr. Lewis, we can't have you playing blackjack here anymore."

Lewis' eyebrows rise, indignant and surprised. I know it's an act. He has heard this before.

"Why not?" Lewis asks, more for me than for appearances.

The suit spreads his hands, palms out.

"You're too good for us."

He's smiling, but I can tell from his voice that he's dead serious. He doesn't want us anywhere near the blackjack tables, because he watched us play from some security roost above the casino floor, analyzing our moves through the Eyes in the Sky. He sees Kevin Lewis as a threat to his casino, a danger to his bottom line.

And the truth is, he's right.