I just got done watching an old episode of numb3rs from season 2 called, “Double Down.” You can download it on i-tunes if you haven’t seen it.

The episode features a card counting team that ends up getting shot down one by one (literally) and the police department investigates. If you know anything about this show it always involves some sort of high level math problems that end up solving the case. In this case, the math featured on the show is the math behind card counting.

The show does a pretty good job of showing what card counting really is and what team play looks like. The thing the show does that is ridiculous is it portrays card counting as really dangerous.

They show also investigates whether card counting is legal. The show accurately portrays how casinos will often lump card counters into the cheater category, where mathematicians understand that it is just using a mathematical system to beat a game fair and square.

Spoiler alert: it turns out that the team of card counters were not just card counting but also laundering money. Apparently, they also knew how to shuffle track the automatic shuffler through an algorithm leaked from the consultant who help make the Automatic Shuffling Machines (which is cheating…or stealing atleast). If they knew how to do this I have no idea why they were still counting cards. Anyways, you piss off some money launderers and steal secret algorithms then I guess that might get you shot. But counting cards is not as dangerous as the show portrays. In fact, I feel less safe getting a physical then counting cards.