In the hilarious 2009 hit film The Hangover, "the three best friends anyone could have" must find a way to get the money they owe to Mr. Chow so that the future groom, Doug, will return to them. Phil, Stu and Alan design a complex system that uses card counting while playing Blackjack to win big money. The scheme uses numerous distractions such as Stu and his stripper wife, acting as a distraction as well as Phil making a lot of noise and lewd gestures in front of the casino cameras in order to draw attention to himself and allow Alan to counting cards. and earn the money they owe Mr. Chow. When the casino managers become suspicious of possible card counting going on, Stu's recently married stripper wife falls to the ground, forcing security to focus on her, giving Alan and Phil time to s 'escape without being seen with all the recently won money. This scene, while entertaining, does not accurately depict what happens when someone counts cards in these big casinos, like the one seen in this movie, Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Card counting is much more subtle and is not as ambitious as that depicted in this very funny film. Masters of this very complex skill use card counting in order to beat the odds built into Blackjack and win big money. However, this is a problem that casinos take many precautions to avoid in order to maximize their chances of winning and making a very substantial profit. Many people consider counting cards to be cheating without really understanding how to count cards when playing Blackjack. Card counting is one of the betting card games and it is a skill that can be learned and mastered by really anyone. If the player is able to do...... middle of paper ...... CitedAndersson, P., et al. “Continuous-time card counting.” Journal of Applied Probability 49.1 (2012): 184-98. Print.Epstein, Richard A. Game theory and statistical logic. New York: Academic, 1977. Print.Golden, Leslie M. "An Analysis of the Disadvantages to Players of Several Card Games in the Game of Twenty-One." Mathematician 36.1 (2011): 57-69. Print.Mano, DK “Counting cards”. National Review 38.14 (1986): 42-4. Print.Snyder, Arnold. The Great Book of Blackjack. New York: Cardoza Pub, 2006. Print.Rose, Nelson I. “Card Counter Management.” How Casinos Stop Card Counters and Card Counting. Casino City Network, August 8, 2002. Web. March 30, 2014. Hangover. Real. Todd Phillips. Perf. Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha. Warner Bros., 2009. DVD. Tilton, Nathaniel. Blackjack life. Las Vegas: Huntington, 2012. Print.