Sophomores Matt Brandt and Jay Schulhof know how to make money playing blackjack.
But when the two start the official Duke Blackjack Team, Brandt said they hope the group will be more about having fun, learning new strategies and statistical odds and helping out local charities than making money.
"We really are looking to develop big, team-based strategy," he said. "[But] I think we can make it whatever we want to make it."
The group, two months in the making, has encountered obstacles because blackjack can be classified as a game involving gambling, Brandt said.
"They're a special case," said Marissa Weiss, program coordinator for the Office of Student Activities and Facilities. If the Duke Blackjack Team becomes official, it will be representing the University and its procedures, which prohibit gambling, she added.
University policy states that people or organizations are guilty of gambling if they operate, play or bet at any game of chance at which any money, property or other thing of value is wagered, Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of judicial affairs, wrote in an e-mail.
But Schulhof and Brandt said the organization would consist of weekly meetings and mock blackjack games utilizing strategies the two would teach members-not actual gambling.
"We wouldn't be playing for money, obviously, on campus," Brandt said. "As long as we're not giving out prizes for money-bought chips or something like that, then it's not an issue."
Schulhof and Brandt said they hope to teach potential members of the group three main strategies for increasing a player's odds against a casino dealer, including "counting," mathematically exploiting the fact that a player knows what cards have been played, and "cutting," an opportunistic strategy that involves cutting the dealer's deck in an optimal place.
"[Blackjack] has a history, so probability is not always the same in terms of what cards you're going to get," Brandt said. "That's why the game is actually beatable."
The team founders said practically applying these strategies could potentially net members a significant amount of money, but that the organization is more about having fun.
"You just have to make 'em love you and just think you're just some dumb gambler [who] thinks they can beat [the odds] just like everyone else," Schulhof said.
Brandt added that most of the fun of blackjack comes from being able to pull off a strategy and simultaneously pretend you're not a Duke student with an engineering degree.
"It's just so much more involved than other table games," Brandt said. "It's like completely exhilarating to be able to play at that level."
If the team is approved, Schulhof and Brandt plan to host a "casino night" to raise money for local charities and provide another venue in which Duke and the Durham community can come together for a good cause.
At the event, players would not have to pay to participate in games of blackjack. Corporate and local businesses would donate prizes for the winner of each game, Schulhof said.
"Everyone who would come would be allowed to play and would be allowed to try to earn the prizes," he said, adding that the team would collect donations for local charities on the side.
Brandt said casino nights are traditionally "ridiculously successful," and that the event could raise a significant amount of money for Durham charities.
"If you come and play, you'll probably want to donate," he said. "If it's on FLEX, it's not even your money."
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