If you are a fan of playing blackjack in the online casino, you are probably familiar with the Basic Blackjack Strategy. If not, then you should be! A brilliant strategy developed by the legendary Massachusetts Institute of Technology blackjack team, the Basic Blackjack Strategy is mathematically proven to bring down the Casinos Edge at this popular card game - and in some cases, bring the advantage to the player. To keep this strategy alive and effective, the Blackjack Institute, which was co-founded by two members of the original MIT Blackjack Team, has announced they will be holding their first single-day blackjack seminar of 2007 at the new Platinum Hotel and Spa.

Taking place on February 24, the all-day affair will begin at 8:30 am and wrap up at 5:00 pm. The cost for attending is $900. Hosted by original MIT team members, Mike Aponte and David Irvine, the group session (capped at fifty participants to ensure individual attention is appropriately given) will include complete instruction on how to count cards and use the Blackjack Strategy, hand's on training exercises that can be used for continued practice, a luncheon, and end-of-day competition.

What is unique about the seminar is that Aponte and Irvine structured it so that you don't have to be an engineering student to grasp the strategy. The strategy is explained in clear-cut steps, with emphasis on understanding the strategy - not just memorizing it. Specific points covered in the seminar include deck estimation, calculating odds, hi/lo card counting methodology, tracking the true count of cards, identifying meaningful pairs, money management and betting strategy, responsible gambling, and playing condition analyzation.

During the instruction, players will get to put the lessons to test via hands-on exercises, which can ultimately be used to determine if a player is ready to hit the casino floor and work the blackjack tables. Understandably, the strategy cannot be mastered in a single day, and so continued practice and self-assessment tests are needed. Near the end of the day, participants will get to compete against each other for prizes in a fun atmosphere. All participants will receive a Blackjack Institute Kit, which includes a training manual, instructional DVD, six decks of cards, discard tray, cut card, chip tray, one-hundred play casino chips, a blackjack felt for practice and a basic strategy chart/cheat sheet.