The Science Behind Blackjack
Card counting has had it's fair share of exposure in the media in this article by Jenny Zhang Card Counting Gig Nets Millions, and Hacking of Las Vegas a Wired.com article into a blackjack teams hacking of Las Vegas, as well as discover.com article on The New Math of Gambling it's articles like these that continue to fuel the popularity of the game. Their are countless amounts of articles that have been written on this topic and are released almost on a daily basis.In 1956, a matematician named Roger Baldwin and his associates published what we now know as the "Basic strategy" for Blackjack in Journal of American Statistical Association: cue cards with printouts of optimal strategy in Blackjack. Cantey, Maisel, McDermott and Baldwin created the framework for further development of basuis strategy. It was not in any way ideal, and there were known quirks, but the work of these gentlemen inspired the rest of scientific commnunity, and so it was: prof. Edward Thorp reworked the strategy using newly available methodics and machines, and gave birth to the modern card counting techniques. The theory of card counting says that the card decks have "memory"; that is, under certain conditions and employing certain methodics, a player can tell whether the deck is favourable or unfavourable to him or her. The mathematical research that was spun off these theories was published in Thorp's "Beat the dealer" in 1962.
Card counting however is hard and requires great discipline, to be a successful counter you have to be able to count down a deck and memorize large tables of numbers fast, all this whilst retaining your look that your just a casual player, this is the real challenge is remaining inconspicuous. Casinos bar anyone who they deem to have an advantage over the game, if casino employees realize you are counting they will generally shuffle the cards as you increase your bet or just simply as you to leave. Their are many books and how-to articles available on the internet including this resource Card Counting 101 and Beating Blackjack by Andy Bloch, 60 Minutes to Winning Blackjack by the MIT students who 'Brought down the house', plus many, many more.
Card counting isn't illegal as long as you use your brain to do it, here is some great reference material on card counting and blackjack strategies.