21 the Movie, Mike Aponte Leader of MIT Blackjack Team

Mike Aponte grew up all over the world. The son of a U.S. Army tactical instructor, he attended eleven different schools before graduating high school in New Jersey in 1988. He went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, where he pursued a degree in economics and played on the school’s football team.

In 1992, his senior year, Aponte was recruited to join the MIT blackjack club, a team that used card counting to consistently (and legally) win at high-stakes blackjack. Aponte was intrigued with the game and the notion of beating it with math and spent hours practicing to hone his skills. He soon became one of the team’s most successful players and eventually its manager.

By the end of year 2000, Aponte and his teammates had achieved a historic run at casinos all over the world, having won millions. Though they endured rigorous practice and a hectic schedule, which involved juggling classes, exams and short-notice trips, they also met famous athletes and celebrities and partied like rock stars. The team and their incredible journey became the subject of the New York Times Bestseller, Bringing Down the House, and several television specials, including Breaking Vegas and Anything for Money.

Aponte is too well-known now to play in casinos, though he does still occasionally compete in special invitational blackjack tournaments, like the World Series of Blackjack, which he won in 2004.

Nowadays Aponte splits his time between volunteer work to help low income and minority students achieve higher education and the Blackjack Institute, a program he co-founded with some of his former teammates, which is designed to impart the knowledge and skills necessary to beat the casinos through seminars and one-on-one mentoring. Aponte is married and currently resides in Washington, D.C.