Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians

[Colin]

Hey guys. This is Colin from BlackjackApprenticeship.com. I thought I'd clarify a couple things.

1. We definitely don't try to "Spam" people. If people have signed up for our email list, then they receive our emails (blogposts or news updates). If you're receiving them and don't want them, it's really easy to unsubscribe.

2. Our goal has never been to profit off of our faith. We've debated for over a year whether we should use BJA as a sounding board for the questions people have started asking us, now that details of our lives are becoming more public thru the documentary. The way we've always lived, run our businesses, etc is to be very open. Not to prosthelytize, but because it's how we are. We could have 2 websites, one where we ban discussions about how we live our lives, what we believe, etc and keep it to blackjack, the other where we talk about personal stuff. But that sounded silly. But the goal is definitely not to leverage our faith for profit.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear Ken enjoyed the doc! I remember watching "The Hot Shoe" and any other card counting video I could find 8 years ago. We hope, even aside from the faith stuff, this documentary will stand on its own as a valuable addition to the blackjack community that we've valued so much over the years.

Cheers.

 

[Coyote]

Hey guys. This is Colin from BlackjackApprenticeship.com. I thought I'd clarify a couple things.

1. We definitely don't try to "Spam" people. If people have signed up for our email list, then they receive our emails (blogposts or news updates). If you're receiving them and don't want them, it's really easy to unsubscribe.

2. Our goal has never been to profit off of our faith. We've debated for over a year whether we should use BJA as a sounding board for the questions people have started asking us, now that details of our lives are becoming more public thru the documentary. The way we've always lived, run our businesses, etc is to be very open. Not to prosthelytize, but because it's how we are. We could have 2 websites, one where we ban discussions about how we live our lives, what we believe, etc and keep it to blackjack, the other where we talk about personal stuff. But that sounded silly. But the goal is definitely not to leverage our faith for profit.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear Ken enjoyed the doc! I remember watching "The Hot Shoe" and any other card counting video I could find 8 years ago. We hope, even aside from the faith stuff, this documentary will stand on its own as a valuable addition to the blackjack community that we've valued so much over the years.

Cheers.

Best of Success to you and your documentary!
I've enjoyed the tales from the trenches!

Regards,
Coyote

 

[Dyepaintball12]

Hey guys. This is Colin from BlackjackApprenticeship.com. I thought I'd clarify a couple things.

1. We definitely don't try to "Spam" people. If people have signed up for our email list, then they receive our emails (blogposts or news updates). If you're receiving them and don't want them, it's really easy to unsubscribe.

2. Our goal has never been to profit off of our faith. We've debated for over a year whether we should use BJA as a sounding board for the questions people have started asking us, now that details of our lives are becoming more public thru the documentary. The way we've always lived, run our businesses, etc is to be very open. Not to prosthelytize, but because it's how we are. We could have 2 websites, one where we ban discussions about how we live our lives, what we believe, etc and keep it to blackjack, the other where we talk about personal stuff. But that sounded silly. But the goal is definitely not to leverage our faith for profit.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear Ken enjoyed the doc! I remember watching "The Hot Shoe" and any other card counting video I could find 8 years ago. We hope, even aside from the faith stuff, this documentary will stand on its own as a valuable addition to the blackjack community that we've valued so much over the years.

Cheers.

You're charging people thousands of dollars for something they could easily learn themselves...

 

[Kinetic]

You're charging people thousands of dollars for something they could easily learn themselves...

The internet is an amazing source of information and yes, counting cards can be learned for free. This correlation can be made across all kinds of information. The problem with the internet is that it is also a source for misinformation. In the grand scheme of things, paying money to learn how to make money and cut through all the trial and error costly mistakes along the way, seems worth it to me.

They aren't guilting people into taking their course, nor are they offering something you can easily obtain online. People find value in different things, who are we to decide for others what is valuable or not?

 

[moo321]

Hey guys. This is Colin from BlackjackApprenticeship.com. I thought I'd clarify a couple things.

1. We definitely don't try to "Spam" people. If people have signed up for our email list, then they receive our emails (blogposts or news updates). If you're receiving them and don't want them, it's really easy to unsubscribe.

2. Our goal has never been to profit off of our faith. We've debated for over a year whether we should use BJA as a sounding board for the questions people have started asking us, now that details of our lives are becoming more public thru the documentary. The way we've always lived, run our businesses, etc is to be very open. Not to prosthelytize, but because it's how we are. We could have 2 websites, one where we ban discussions about how we live our lives, what we believe, etc and keep it to blackjack, the other where we talk about personal stuff. But that sounded silly. But the goal is definitely not to leverage our faith for profit.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear Ken enjoyed the doc! I remember watching "The Hot Shoe" and any other card counting video I could find 8 years ago. We hope, even aside from the faith stuff, this documentary will stand on its own as a valuable addition to the blackjack community that we've valued so much over the years.

Cheers.

Do you have any ideas as to when the movie will be available? I'm in the midwest, so please try to get something set up here!

 

[Kinetic]

Most of the updates about film festivals it's playing at happens on the Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/HolyRollers21

 

[Colin]

You're charging people thousands of dollars for something they could easily learn themselves...

I wouldn't say that people can easily learn what it takes to be a fulltime professional card counter themselves. The first time someone who had been fully trained from a pro card counting team dealt to me, I missed payout errors, he added up my hands wrong and I missed it, and I got off on the count without knowing it (and I was already playing blackjack fulltime for a living). It was an invaluable experience. Not to mention, getting pro training on how to handle myself in a casino, handle backoffs, deal with dealer mistakes, understand advanced concepts behind EV, how to deal with traveling with money in an airport, etc, e. I strongly encourage people to teach themselves as much as they can. But that doesn't mean there isn't a value in being trained from people who've won millions and run a team of dozens of professional card counters.

Our track record is that people are very glad they paid for the training because it was a valuable investment in their card counting careers. Mike Aponte (from the MIT team) does the same thing, and it changes many people from being losing or break-even card counters to winning players. I'm not saying everyone should do it, but you'd be surprised at the value of quality blackjack training for many people. Hell, it would have been a good investment if I could have paid Tommy Hyland $10,000 to get trained 8 years ago, but it wasn't an option.

That's why we offer it. Whether it's a good value is up to the people who go through our training to decide.

 

[Colin]

It sounds like it should be available for video on demand in a couple months. Probably Netflix and DVD not long after that. But there's all sorts of legal stuff being worked out with the motion picture company between now and then.

The saddest part is that it sounds like they're making us take out all clips from other films, even though they're legal to play under the fair use act. So the awesome card counting clips from other movies (rainman, the hangover, casino) have to be removed. )=

Do you have any ideas as to when the movie will be available? I'm in the midwest, so please try to get something set up here!

 

[plainplayer]

It sounds like it should be available for video on demand in a couple months. Probably Netflix and DVD not long after that.

I find it odd that you're not aware of your own movie's DVD sales.

http://www.holyrollersthemovie.com/merchandise.html

 

[zengrifter]

I find it odd that you're not aware of your own movie's DVD sales.

http://www.holyrollersthemovie.com/merchandise.html

Its PRE-order, ye of little faith! zg

 

[tthree]

You should of smashed his back windscreen in with a baseball bat and quoted

'God works in mysterious ways'

Windscreen :laugh: yes, that would be less bloody wouldn't it. The bloody windscreen or as we say windshield. Sometimes your version of english makes me grin as I am sure those across the water feel about ours.:laugh:

Well ZG was your baseball bat bloody or full of safety glass.:devil:

 

[creeping panther]

Colin

I am impressed with your story and your "GiG". I see nothing wrong with it at all and it looks very well done. If people want to pay you for your services that is OK too,,,,very, very cool

Props to you and the others.:toast:

CP

 

[21gunsalute]

2. Our goal has never been to profit off of our faith. We've debated for over a year whether we should use BJA as a sounding board for the questions people have started asking us, now that details of our lives are becoming more public thru the documentary. The way we've always lived, run our businesses, etc is to be very open. Not to prosthelytize, but because it's how we are. We could have 2 websites, one where we ban discussions about how we live our lives, what we believe, etc and keep it to blackjack, the other where we talk about personal stuff. But that sounded silly. But the goal is definitely not to leverage our faith for profit.

I say bull$hit! If you're not trying to profit off from your (alleged) faith then remove all such references to Christianity and faith, because Christianity and Blackjack have nothing to do with each other. I'm not saying you can't be a Christian and play Blackjack, but you're openly using Christianity as a marketing ploy to profit handsomely from, and Jesus isn't too fond of such shenanigans! I see no difference between what you are doing and what the money changers were doing that Jesus threw out of the temple. You might as well just pass an offering plate around the casinos!

I think what you're doing is absolutely despicable and hypocritical. Once again, I have no problem with Christians playing Blackjack, but what I have a problem with is you trying to profit off from the name Christianity. I think most Christians would view this as stealing from God, or at least using God to promote your own glory and not his. It also casts a dark cloud over Christianity to the general public.

I'm a Christian and I play Blackjack, but I would never, ever use my religion to profit from at the expense of casting a bad light onto something I believe in. The fact that you've done just that leads me to believe that this is all nothing but scam. I don't believe that you are a Christian at all. I believe that you are nothing but a phony con artist using the name of something you don't really believe in to profit handsomely from. It's either that or you are one of the biggest hypocrites on the face of the earth. Which is it?

 

[tthree]

Nice post 21gun. A fellow true christian salutes you.

You obviously understand the true meaning of Christianity. I get tired of the real followers of Christ's teachings being tarnished by those who profess to be Christian but prove otherwise with their actions. You will know true Christians by their actions not what comes from their mouth or where they go on Sunday morning.

 

[zengrifter]

I say bull$hit! If you're not trying to profit off from your (alleged) faith then remove all such references to Christianity and faith, because Christianity and Blackjack have nothing to do with each other. I'm not saying you can't be a Christian and play Blackjack, but you're openly using Christianity as a marketing ploy to profit handsomely from, and Jesus isn't too fond of such shenanigans! I see no difference between what you are doing and what the money changers were doing that Jesus threw out of the temple. You might as well just pass an offering plate around the casinos!

I think what you're doing is absolutely despicable and hypocritical. Once again, I have no problem with Christians playing Blackjack, but what I have a problem with is you trying to profit off from the name Christianity. I think most Christians would view this as stealing from God, or at least using God to promote your own glory and not his. It also casts a dark cloud over Christianity to the general public.

I'm a Christian and I play Blackjack, but I would never, ever use my religion to profit from at the expense of casting a bad light onto something I believe in. The fact that you've done just that leads me to believe that this is all nothing but scam. I don't believe that you are a Christian at all. I believe that you are nothing but a phony con artist using the name of something you don't really believe in to profit handsomely from. It's either that or you are one of the biggest hypocrites on the face of the earth. Which is it?

I don't see that at all. I just see some seeming good Christian lads doing their thing. zg

 

[21gunsalute]

You obviously understand the true meaning of Christianity. I get tired of the real followers of Christ's teachings being tarnished by those who profess to be Christian but prove otherwise with their actions. You will know true Christians by their actions not what comes from their mouth or where they go on Sunday morning.

Amen!

 

[creeping panther]

BJ Christians

I can't believe some here would get all freaked out about these young guys having a Christian BJ team.

If you really want to get outraged do so about the Defiling of Christmas and Easter by rampant consumerism and Idolotry. You allow Santa to detract from Christ with his magical powers, and the Easter Bunny to detract from Christ by bringing candy to your kids etc. You and the churches buy into this harmful BS which would be a real affront to JC and that is why Christianity today is viewed as a joke by so many and is not respected. The BJ team is the least of Christianity's problems. (It is no problem at all).

Can any of you ever imagine Muslims or Jews allowing their high Holy Days being hijacked as Christians surely have?

Don't mess with Muslims for sure, Jews either, but Christians, have at it because they truly are viewed by many as a joke.

If you really care about Christianity stop the gift buying orgy and the Santa BS and don't let your kids be taught this garbage. Same for Easter, otherwise you might just as well be worshipping the Golden Calf.

CP

 

[tthree]

I can't believe some here would get all freaked out about these young guys having a Christian BJ team.

If you really want to get outraged do so about the Defiling of Christmas and Easter by rampant consumerism and Idolotry. You allow Santa to detract from Christ with his magical powers, and the Easter Bunny to detract from Christ by bringing candy to your kids etc. You and the churches buy into this harmful BS which would be a real affront to JC and that is why Christianity today is viewed as a joke by so many and is not respected. The BJ team is the least of Christianity's problems. (It is no problem at all).

Can any of you ever imagine Muslims or Jews allowing their high Holy Days being hijacked as Christians surely have?

Don't mess with Muslims for sure, Jews either, but Christians, have at it because they truly are viewed by many as a joke.

If you really care about Christianity stop the gift buying orgy and the Santa BS and don't let your kids be taught this garbage. Same for Easter, otherwise you might just as well be worshipping the Golden Calf.

CP

This is exactly what I was talking about. WE had nothing to do with any of this, yet here we are being blamed for it.

 

[21gunsalute]

I don't see that at all. I just see some seeming good Christian lads doing their thing. zg

That's just the point! They're doing their own thing but using the name of the Lord to do it. This is using the name of the Lord in vain and is a clear violation of one of the Commandments:

Genesis 20:7 (NIV)

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

Once again, I have no problem with Christians playing Blackjack. I also have no problem with them using our free enterprise system to make a profit. But using the name of Christ to profit from such a venture is pure blasphemy! It's hypocritical and it's self indulgent behavior.

 

[Colin]

Hey, man. Those are some pretty harsh claims. Have you seen our documentary? No one else has accused us of trying to profit from our faith. So either you're mistaken, or everyone else is missing something. I'm totally willing to be confronted about this, and if we're in the wrong, we'll repent and make amends. I'm still not sure if you are claiming we're profiting from the documentary, or by announcing that we follow Jesus, that will make us more money on our website? Because I don't believe either is the case, and definitely not our motivation. But getting ripped into on a discussion forum from someone who doesn't know me feels unfair. If you'd like to talk over the phone, that would be great. Private Message me and I'll give you my phone number.

Other than that, I'd ask that people confront me personally if you have issues with how I run my business or if you believe I'm taking advantage of people. (Matthew 18:15-18)

I say bull$hit! If you're not trying to profit off from your (alleged) faith then remove all such references to Christianity and faith, because Christianity and Blackjack have nothing to do with each other. I'm not saying you can't be a Christian and play Blackjack, but you're openly using Christianity as a marketing ploy to profit handsomely from, and Jesus isn't too fond of such shenanigans! I see no difference between what you are doing and what the money changers were doing that Jesus threw out of the temple. You might as well just pass an offering plate around the casinos!

I think what you're doing is absolutely despicable and hypocritical. Once again, I have no problem with Christians playing Blackjack, but what I have a problem with is you trying to profit off from the name Christianity. I think most Christians would view this as stealing from God, or at least using God to promote your own glory and not his. It also casts a dark cloud over Christianity to the general public.

I'm a Christian and I play Blackjack, but I would never, ever use my religion to profit from at the expense of casting a bad light onto something I believe in. The fact that you've done just that leads me to believe that this is all nothing but scam. I don't believe that you are a Christian at all. I believe that you are nothing but a phony con artist using the name of something you don't really believe in to profit handsomely from. It's either that or you are one of the biggest hypocrites on the face of the earth. Which is it?