Would be fascinating to see a psych work up of these guys: Christian card counters.  Or, a probably more apt title: Card counters…some of whom claim to also be Christians and justify their card counting as part of their faith. My thoughts on their thoughts below:

“Group members believed what they were doing was consistent with their faith because they felt they were taking money away from an evil enterprise.”

Huh.  Interesting justification.  Of course, even if the form of cheating comes as math, it is still cheating as defined by the game itself.  For example, would it be morally wrong to cheat on the SATs because you thought that college admissions were biased against white men? 

“Crawford and Jones are trying to parlay their experiences from running the Christian card-counting group for five years into Blackjack Apprenticeship, a business that includes workshops, instructive videos and an iPhone app. Crawford also wrote a 60-page illustrated manifesto titled: “How I Went From Waiting Tables to Being a Professional Blackjack Player (on Accident).”

Now the justification is looking even less impressive. You aren’t taking money away from the casinos anymore.  You are teaching other people how to gamble and making money off them.  Where is the philosophical/moral teaching there?

“Now he is selling his tactics to others. On March 24, 10 people from across the country will arrive in Las Vegas and pay $1,500 each for Jones to teach them how to count cards.”

I rest my case.