“Fear And Counting in Las Vegas” – Dominic O’Brien
Card counting in the US with 8-time world memory champion!
As you may know, I do like a gambling film or documentary.
Preferably the latter… as with gambling movies, or films which include betting, they can often be inaccurate or contrived portraits of how many people presume betting should be (although there are some good ones which I’ll come back to at a later date).
But I tend to watch more documentaries.
They’re usually made by people who have a genuine interest in, or affection for, the honourable pastime of trying to defeat one’s opponent – be they a bookmaker, casino, whatever.
I’ve recently highlighted one such Channel 4 series (“The Gambler” – read more about it here)…
And in this article I’ve trawled up a old documentary I remember watching way back when… and you can tell this by the poor film/sound quality at the start – I think we’re back in the days of VHS!
Sit back and enjoy…
It’s called “Fear And Counting In Las Vegas” and it follows a former world memory champion, Dominic O’Brien, as he tries to beat the casinos of North America by employing his phenomenal powers of memory… to count cards.
A pursuit that has been long, and generally unsuccessfully, tried by various exponents over the years… but most often without O’Brien’s mind-boggling ability to recall all manner of things.
Made in 1995, it sees O’Brien pitting his wits against a variety of casinos, with the spiritual home of betting (Las Vegas) featuring prominently.
The Englishman is a good man to follow as well. Not an impulsive gambler, nor a flash punter, but someone who has a goal in mind (to win money) and a singular method in trying to achieve said target.
Here’s the 50-minute documentary by First Freedom Productions, directed by Paul O’Dell.
Enjoy…
O’Brien has gone on to write a number of books about brain-training, and how to improve your memory…
Well worth checking them out – if you remember!
OPINION: Good to see a film about a gambler who wins. And does it the right way – or the wrong way, the casinos might argue! If you’ve got any favourite books, TV programmes, or films that cover the betting, by all means drop me a line and I’ll share them.
