Thorp and Shannon's use of their wearable roulette computer was limited by easily broken wires, but card counting was highly profitable. In 1961, during MIT's spring recess, Thorp traveled to Nevada equipped with a hundred $100 bills provided by two millionaires with an interest in gambling. After 30 hours of blackjack, Thorp's $10,000 had become $21,000. He went on to devise, with computer scientist William E. Walden of the nuclear weapons laboratory at Los Alamos, a method for identifying favorable side bets in the version of baccarat played in Nevada.

Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, loc. 548