Derren Brown Mind Control | Casino | Channel 4 

MIND PALACE

The problem that casinos have is that if everyone started counting and knew basic strategy, then they'd be bankrupt in a couple months. It's funny, if you win a lot quickly, they kick you out for counting, but if you win slowly, they sometimes give you a free hotel room (if in Vegas).

Derren is extremely inteligent. He isn't fake, as he doesnt blame it on straight magic. He uses psychology and his mind to work things out. Very intelligent indeed.

Such an elaborate method of counting cards.

lol, this id Derren Browns mind palace, he IS Sherlock Holmes

the method to doing this is actually very simple and easy, but the scale that derren does this on is phenomenal.

What a shame that casinos are sore losers. You start beating them, they'll ask you to leave. Was this guy even cheating? To me it just seemed that he was very good at memorizing things.

all you need is an extremely good memory to recall what cards have already been taken out of the initial deck. and there you go, a definite win time and again depending on the probability of what card you get next.

I would recommend Derren's book, Tricks of the Mind to everyone. A thoroughly enjoyable read, enticing, thought provoking. It contains sections on Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP), keeping an open mind, his thoughts on religions and the large medium business, suggestions for improving ones memory aswell as some nice litle tricks. I applaud him for sharing the information he has. Thankyou verymuch Mr Derren Brown :)

That is simply amazing.

THIS MAN IS SICK AND TWISTED I LOVE IT

Derren Brown is a legend.

Anyone heard of that + and - from cards 2 to 6 and 10 to ACES? That's how I done it, I was 18 and turned 50 quid into 1000. Not as much as 2,600 obviously but I was pleased. Got asked to leave by the casino at the end of it, complete bollocks.

Wow! That's really cool! I can see casinos having a big "BEWARE Beware of Derren Brown" poster XD

i saw him live...unbelievible

As a professional within the casino industry for a number of years and also a casino manager its clear to me that this is a stage. The chips are not cash value chips, the customers are robots (no-one talking or even drinking or anything else that natural play would look like). Also no casino would allow any kind of filming without anyones knowledge (its not allowed for privacy). I'm a fan of derren and his showman skills but this is a TV programme.

Well said. I was surprised Derren said "And no ones knows I'm in there to scam them". As you said, all he's doing is observing what cards are dealt and he bets accordingly. I guess when it comes down to it the casino is there to make money not lose it. If a player kept winning like that chances are they would get black listed, again it's not a bloody scam, still ticks me off :(

legend.....

oooh i love derren brown. :3

I have read Derrens book. This guy knows that the limits of the human mind are virtually limitless. I wonder though how he can sustain relationships when he can read people so easily. His live show was sick also

Do it slowly. Purposely loose sometimes. Make it seem like you're just getting lucky. That way it will make you seem less suspicious. If they think you're counting, you're going to get kicked out.

I see nothing wrong with card counting. Telling people to not use memory, statistics, and math at a game that obviously requires it is like telling a pro ball player with skills to not aim for the basket, just shoot wildly. For what? If you have the capability and intellect to boost your odds in a game, why disallow it? Casinos are basically telling people, sit down, play on luck and don't use your brain... pick hit or fold, and shut up. No reason but for their benefit.

i was born in 1993 and I can count cards in any slowly moving black jack game. It really is just adding or subtracting and waiting until the value is perfect to bet

brilliant memory

Counting into a 4 deck shoe is impressive... now go to vegas and count into six. Then I'll say he's amazing. I've never seen anyone count into a six deck by themselves.

He's told you how to do it... Counting cards will get you thrown out of casinos though they know when people are doing it. Still, the memory room does work I use it frequently for other things.

derren brown rocks

I actually love the fact that he failed because it shows the credibility of what he is doing and also how hard he is trying. I did feel bad though because he sounded so sad that he was one off.

That's incredibly - he must have an amazing rate of mental calculation and memory. He's like Rainman!

Derren. Dangerous.

It's called a memory palace. Hanibal Lecter uses them. Some people use entire cities as memory banks. It's crazy to even consider trying to learn this.

cant afford to have someone like that in the casino ?? someone that uses their brain to an advantage ... yeah shit better not have any of thoes sorts

I think he's using a method called the Method of Loci, or "walking the room", first recorded in a Roman text called Ad Herrenium, designed to help rhetors remember their speeches. Very effective.

Oh yes, Darren Brown, the national famous Magician/Illusionist. Brown's trick is to get us to believe he's a normal successful person but he's actually an insane fifteen year old. I'm on to you Darren.

you're right but it takes a pretty excellent memory and understanding of odds.

those are some crazy memory skills

The technique he is using is called a memory palace, most people can learn the trick with the right effort and guidance. The way he is using it is similar to that of a card counter, only he is doing things a little different. It's quite clever actually.

he hit on 16 with a dealer 6! i dont even think Derren Brown would do something that crazy even with a great knowledge of the deck. Not even the best blackjack players in the world would do that

He wants to control the nation and he has TOTAL CONTROL over me. Every time I see his face, I reach for the remote and press every button until the channel has changed.

that's amazing, he must have very good memory.

If I am not mistaken, the whole 'house' method of memory was developed by the ancient Greeks. I want to say its name has the word 'locus' or one of its derivatives in it. If anybody remembers please comment. Kind of ironic too, I forget the name of a method used to enhance memory.

love watching derren brown n real hustle when i got nothing to dooo

Well maybe for the general public but i think derren has a far more powerful mind than most!

Omg one space away Derren Brown is amazing it shows you that it isnt fixed... to all the disbelivers

Is he serious about the mental "items in a room" thing? That's just... crazy!

@theMAXILOPEZpsycho card-counting methods usually involve keeping a running total in your head so that you know when most of the high cards have been dealt and it's therefore favourable to bet. That's how the MIT students did it in Vegas. Having said that, Derren Brown seems to be having sucess beyond what they achieved.

well said

they forbid counting cards so that they continue to make money because if you can count cards you could make millions.

I like a lot of Derren Brown's stuff because he's not just a cheap magician; he's really clever. I have his book, tricks of the mind, and he talks about 'memory houses' in that too - he uses loads of complicated maths, psychology and memory to manipulate people or situations. If he felt like it, he could probably be a master criminal. thank god he isn't :D

@nemeczek The whole reason this works is Derren's photographic memory of certain items (cards) and how often they have been chosen. Perhaps when dealing with one deck, you could simply use the card values without the suit; 13 items with 3 tags apiece. When there's four decks involved, however, I assume it is *much* easier to remember/differentiate 52 objects (each card of each suit) with 3 tags to each, versus 13 objects (each card value, ie. a 2, 10, King, etc) with a ridiculous 15 tags each.

Counting cards isn't illegal but if you're suspected of counting cards, you're quickly asked to leave the casino.

what is the name of the song that starts right at the end of this clip?????...it´s killing me!

@corpsemunger hahaha best interpretation ever.

There are many different card counting techniques. Pneumonic memory triggers is how the current guinness world record holder for memorising things holds his multiple records. His mind tricks are however very impressive. Read up on Neuro Linguistic Programming, the illicitation of feelings linking to anchors and subconcious triggers and trance hypnosis. After you've read up on NLP for a couple of hours you'll start realising how difficult some of what he does actually is.

I've seen this at school in a different video! A guy used this journey method to remember like 320 cards.

It's like his chess game - he played and beat five out of eight master chess players because he was playing them off against each other - this is the technique here. No list, no inception style imaginary palace full of antiques, just watching the other players and the deal and basing bets on their luck.

I've heard about this method of visualising in a book called How to Pass Exams.

the woman dealing the roulette at 0:06 is one of my managers

1)copy&paste 2)post on 2 diff vids 3)Hold your breath 4)look at your hands

Cool story bro.

It may actually be better for the casinos to still be allowed to bar card counters. For example, in Indiana casinos cannot ban card counters. In response the casinos tightened the rules and some of them introduced electronic blackjack games that shuffle after every hand. It is much better to have lucrative games that you can be banned from than to be welcome at casinos with electronic blackjack games.

It is not photographic memory. what he describes is a learned skill and anyone can learn these techniques.

goes in on a high count

thanx m8

I think you're right, it just doesn't seem humanly possible. Amazing how many people are ready to believe something so implausable....however, that does beg the question, how??

The real trirck is not to change your betting patterns. Casinos (and all betting establishments) get suspicious if you bet small amounts on the hands that you lose but large amounts on the hands that you win.

A very good chance, especially considering how he was betting. Card counting can give you an edge, but it's a very narrow edge. So without careful betting (i.e. small bets), gambler's ruin is almost certain.

I know the technique he says he uses is an actual technique that works. But when you use it, or any other technique, even if you have a laptop computer with you that records everything perfectly and makes perfectly calculated decisions every time, you can still lose. You will increase your payout from the 98-99% you get with a basic strategy, to slightly over 100%. It's a VERY subtle difference and it only shows if you look at the average of a very large number of games.

funny how he won that hand tho and secured it by gettin an even higher value

LOL... You blow me away LOL We teach card counting to casino professionals so they can spot counters. 1 up to 8 decks. Our worst students may take 2 hours to learn, The average is 1 hr. 4 months?? FYI, this is a set up. The chips they are using are generic play chips. The dealer is real, but she has a sloppy style and not much experience. No casino would ever have a BJ table stand alone in the middle of the room for too many reasons to list here. BTW, Gavin, you are 98% DH ! ;)

Well hard 2 learn that though, seriously!

Awesommme (:

the house thing he explained is actually legit. But, he is using an incredibly advanced level of Mnemonics and 'SMASHIN SCOPE'

@toxic2k7 Well put. It is nice to know that he won't play that guru card to human beings.

Does anyone know what the song´s called at the end of the clip?

this guy is very very smart

Ars memoria variant. I use rhyme to remember arbitrary number sequences also.

That was only to prove an important point of people believing in something impossible- we originally saw it and thought he was doing something ingenius. Similarly, we were following 1 woman who seemed to be winning the horses constantly, when in reality she was only winning because she was in the 'miniority rule' method. Card counting is something different- it's a tactic full of calculated risk. There is still the chance he could have lost

Excellent Video, its simply mathematics, if you can card count you can give yourself an advantage, although I find it hard to believe he won every hand, all he had control over was the probabilty of the next card coming up, not the actual card. I think this has been edited to make it look more appealing for tv.

calcalcalll - You should enjoy it. I went to see Something Wicked This Way Comes and it is one of the best things I've ever seen in a theatre. You're right, he is a legend.

This isn't fake, counting cards is something many people can do - casinos know what to look for to identify them and they eject them straight away; they hold the right to do that.

I would love to see him play poker in "poker after dark" or something like that, and play with the best players.. and win ofcourse like ten programs in a row..

if u luk on the advert 4 the show where he walks through the traffic there are clues like on the bus it says will it be u next to a lotto symbol and yesterday i found out that ther wer 30 cars the same number as on the roulette

Okay Thanks

@tothefly Perhaps you mean it sounds like he's a savant? At an rate, memory rooms are legitimate things. They're a very handy device for your memory capacity, because they're very effective at creating groups of objects, such as the 52 cards. The human mind can only remember about 5-7 objects without grouping them. That's why when you recite your phone number, you often group the first 3 and the last 4 digits. It's easier for you and everyone else to remember that way.

Never seen it but I suppose media has marred my opinion of America and Las Vegas. I can't pretend I've ever had first hand experience.

LOL! Good one.

What´s the song at the end of the clip!!!!!!

hi jackal!

Aye same ;-D

@ilyaseleznyov if you didnt read his book then do. There is a good info about how to do this

Where can i get his book???

What's the tune at the beginning?

Still counting cards has some deep mathimatics.

@Khartik09 Fair point but it really doesn't take decades to master a card counting system, if you are highly dedicated and put in the hours (I'm talking 3+ hours everyday) you could master a level 2 or 3 system in a few months, it actually takes minuets to learn a counting system but much longer to master it. But mastering a counting system isn't enough though, you have to memorise basic strategy and the correct index plays for your given counting system.

I have read his book too, and i can tell you i cannot use the Loci method. Even as a kid i have always used the mnemonic methods. And technically, it IS counting cards, world class poker players use Loci and other memory techniques to help them win.

I think, personally, that he keeps a microscopic goblin in his jacket and that little goblin jumps out, reads all the cards in the deck and where they are and stuff then jumps in his shoulder and whispers it to him....but hey....thats just me =]

"FREDFREDBURGER FREDFREDBURGER"

this is soo much more effective than the hi/lo count. But it must be lke 50times harder.

that is actualy how he does i used the same teckmec to learn the periodic table in my standerd grade chemistry, thats how people remeber things naturaly, they asossiate the thing with something esle and you do this everyday without thinking but thats a more advanved way and a lot better espically if the person is very creative