Unofficially boasting the second highest UFO sightings behind Roswell. Home to Canada’s largest nuclear bunker! On again, off again, Carp is once again host to the annual Ottawa Air Show! Annual destination for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Fly-In/Drive-In Breakfast. A location for a Tom Clancy movie shoot staring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman.

Intrigued? Well you should be! The Historic Village of Carp has nothing to do with the fish by the same name. The seemingly sleepy rural community sits on the northwestern fringe of the city of Ottawa – just a bit ‘up the valley’ as they say in the (Ottawa) Valley. This small village, although predominantly a farming community, has some of Canada’s defined history running through its veins.

The [debatable] secret building of the four-storey nuclear fallout Diefenbunker, was a massive Federal Government construction project completed in 1961. Now part of Canadian Cold War history, a tour through this concert and steel underground fortress will stimulate your senses with the intrigue of espionage, spies and covert operations. Come prepared to walk up and down stairs.

online casino Carp, in the 1960s and 70s, was noted for the unusual number of UFO sightings. This is not surprising, since the this military bunker was a military commissioned, secure defense communications installation. Department of National Defense (DND) personnel would cycle through a tour-of-duty for up to three months inside this bunker facility.

For about 40 glorious seconds in the Tom Clancy suspense movie “The Sum of all Fears”, the Diefenbunker was Mt. Weather, Virginia, USA. The inclined tunnel leading to the huge steel-vault-like doors and locations inside the complex were used as a backdrop for the movie, scripted around a nuclear attack on America.

Nice being picked by Hollywood, but the real enticement to visit this rural Ottawa Village is its local character. Rooted in agriculture, adds that ‘country fair’ feel when in June, the Carp Airport hosts the Ottawa Air Show and again in August, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA Chapter 245 ) fly-in breakfast. Both of these Aviation spectacles boast aerial displays, vintage and modern airplanes and always a taste of aerial hot-doggin’. Although hosted on a smaller scale, rivals the big heart and excitement of the Abbotsford BC International Air Show.

It’s all morning fly-in action surrounding the Annual EAA Chapter 245 fly-in breakfast. Sometimes landing back-to-back the pilots, in their kit-built aircraft, circle, land and taxi to designated parking spots. Over 50 to 60 planes are flown in during this much anticipated event. Pilots eat a hearty breakfast, fuss over their aircraft, catch up on news from other pilots, and some then take off into the wild blue yonder. Others, like August Lehmann, veteran pilot of 49 years, flew in from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to attend the annual EAA Fly-In/Drive-In Breakfast. Mr. Lehmann, who flew his custom made 2005 Cessna 230 H.P. Cyclone at an average speed of 130 mph, took the opportunity to visit with friends and relatives along his flight path to Carp, Ontario.

One plane that draws a lot of up-close attention is the prop-version replica kit of the Canadian Snowbird Team CT-114 Tutor jet, right down to the paint. One bi-plane had vintage enthusiasts crowding around for a closer look. Wow! Beautifully lacquered wood throughout the cockpit and on the wings. Lots of photo opportunities everywhere you turned. It was hard for shutterbugs to keep up.

It may start with the Carp Airport, but its charm doesn’t stop there. It has a few more unique long-standing attractions:

1) Home to Canada’s longest running drive-in Bingo as highlighted on the CBC Show ‘On The Road Again’ with Wayne Ronstad. Started in 1954 and still going strong!

2) Over 142 years of the Carp Fair, held during the last weekend in September!

3) Incredible sunsets and easy access to some of the best Snowmobiling and ATV trails in Canada!

Enough said! C’mon over! Chat with the locals. Bring your family and friends for a visit to one of Ottawa Valley’s gems.

Check out additional images of Carp at Flickr.com (search on ‘Carp Charm’).

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In the early 90s, the MIT blackjack team proved it was possible to make money by counting cards. In fact, they became famous for amassing a small fortune in the Las Vegas casinos. This group was made up of gifted students from the famous MIT in Cambridge, the well known science faculty of America. In this article, we are going to have a look at the technique they used in order to beat the bank.

A profitable greyhounds betting game

bingo online is a casino games which offers the lowest edge of the bank. In addition, to qualify for a higher player repayment rate, it is possible to use: the Basic holdem poker, Shuffle tracking or card counting. The latter devised by Edward O Thorp in his book Beat the Dealer is fairly complex but several texts published after the 60s have simplified it.

The teams strategy

The maths students came up with the idea of wining significant amounts by card counting. Their strategy was to combine edges of the individual player with a team approach of card counters to maximize their revenues and disguise their behaviour. In addition they used card shuffling methods and consecutive aces. The card counting earned the players a 2% edge but the combined techniques used by the MIT Blackjack team earned the players a 4 % edge.

The division of labour

The team used a simple strategy: division of labour. This made them not to be easily detected by the casino. In fact it is fairly simple to notice the actions of a lone card counter by the way he increases and decreases his bets regardless if the shoe is to his advantage or not. On the other hand, a team where each person has a specific role, working together and without looking suspicious is really hard to unmask. The team regularly hired new members to avoid being discovered by the gambling institutions.

The role of each person
The team had three main roles: spotters, gorillas and big players. The former were not supposed to win. They would sit at a table and count cards. They always played the minimum bet allowed. When the odds were looking particularly good they’d signal actively playing team members, called “gorillas” and “big players.” The big players were similar to the gorillas, they could also count cards. Their part in the play was to bet big when the spotter told them to and lay low when they got that signal, as well. They did so discreetly in order to avoid being detected by the dealers or the casino archive security and seeing that, they arrived at the table only at the right time, they could not be mistaken for counters who increased or decreased their bets according to the advantage conferred upon them by the remaining cards in the deck.
Disbanding of the team
The team became increasingly rich and its members started to bet a lot of money. The casino owners started suspecting something because they found it odd that ordinary students could afford to play so much at a single hand of blackjack. They increased their surveillance which made it difficult for the team to carry out its task. After losing a couple of games the team decided to disband. Other teams took over but the gambling establishments became wary of students and bought year books of the most prestigious universities to weed them out.
A member of the MIT roulette team, Ben Mezrich has published a book, Bringing Down The House, which recounts the saga of his group who became legendary. A film based on the book has recently been released. Kevin Spacey produces and stars in it, it is called Las Vegas 21.
You can ask the former MIT team pro player some questions on this blackjack forum.

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