Early Years
Growing up Mike never really played cards. The son of a U.S. Army tactical instructor, Aponte and his family moved on a regular basis, both in the United States and overseas. Aponte attended 11 different schools before graduating valedictorian from Ewing High School in New Jersey. That fall, he moved to Boston to attend MIT, where he studied economics and played on the school’s football team. In Aponte’s senior year his career path took an unexpected turn when a friend told him about a team at MIT that used special mathematical techniques to win at blackjack.
In an interview for All In Magazine, Mike recalled: “When I attended my first blackjack team meeting I was completely hooked. I was fascinated by the mathematics of card counting and of course the lure of big money and the high roller lifestyle. I was highly motivated to learn card counting and I practiced hard to develop my skills.”
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Famous quotes related to early years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)