So apparently card counting isn’t illegal per se in Nevada. The use of card counting machines, however, is (and is a felony at that), which is why this iPhone app [iTunes link] named Card Counter is now in the news. Las Vegas casino owners, and their well wishers, have been tipped off to the app’s existence, which, theoretically, makes winning blackjack easier.

This card counting scare comes at a time when Las Vegas is being battered by the recession: no one has any money anymore—come on, stimulus, I want a job seeding The Mall!—so no one’s going to the city anymore. No gambling, no going to garish hotels, etc. It’s sorta like Florida in that, if it weren’t warm year round, who would voluntarily go down there? If you have no money to burn through, why would you go to Las Vegas?

The reviews for the $2.99 app, created by TMSOFT, are glowing: “Made me $50K in vegas. Not kidding.”; “I just got back from Vegas and won 8G’s and took my family on a great vacation. 3 bucks is worth a thousand.” And so on.

Anyway, the Nevada Gaming Control Board has warned operators to be on the lookout for the app. So if you’re thinking of cruising on over to one of the top casinos in Las Vegas, you’d better think twice about using the card counting app, lest some ex-cop hotel security guard “kindly asks” you to put your iPhone away, with his fists

Photo: Flickr