Jeff Ma spoke today at the Business Partner Summit about his experiences counting cards during his years as a professional blackjack player. Jeff urged attendees to recall your past performances, avoid groupthink and overconfidence, and, most of all, trust the data.

The book “Bringing Down the House” and the movie “21″ are about Jeff’s experiences. Jim Sturgess played Jeff in the movie that also starred Kevin Spacey.

Jeff wrote his own book called “House Advantage.” The book gives advice on getting the best advantage at playing blackjack, but applies the skills he learned to making business decisions. His talk was great and many people came to the book signing after Jeff’s talk. The book sold out at the IOD book store, but you can get your copy on Amazon.

Read more on Jeff Ma, and see Delaney Turner’s great post on Jeff’s session.