This happens and came to be because they saw gambling as an opportunity to create profit, and not to be something to relieve stress from and basically relax. Not saying that what they're doing is wrong since at the end of the day the house also cheats on you so it's either you or them. But if you could invest time and effort doing this and learning so much information about the game you'll be abusing, why don't we spend more time doing what we really love and use gambling as a sideline eh? Nothing too out of the ordinary at least for these students, they basically just counted the cards because they knew the house will always cheat on them and created a pattern that will allow them to win.