Ben Affleck Busted ...

[freestocks]

I counted cards at blackjack for many years. I was never asked to leave. Some dealers could see what I was doing. It is hard to hide varying bet size. I played a much lower stake than a movie star.

If you are kicked out, You played good. Good job!

 

[itsmebobd]

It's very easy to learn and in theory it's also easy to use.

However, it takes a lot of skill, patience, practice and a well developed ability to multitask with ease (reasons a lot of people get spotted for it is their inability to multitask).

I can count and I can do it very well. I have used it on a multitude of occasions with 8 deck shoes and just like playing 16 tables for 8 hours straight like a lot of grinders do you can feel the mental toll it takes on you afterwards.

Anyone who thinks it's easy, I challenge you to try it for yourself.
Learn the basic card counting strategy, go to a casino where they don't have CSMs and attempt it. Between the bar girls asking you if you want a drink, the idiots coming in for a hand or 2, the speed of some of the dealers, sizing bets inconspicuously, etc., it becomes overwhelming to keep up at some points. However if you succeed over a big enough sample you will see the edge you have created for yourself.

In poker it's a lot easier to roughly figure out odds, equity, etc. because it's on a hand-to-hand basis, when you want to try and gain an edge in blackjack every move you make will be based on that running count you have in your head, the last hand is always more important than the next hand.

Good luck, let us know if you give it a try!

P.S. I also believe that counting cards is in no way cheating but casinos will do anything to maintain their edge.

I can count cards, learned it in jail actually when I had nothing better to do for 4 months awaiting trial. But I will NEVER count cards in a casino, because I make way more money playing poker than I ever would playing blackjack and counting. It really requires a team and signals like in the movie 21, to see any big returns. However, at local gambling halls such as the eagles, american legion, Moose etc. the guys there are none the wiser when I come in and make a good $150 quickly and leave. Sometimes I dont even count and just play, and leave when im up. They have come to accept that I just win a little here and there, and think of it me just leaving while im up... Usually im waiting on a poker seat, and thats always a good excuse to get up while im up.

 

[Randy Guys]

Without any equipment it is actually very hard to count the cards,but if you are good in mathematics and your memory is good,then you can really win a lot for sure.

 

[Teofealter]

When the odds are in favor of the house everything is fine but when it's opposite they go nuts. I think it's just natural. Who wants to run a tilting business anyway. Mr. Affleck has beaten the system and it's every gambling house's worst nightmare so they kicked him out (or paid him out?).

 

[Krieseman]

wonder how many times he did this without being caught.

 

[rogerdelpk]

Lol, with all that money did he really needed to do that............

 

[glenn6971]

Take any advantage that you can. Because the casinos do.

 

[cantavir]

Whether or not you remember the cards must exert a great deal to him. and why the paper notes that trouble? Then they found out that only dumb casino game?
But the only things I have written is not excluded .to promote the casino and therefore received money from Ben

 

[bradfordzilla]

If you go to a casino and win a decent amount of money on a consistent basis, playing table games, sooner or later, they will come up with ways to try and run you off. One way I have heard of is a shill dressed as a "tourist" that just doesn't know basic strategy. Taking a card when the dealer has a 6 card up, just playing bad in general. If you don't know basic strategy, then what are you doing at a $50 minimum blackjack table? Another story I have heard is some "guest" (probably a casino worker) comes and sits down at the table and acts so obnoxiously drunk that you get up a go somewhere else. Casinos do not like to lose money at all.

 

[jjjones]

Wow!

This gave me a newfound respect for the entire Aflack community, mostly because the casino verified he was good by kicking him out.

 

[jus7_play3r]

This is just amazing. A person with money counting cards to get an unfair advantage. Makes me think that Ivey and Affleck are more broke than they show and are hard up for money. Just is mind boggling to me that they could need money in such a way, they have to cheat.

 

[S3mper]

This is just amazing. A person with money counting cards to get an unfair advantage. Makes me think that Ivey and Affleck are more broke than they show and are hard up for money. Just is mind boggling to me that they could need money in such a way, they have to cheat.

This has been said multiple times..

Counting Cards is not cheating

Ben Affleck and Phil Ivey are not broke or even close to it..

In fact if you read the article you would have read that Affleck gives most if not all of his casino winnings as tips to staffers

 

[army-ninja]

not everyone is able to count cards (as smart as other which is where I fall in) which puts other players at a disadvantage.

Another player is never at a disadvantage against another player. In blackjack, you do not compete with other players. Your play has no bearing on other players (except related to the "flow" of the game)

when the house is against a player who is paying attention to the amount of cards coming out, they are at a disadvantage also cause the dealer can't pull cards from the bottom or nothing, just straight from the top.

Pulling cards from anywhere other than the top would be cheating. Also, you state that having an understanding of what cards are played gives and advantage over the casino, and may be cheating. Is the Casino cheating when the casino always has an advantage over the player from the begining

 

[Cajunaimee]

it was a publicity stunt to promote his movie and hard rock casino

 

[Karametric]

What percentage of the populace that goes to casinos and play blackjack know and are capable of counting cards? 5%, probably less?

We are talking roughly a 2-4% advantage here. less than a low pocket pair vs AK. Either a lot of people have to be doing this with a lot of money, or they are paying people more to go around looking for it than they are losing from the added percentages people get.

My opinion is, if they really will not allow the customer to have an advantage, don't have blackjack tables. Simple.

 

[Michael Paler]

Something that everyone forgets about this - it does not matter if he was or was not "counting cards"; what they object to is ANYONE winning too much. I do not care what game it is, you sit down and start winning, you are going to be asked to leave, they will simply ASSUME you are counting cards. You must be, if you are winning consistently, right?

Remember, the odds in any casino are rigged to favor the casino - blackjack is one of the few where the house does not have a significant advantage. I'm actually surprised it still happens, as the "card counters" are always grumbling about the new card shuffle machines, which were supposed to make this practice almost impossible. Guess they did not have them.

I went to a local casino once and was surprised to find a Texas hold-em table game where you play against the dealer. I quickly turned 40$ into 280$. Before I knew it, there was a floor guy and several others that had moved in close to watch every move I was making. I had to be on the radar, as I would not cover the bet for trips like others would each hand (they would almost always lose, and lose far more than the few times they actually got trips, duh), and a few other things that were not conductive to making a profit for me.

I left before they came for me. And I am sure they would have asked me to leave or something. No way any casino is going to let somebody sit down and win big consistently.

So, was he counting cards? Or just on a streak? As you can see, it does not really matter, now does it?

 

[or3o1990]

^^
It's true. I was at a bj table and the casino was supposed to close in 15 minutes. It was half way through the shoe and the whole table was winning. The dealer kept busting and we were having a great time! So they came and shut the table down early. I was pissed..

 

[DonSifu]

Ben still sucks at poker though.

 

[braveboat]

Tossing people for card counting ought to be illegal. The house has so many ways to stifle good players it doesn't need to resort to heavy handed methods. If you're offering a game of chance, there ought to be a chance the house is going to lose! Constant reshuffling, limiting your highest bet to your first bet, 20 deck games... Pick something and leave the players alone...

 

[1chicharito4]

gg ben.

 

[TheCocolatex]

very smart or very stupid? c´mon whit all the security the casinos have now beeing ben aflec...

 

[lord argyle]

unfortunitly there are many who do this.and most of them are always caught not sure why he feels the need to have did this but everyone wants to be a winner and most end up beaing losers and that should say it all.

 

[rock1010]

Counting cards is NOT cheating. However, the casinso don't have to let you play.

 

[Johnny Aces]

Ben Affleck busted that's surprising. I always thought of him as a respectable player and person. Cant be true.

 

[Dlattanzio]

This continuation of the story....

Ben Affleck commented on a lifetime ban on playing cards
Said that blackjack - his favorite hobby. On the question of whether he cheated in the Hard Rock Casino, the actor jokingly replied that his only crime - a "good game." Here is the full interview

Nice