Ben Affleck, the Hollywood A-List actor who is set to play Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel film, is also a well-known card shark, and enjoys a hand or two of poker. He’s been quite successful at his chosen hobby, having reportedly won $800,000 in three hands of blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas back in 2001.
However, he’s now back in the limelight for the wrong reasons. After employing a legal system to ensure better odds for himself, he has been caught allegedly counting cards (at the same Hard Rock!), Affleck has reportedly been handed a lifetime ban from playing blackjack at the casino. Reports say that the casino thought he was too lucky, or, in their words, he was an “advantaged player.”
Blackjack is the perfect game to count cards in, and the only reason casinos still offer it is because the vast majority of players are amateurs who can’t count cards. This more than makes up for the small number of players that do take advantage of the system.
However, let’s also remember that, while definitely frowned upon, counting cards is not illegal under US law, so long as the player doesn’t use a card counting device. Casinos don’t like it, though, as it reduces the house’s edge, and thus the revenue generated from their games is lowered.
In some places, like Atlantic City, New Jersey, skilled players can’t be barred from casinos just for using mathematics to their benefit. However, Hard Rock is in Nevada, so the casino is well within their rights to bar players for whatever reason.
There’s a bit of speculation been going round that the new Batman was doing some research for his next role. No doubt Affleck appreciates the irony that, as a world-renowned playboy and all-round rich kid, Bruce Wayne would be intimately familiar with the inside of a casino. Now Affleck is stuck on the outside…
One of Affleck’s most recent films, Runner Runner, also dealt with cheating in online poker, and we’d hate to think what sort of research he did for that. Whatever the case, it looks like Affleck will have to do any further blackjack “research” somewhere else. I hear that New Jersey is lovely this time of year…