REBLOG> Jack of All Trades: Ben Affleck Admits Counting Cards in Casinos:
Jack Omnitrade's Original Blog
Advantage Players
Savy Seph gave a good explanation of advantage players. "The advantage players have an edge over the house given that they tend to win more than they lose. While cheating at casinos is a criminal activity, advantage players use legitimate means to beat the house. Since they play by the rules, they deserve to pocket their winnings. The casinos may frown on the advantage players but they are not able to use legal means to throw advantage players in jail. This shows that the law recognizes advantage players to be a different kettle of fish from the unethical cheaters." Card counting, a form of advantage play, was used by Ben Affleck at the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas to win $800,000 in May 2014.
Ben Affleck Admits
Sky News had a few interesting quotes from Affleck in their 18 Sep 2014 article. "That is a true story. I mean, that took place. I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player," he said. "And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack. I mean, the fact that being good at the game is against the rules at the casinos should tell you something about casinos."
Casino as a Sore Loser
Blackjack is the only casino game that is vulnerable to a good system. The casino is a sore loser and they will reject your patronage. "They don't even want you to have a sporting chance, really. There's a lot of hospitality, backslapping, when they think you're gonna come in and dump money, and if they think you might leave with some money, it's like, 'You know what? Why don't you try craps or roulette?'."
Dispelling Rumors
Affleck dispelled the rumors surrounding his visit to the Hard Rock Casino in May. With respect to being kicked out of the premises he said, "I wish I could say they were afraid of me in every capacity, but they only said, 'No blackjack'. That would be awesome [if they threw me out]. 'Get him outta here! He's a magician!' Unfortunately, they just came up and said: 'We can't let you play blackjack. But we have other table games. We have Chinese poker'." Affleck also rejects reports that his blackjack playing was affecting his marriage to actress Jennifer Garner.
My Comments
It is good that Ben Affleck came out to put the rumors in their place. If a person can be ban for card counting he is a professional gambler. He is would not fit in the bill of a rotten gambler. So, I never for once believe that his marriage with Garner was on the rocks. If their relationship was strained, it would be on other issues.