Ben Affleck got kicked out of the Hard Rock casino and banned for life for counting cards, according to TMZ. The incident reportedly happened earlier this week when he was on vacation with his wife Jennifer Garner, and was flagged by security while playing (and presumably winning) at a high rollers’ table. Affleck’s supposedly gone on an $800,000 heater at the same casino in the past.
It seems pretty ridiculous that this isn’t allowed. Why is it alright for casinos to have moderate to obscene odds in their favor for their table games and slot machines, but it’s not okay for players to capitalize on their own intellectual advantages within games? This isn’t a situation like Phil Ivey’s in which the poker star sorta (but still not necessarily illegally) conned the house into a manufactured advantage — Affleck participated within the bounds of a game that already exists.
As gambling journalist David Purdum notes, Affleck’s scenario would seem to indicate a structural flaw in 6-deck blackjack. That should be the casinos’ problem, not their customers’.
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