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5 celebrities banned from casinos
Ben Affleck attends the 2004 World Poker Tour Invitational at Commerce Casino.
When players enter a casino, it may be a game of luck, but casinos are meticulously designed to keep you playing for as long as possible, whether you're lucky or not. Conveniently, the casino has no windows, making it difficult for patrons to keep track of time elapsed at the table. They offer free drinks to gamblers, helping them loosen their inhibitions (and open their wallets). Calculate wins and losses carefully to ensure that the dealer is not colluding with the players. In addition to using video surveillance to monitor every table for suspicious activity, the restaurant employs masked security guards to patrol the floors.
There's a lot of money flowing into casinos, and the owners want to keep them there. In fact, most casino games have a built-in house advantage, and depending on the game he can reach between 0.5% and 30%. If you cost the casino too much, they will think twice before opening their doors to you again.
Winning too much is rarely a reason for a casino to ban a customer, but it could theoretically happen. Gambling operations are privately run businesses and can refuse service to anyone without giving a reason. A handful of celebrities have admitted that they've been banned from casinos because Lady Luck was willing to be on their side while playing blackjack. (The game, played under Vegas' liberal rules, would give the house a slight 0.28% advantage.) One celebrity was shut out simply for his prowess. He couldn't even go to the gambling table. Yet another work was banned for less obvious reasons.
So which famous people benefited from it? ATS.io has compiled a list of five celebrities who have been banned from casinos using various news articles. See which celebrities have broken casino banks and, in one case, casino trash cans as well.
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ben affleck
Ben Affleck at the Venice Film Festival.
Matt Damon starred in the cult poker movie Rounders, but maybe director John Dahl should have cast Damon's friend Ben Affleck instead. In May 2014, the famous actor was infamously banned for life from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for playing blackjack. He was accused of counting cards at a high roller table. A few months later, he confessed about the incident in an interview with Detail magazine.
“I took the time to learn the game and become a decent blackjack player. And after I got decent, the casino asked me not to play blackjack,” Affleck said at the time. Ta. “So the fact that being good at the game is against the casino's rules should say something about the casino.”
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Dana White
Dana White holds the UFC Legacy Championship belt during the UFC 235 event.
Dana White may be best known as the CEO and president of the UFC, but he's also an exceptional blackjack player who loves playing at the high stakes tables in Las Vegas. Whites reportedly won $7 million in one night, and according to High Roller, his success in the game caused several casinos to refuse him a seat at their tables.
“I'm not banned from casinos, they just don't want me to play there,” White explained in response to a fan's question on GQ Sports. “They don't give me the limits I want and they don't let me bet as much as I want because I don't like losing.”
“Palms kicked me out of there twice, Mirage, Wynn wouldn't let me play,” he admitted. “Caesars Palace, Bellagio and Venetian are the only ones that let us play in town.”
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Derren Brown
Derren Brown on stage during the “Enigma” stage show at the Adelphi Theater.
If you count cards for a living, casinos won't want you near the blackjack table. Derren Brown is a famous illusionist, known for awe-inspiring acts such as his card tricks. His abilities led to his lucrative career, but also caused casinos across the UK to ban the British entertainer from playing blackjack on their premises. (It doesn't help that he shared a video on his YouTube showing how to win the match.)
In 2013, Brown tried to play blackjack with friends at Birmingham's Broadway Plaza Casino after a show. The venue had allowed him to enter and sit at a table with his friends, but they told him he could not place bets. Despite not letting him play, the casino was very kind to Brown.
“They were very kind and gave me food, but they didn't let me play,” he told The Scotsman at the time. “I took a quick look at the others and then left. I was escorted out by the staff and manager.”
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Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson poses for a photo on the basketball court.
Some of the celebrities on this list have been kicked out of casinos for winning too much, but Allen Iverson is a different case. In 2009, the former NBA star was banned from a Detroit casino for his behavior at the tables. He hated losing, and when he lost (which was often) he would throw his cards and chips at the dealer. He also behaved in a disruptive and disrespectful manner towards other players and staff. As if that wasn't bad enough, AI was infamously banned from an Atlantic City casino for urinating in a trash can. Wow!
Kamba
Stu Unger
Blackjack table with cards.
Stu Unger is widely considered to be the greatest poker player in history, winning three World Series of Poker championships before his life was cut short by heavy drug use at the age of 45. (Rising to fame in 2001), “The Kid” was actually banned from playing blackjack at many casinos during his lifetime.
why? Because his genius-level IQ and incredible memory not only allowed him to play games, but he was also gifted at counting cards. At the time of his death in 1998, Unger was banned from playing blackjack in all Las Vegas casinos.
Story editor Karen Zhao. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.
This story originally appeared and was written on ATS.io
Distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
