This change alone increases the house edge over the player by 1.39%, which is astronomical. The most dramatic change probably has been the replacement of the traditional 3-to-2 payoff on blackjack (when the first two cards dealt are an ace and a 10-value card) by the 6-to-5 payout. According to a Times source, the casino told Affleck - who was with his wife, Jennifer Garner - that he was welcome to play any other game.īut many changes in the game really target the recreational player, not the pro. (In gambling parlance, this is known technically as having your cake and eating it too.)Ĭard counters don’t like to be “backed off,” but they also accept that it’s part of the cat-and-mouse aspect of professional play, and appreciate when the ejection is handled politely and professionally, as appears to have happened in this case. To begin with, Nevada law says that card counting is perfectly legal, and also that it’s perfectly legal for casinos to bar apparent counters from their tables. Let’s get a few things straight about this episode, because card counting is a fascinating corner of professional gambling, as we reported. He did so by counting cards at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas and getting ejected from the game. The film director and movie star Ben Affleck, soon to be featured as Hollywood’s next Batman, did the gambling world a favor last week by placing professional blackjack back in the news.

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