The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
theatlantic.com
The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
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Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#2This stuck out to me:
Made famous in books and movies, card counting is considered cheating, at least by casinos. In most states (but not New Jersey), known practitioners are banned. The wagering of card counters assumes a clearly recognizable pattern over time, and Johnson was being watched very carefully. The verdict: card counting was not Don Johnson’s game. He had beaten the casinos fair and square.
Card counting is not cheating, at least if you can do it without an external device. That's like saying that you can play this game but only if you don't think about it really hard. Even with card counting the casinos have a slight edge against you. They swap the shoe out frequently so that you have to reset your count.
The reason it's not illegal in NJ is because someone sued them and won. It should be legal everywhere.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#3This stuck out to me: Made famous in books and movies, card counting is considered cheating, at least by casinos. In most states (but not New Jersey), known practitioners are banned. The wagering of card counters assumes a clearly recognizable pattern over time, and Johnson was being watched very carefully. The verdict: card counting was not Don Johnson’s game. He had beaten the casinos fair and square. Card counting…
The keyword is "at least by" casinos. Nobody else think it's cheating because it's all about using your mind.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#4The short version:
Because of the recession casinos are desperate for high-rollers. To lure them in they offer perks. Some of those perks include slight modifications to the rules and a "loss discount" -- for example: losing $500k only costs you $400k.
This guy negotiated rules that changed his odds to 50/50. Then he negotiated an 80% loss discount, which meant for each $1 of upside, his downside was $0.80.
So to pull this off, you need $1m to put down, great negotiation skills, even better blackjack skills, good luck, and a very sophisticated understanding of stats.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#5This stuck out to me: Made famous in books and movies, card counting is considered cheating, at least by casinos. In most states (but not New Jersey), known practitioners are banned. The wagering of card counters assumes a clearly recognizable pattern over time, and Johnson was being watched very carefully. The verdict: card counting was not Don Johnson’s game. He had beaten the casinos fair and square. Card counting…
I thought card counting was legal, and according to wikipedia it is(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_counting)
As of January 2012, there are no federal, state or local laws which prohibit card counting in the United States as long as no external card counting device or person assists the player in counting cards.
BUT:
In all parts of the United States, with Atlantic City being the sole exception, casinos may ban any player for any reason including card counting as long as the Federal laws against discrimination based on race, creed, sex, national origin, age, or physical disability are not violated.
--
I think that a casino should be able to kick out anyone that they want for any reason, including card counting, being extremely lucky, being a jerk, etc...
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#6This stuck out to me: Made famous in books and movies, card counting is considered cheating, at least by casinos. In most states (but not New Jersey), known practitioners are banned. The wagering of card counters assumes a clearly recognizable pattern over time, and Johnson was being watched very carefully. The verdict: card counting was not Don Johnson’s game. He had beaten the casinos fair and square. Card counting…
The keyword is "at least by" casinos. Nobody else think it's cheating because it's all about using your mind.
Casinos don't consider counting cheating either, but they can (and do) throw people out the door if they actually catch you doing it.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#7The short version: Because of the recession casinos are desperate for high-rollers. To lure them in they offer perks. Some of those perks include slight modifications to the rules and a "loss discount" -- for example: losing $500k only costs you $400k. This guy negotiated rules that changed his odds to 50/50. Then he negotiated an 80% loss discount, which meant for each $1 of upside, his downside was $0.80. So to pul…
even better poker skills
He plays blackjack.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#8This stuck out to me: Made famous in books and movies, card counting is considered cheating, at least by casinos. In most states (but not New Jersey), known practitioners are banned. The wagering of card counters assumes a clearly recognizable pattern over time, and Johnson was being watched very carefully. The verdict: card counting was not Don Johnson’s game. He had beaten the casinos fair and square. Card counting…
The keyword is "at least by" casinos. Nobody else think it's cheating because it's all about using your mind.
Yeah, it was the final He had beaten the casinos fair and square quip that annoyed me.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#9The short version: Because of the recession casinos are desperate for high-rollers. To lure them in they offer perks. Some of those perks include slight modifications to the rules and a "loss discount" -- for example: losing $500k only costs you $400k. This guy negotiated rules that changed his odds to 50/50. Then he negotiated an 80% loss discount, which meant for each $1 of upside, his downside was $0.80. So to pul…
Thank you for the summary. I hate when articles open with a teaser then bury the explanation.
Re: The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
#10The article is a bit confusing. If I take it correctly, a few casinos offered him nearly 50:50 odds, and a discount on his losses if he lost more than ~500k. In other words, a great deal, worth ~$50k. And then he proceeded to have amazing games, winning millions by sheer luck. The article doesn't talk much about the luck this requires, and one wonders if he does have something else going on.