Affleck Stirs Blackjack Card Counting Controversy

You cannot count cards at blackjack at Canadian online casinos. But it is possible to count cards at land casinos. However, this practice will usually draw an unfavorable response from the casino. Recently, the Hollywood celebrity Ben Affleck was turned away from a land casino in Canada for counting cards at the blackjack table.

Very simply stated, card counting in blackjack means keeping track of the cards that have been discarded and therefore knowing which cards are left in the shoe. Sharp blackjack players can take advantage of this information to increase their chance of winning. The reason why card counting does not work in online blackjack is because every deal begins with a new set of decks.

At the center of the card counting controversy is whether the activity constitutes cheating or not. Players who can count cards effectively consider themselves good blackjack players. This is also the case with Ben Affleck. In April 2014 the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas told Affleck that he could no longer play blackjack there. But they went one step further and spread the word that Affleck was a known card counter. Soon he was stopped at other casinos as well. While on a break from filming Batman Versus Superman in Detroit, Affleck went to play blackjack across the border at Caesar’s Windsor Hotel and Casino in Ontario. There were reports that the casino threw him out. However, Affleck clarified that he was not thrown out, just asked to move to another game after he had played blackjack for 20 minutes.

Card counting at blackjack is legal provided the player is only using his mental abilities. But if the player is colluding with other players or spectators or if the player is using any device to count cards then the act becomes illegal. But casinos do not like players who count cards. They will ask the player to leave or even throw him out by force if they have to. Then it is up to the player to go to court if he so desires.

Blackjack players who are attracted to card counting should be aware of how much advantage this activity will give them. Blackjack variants generally offer an average return of about 99.5 percent based on optimum play. It goes without saying that a blackjack card counter would have to be intimately familiar with optimum play. Card counting will increase the average return to marginally over 100%. Therefore unless you are wagering with high stakes or for long periods the advantage would not be substantial.

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