Ben Affleck's Blackjack Ban: What Really Happened at the Hard Rock

This piece covers the 2014 incident in which the actor Ben Affleck was reportedly banned from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The purpose of the piece is to explain, in plain terms, what actually happened, what the relevant legal basis is, and what the incident tells us about how U.S. casinos respond to suspected advantage play.

Before proceeding, a definition. "Advantage play" refers to a category of legal techniques by which a player reduces the house edge, or eliminates it, without cheating. The most common example in blackjack is card counting, in which the player tracks the ratio of high to low cards remaining in the shoe and adjusts bet size accordingly.

What happened at the Hard Rock in April 2014?

According to reporting by TMZ and, subsequently, by the Associated Press, Mr Affleck was playing high-stakes blackjack at the Hard Rock on the night of 29 April 2014. A pit supervisor observed his play over several shoes and concluded that he was counting cards. Mr Affleck was asked, politely, to stop playing blackjack. The casino did not ask him to leave the premises. He remained a guest at the hotel.

Is card counting illegal in Nevada?

No. Card counting is not a crime in Nevada, nor in any U.S. jurisdiction. The technique relies only on memory and arithmetic, which the state cannot regulate. A 1979 New Jersey appellate decision, Uston v Resorts International, held that licensed casinos in Atlantic City could not bar patrons for card counting, because the state's Casino Control Commission, not the operator, determined who could play. Nevada law is different.

Then what is the legal basis for the ban?

Nevada casinos operate as private property. Under the Nevada Gaming Control Act and settled case law, including the 1982 decision in Brooks v Chicago Downs Association (applied in Nevada analogues), a licensed operator may refuse service to any patron at any game for any reason that is not a violation of civil rights law. Advantage play is not a protected class. Accordingly, the Hard Rock was within its legal rights to ask Mr Affleck to stop playing blackjack.

Was Mr Affleck accused of cheating?

No. The distinction is important. Cheating, defined in Nevada Revised Statutes 465.083, includes altering the outcome of a game by mechanical, electronic, or confederate means. Card counting does none of these things. Nothing in the public record suggests the Hard Rock accused Mr Affleck of cheating. He was simply identified as a skilled player whom the casino preferred not to host.

Was he banned from the entire casino?

Reports diverge on this point. The casino's statement at the time confirmed that he was asked to discontinue blackjack. Subsequent interviews with Mr Affleck indicated he understood the ban as applying to blackjack specifically, not to other games or to the hotel. He has, in later interviews, acknowledged that he does count cards, and has described himself as "good at it."

Does this kind of incident happen often?

In practice, yes. Surveillance departments at major Las Vegas properties identify suspected counters most nights. The standard response is one of three measures: (a) increasing the frequency of shuffles to reduce deck penetration, (b) capping the player's maximum bet, or (c) asking the player to stop playing that specific game. Outright trespass bans are less common and are typically reserved for repeat offenders or team play.

What is "team play" and was that involved here?

Team play refers to a coordinated advantage-play structure, made famous by the MIT Blackjack Team, in which one player, the "spotter," counts a shoe at low stakes and signals a "big player" to enter with large bets when the count is favourable. Mr Affleck was reported to be playing alone. Accordingly, team play was not alleged.

Can a casino share the names of suspected counters with other operators?

In the United States, yes. Private intelligence services such as the firm formerly known as Griffin Investigations, and its successor operations, maintain databases of suspected advantage players and distribute them to subscribing casinos. These databases are legal under U.S. law. Affleck's name was reportedly circulated in this manner, which is why he was, according to later interviews, restricted at other properties as well.

What should a reader take from the incident?

The practical takeaway is that a casino's decision to exclude a player from a game is, in most U.S. jurisdictions, a commercial decision rather than a legal one. A player has no guaranteed right to play blackjack at a given property. Accordingly, skilled players who wish to continue playing must choose between remaining inconspicuous (varying bet sizes moderately, avoiding long sessions, tipping in a way that matches a recreational profile) or accepting that they will, over time, be asked to stop.

In Mr Affleck's case, the public profile made discretion impossible. Therefore, the ban was, in a sense, inevitable.