Blackjack is a fast and frenetic game that offers endless chances for high stakes drama and tension. There are endless tales of players who have gone from top to bottom and from a losing streak to victory. 

The following are five legendary stories from the blackjack pit.

1. Dana White

The UFC boss Dana White is a shrewd businessman and negotiator. Indeed, in 2016 he and his business partners sold stakes in UFC to WWE for $4 billion. 

White is also a keen blackjack player and regularly shows off his skills and experience on the table. He has boasted of winning millions of dollars in a single night. However, his penchant for blackjack has led to the occasional difficulty.

He has been accused of card counting and was banned from Vegas’s Palms Casino. However, according to White, this was more down to the fact that he kept winning! 

The UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes that White may have lost $1million in a night and made as much as $7million. With numbers like that, it is easy to see why many think White is top of his game. 

2. Kerry Packer

The wealthy businessman Kerry Packer competed in Blackjack at the highest level and took casinos for millions. One occasion saw him pick up $7.1 million in a single night at the Las Vegas Hilton. 

But biggest of all was the time in 1995 when he recorded hi biggest ever score. At the MGM Grand Packer played 8 hands at a time, with $250,000 bets on each round. The result was Packer walked off with an incredible $40million. The legend is that he tipped the dealers $1 million as he went out! 

3. Don Johnson 

Not to be confused with the Miami Vice actor, this Don Johnson is a multi-millionaire businessman who loved to play cards for big numbers. Atlantic City was his regular location for play, and he was well known to the casinos there.  

Johnson’s analytical mind took a mathematical approach to gambling, and he went on a 5-month winning run. The victorious streak saw Johnson rack up over $15 million in winnings.

4. Ben Affleck

The Hollywood actor is well-known for his love of gaming and the casino. Perhaps his biggest victory came in 2001 at the Hard Rock Casino. Affleck took an $800,000 stack and coolly left staff with $145,000 in tips.

Affleck was later accused of card counting and was banned by the same tables. While card counting is not technically illegal in the blackjack world, casinos will do whatever they can to not lose too much!

5. A Long Deal

Another amazing story is the record for the longest dealing session. It took place at the Oracle Casino on the island of Malta in 2001. 

The staff dealer Stephen De Raffaele managed to deal blackjack for 51 hours and 33 minutes. The marathon dealing time might not have won him any financial amount, but it did get him a place in the Guinness World Records!

Differences between Land-Based and Online Gaming

These stories all show off the thrills of casino blackjack gameplay. This excitement is also offered in full with an online experience of Blackjack now offered by many online casinos across the world.

Online casinos hold a significant advantage over physical casinos in the fact that they are more secure. This is true for both the provider and the player.

Guarding against card counting

Card counting is when a player keeps a track of how often high and low cards appear in the game. A sharp memory is essential. While not strictly illegal, many casinos do their best to discourage it. 

In online casinos with blackjack games, the practice can be guarded against by computer-led substitution measures. Many online providers use continuous shuffling machines to prevent players from seeing sequences in the occurrences of cards. 

The operators of online casinos are well aware of how card counters can use the sequences of the deal to their advantage. 

This is why they have put the plans in place to ensure that the deck is always being shuffled. In this potential card counters will be thwarted as they will not have the chance to see any cards in time to make a pattern and memorise. 

Playing online also has the distinct advantage for the player that there are fewer distractions without the bright lights and constant buzz of the casino, gamers can tune into the cards even more. 

In a high stakes game of blackjack, this could make all the difference between a great win and a disappointing loss.

There is also the practical advantage that the online world is open all the time. Players can play whenever they want. They also will not have to factor in a potentially long trip to a land-based casino in real-time.

The blackjack table provides lots of amazing stories that are being added to all the time. The online world of gaming is just as exciting with the added advantages of security, convenience and versatility.