Blackjack Ballroom Casino recently had a player win a $5,556,753.68 million dollar jackpot playing at their online casino. The slot machine was the Mega-Moolah Progressive Slot Machine and was won by Klaus E. from Finland.
Blackjack Ballroom is powered by Microgaming software which has made 13 millionaires. Hundreds of casinos use the casino software so the progressive jackpots build fast and are usually in the millions.
When I think of blackjack ballroom I think of online blackjack but in this case slot machines stole the show. The player was only playing for .50 cents a spin and was able to make millions..can’t really say that about playing blackjack.
Andy Bloch is a well known poker player and has established himself as a top poker professional. He wasn’t always a poker player and in his 20’s played on the MIT blackjack team and was able to use card counting to win millions from Las Vegas over 6 years.
The telegraph has a great article with Andy Bloch on his experience playing on the MIT blackjack team. He said it took him 6 months to pass the rigorous test before he was able to join the team in live blackjack play. He played with the team for 6 years and said he was able to make a half a million dollars during the weekends playing with the team.
He has now been barred from nearly every casino in Las Vegas and across the world. Although, he still goes to casinos to play poker he is led by casino security straight to the poker tables without the chance to sit down and play blackjack. At some casinos he has to get special permission to enter because of being barred from ever stepping foot in the casinos.
Card counting is not illegal but casinos do have the right to ask you to leave and also to bar you from playing again. The sudden interest in card counting has been sparked by “21″ which is based on the true story and experiences of players that went to school at MIT and during the weekends traveled to vegas and card counted for a living. The MIT Blackjack team used the Hi/Lo Card Counting technique along with team play to allow them to card count without being detected by security.
Online Blackjack Odds is proud to announce the addition of articles written by the blackjack pro Howard Moon. If you look up Howard Moon you may not find much about him on google or elsewhere. This is because he is using this name as a way to hide his real identity as he is still card counting in casinos all over the world.
He has recently written a popular series of articles focusing on card counting. In the series he writes about the most popular technique: Hi/Lo Card Counting along with bankroll and betting strategies. Howard Moon also has written an in-depth analysis of blackjack betting systems pointing out the basic flaws with each system.
We have recently sent out a press release with more information on the addition of Howard Moon to OnlineBlackjackOdds.com.
MGM Mirage the second largest casino company in the world is currently working on diversifying their business. There are many casino properties owned by the company but their CEO J. Terrence Lanni is currently looking into making MGM Mirage more then just a casino company.
They have just opened up a casino property in Macau, China and their profits are soaring. You would think they would be happy and continue opening up casinos but Lanni has bigger plans. He is not walking away from casinos but is adding a new business to MGM Mirage which is called MGM Mirage Hospitality. These are generally non-casino properties with the MGM name. By 2010, MGM Mirage Hospitality is planned to have more then 15 non-casino properties. By expanding the business MGM Mirage is finding other revenue streams without much liability because they are licensing their name without putting money upfront.
This is not to say that MGM Mirage is not currently building any more casinos. They are currently underway in a multi billion dollar project on the Las Vegas Strip that will be completed in 2012. They are also currently planning a $5 billion casino complex in Atlantic City.
Governor of Florida Charlie Crist’s agreement with the Seminole Tribe has recently gone into effect with the inclusion into the Federal Register. The changes that the deal allows is the expansion of gaming in Florida is rumored to take a couple months before they show up in Florida Indian Casinos. The Indian casinos are making sure that they have trained staff and have the right equipment before they expand their offerings.
In the short term Florida will receive $50 million dollars because of the new agreement. They are also promised $100 million in the 1st year, $125 million in the 2nd and $150 million in the 3rd year. Long term the agreement could potentially give billions of dollars to Florida schools over the next 30 years.
Though this could change if the supreme court finds that Crist did not have authority to sign the compact which some legislative leaders have challenged. Arguments for the issue will be heard in court on January 30th. The tribes will be allowed to install slot machines but with the compact they would be able to offer blackjack and baccarat to customers.
It is well known that the MIT blackjack team took millions of dollars from Vegas and casinos across the country with team card counting techniques. It is largely unknown how many teams were doing the same thing during the late 90’s before casinos put in security precautions to help catch card counters. On a side note, Card counting is legal but casinos are able to ask anyone to leave if they want so naturally they try to find the players that are card counting and ask them to leave.
In a recent newspaper article from the rutland hearld it describes a team of card counters who are an unlikely bunch. Their jobs are paralegal, bar tender and a pool cleaner and are learning to card count to beat Atlantic City and Las Vegas. They have already hit Alantic City for $50k and are looking to someday beat Vegas. It is an interesting story of card counters trying to start up and avoid detection. They have paid for training from former MIT team member Mike Aponte who holds private sessions for around $5,000 dollars!
Caesars Palace has just announced that that have raised their high roller limits on Blackjack and Craps. Players at Caesar Palace casino can now bet $50,000 dollars per hand at blackjack. The old maximum was $10,000 dollars per hand, this new jump is sure to bring some high rollers to the casino.
The reason why casinos don’t like to have excessive high limit tables is because they make more money when blackjack players play over a period of time. The swings can be huge in a high stakes game and if a high roller has a hot streak they can take a hundreds of thousands from the casinos in minutes. It looks like Caesars Palace is willing to take that chance and are hoping this news will bring high rollers their way.
There may be a new blackjack variation that can be found online or at your local casino. The game is called Blackjack Extreme and is touted as a mix between blackjack and texas hold-em poker. The game was invented by hollywood producer David C. Thomas and he is in the process of getting it approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission and other state approval boards.
Thomas is looking to have the game played online, in brick and morter casinos and on TV. He is currently shopping a TV show that would have players play Blackjack Extreme like popular Texas Hold-em shows.
Right now in Las Vegas they are having the annual Global Gaming Expo. The attendees are Gaming Executives (Casino Management) and at the event two players from the MIT blackjack card counting team talked to the attendees. The MIT blackjack team is most lucrative blackjack team ever. They were able to make millions of dollars of a couple years playing blackjack in Las Vegas.
The crowd that the two former MIT members talked to were the people (Casino Management) they were trying to avoid for years. They were eventually stopped after facial recognition systems were used by casinos to keep track of card counters and ban them from their casinos.
The new movie about a group of MIT Students who took Las Vegas for millions is coming out in theaters. Here is the first trailer for the new movie called ‘21′. The movie stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne and Jim Sturgess.
