ben-affleck-poker-060514Affleck’s tricks

Ben Affleck is already getting comfortable with his role as a superhero, showing off his new superpower: card counting.

When Hollywood announced Ben Affleck would be the star of the forthcoming Batman vs. Superman movie, many expressed doubts that the Oscar-winning actor would fit the role of the next Bruce Wayne.

The Hollywood high-roller has proved that he does have at least one superpower. But it has nothing to do with fighting bad guys, eradicating crime or saving Gotham; Ben Affleck’s superpower does none of these things, but it did help him win more money in Las Vegas casinos.

The actor caught the attention of the entire media, as recent news report he was kicked out of a casino in Las Vegas for counting cards.

“Advantaged player”

It all happened while the actor was on a short break in Las Vegas with his wife Jennifer Garner. Local newspapers say the Hollywood star was escorted out of the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas after security allegedly caught him counting cards and labeled him as an “advantaged player.”

Neither the venue’s management nor the actor were willing to make any comments, so the media started to speculate and the story escalated quickly, up to the point where local newspapers were saying Ben Affleck was banned for life from the casino premises. At least that’s what an initial story published by TMZ claimed.

However this information was later denied in a statement released by the management of the casino, which read: “Mr. Affleck, a valued guest of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, is not banned from our property and is welcome back any time.”

Using card counting systems is not illegal, but casinos certainly don’t like players who are smart enough to turn the odds in their favor. Ben Affleck is a high-roller, so there was a lot of money at stake. While details of the incident remain unknown, security allegedly told the movie star he was “too good” and asked him to leave the blackjack table, giving him the option of playing other games in the casino.

Big winner, big tipper

The Hollywood high-roller sure seems to know his blackjack strategy well and even though he’s won millions of dollars throughout the years, he seems to be in it for the adrenaline.

Over the years, the actor has been very lucky at blackjack. In 2000, the media told how Ben Affleck gave away all of his chips – worth $140,000 – to members of the casino staff. He tipped his dealers, the waitresses who brought him drinks, as well as the door boys as much as $5,000.

He also played poker, but it turned out that this was not his game. Affleck first got into trouble after hosting a regular poker game for A-listers, in a fancy cigar bar located in Beverly Hills. Local news reported actors like Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire were spotted playing with him.

By 2004, the star got better at the game and won the California State Poker Championship and qualified for the 2004 World Poker Tour final tournament. The California title brought him a prize worth $356,000.

Casinos want players to lose?

The Hollywood blackjack player hasn’t made any official comments since the scandal broke out, but has recently retweeted a post by The Howard Stern Show, where the TV celebrity defended Affleck by saying Las Vegas casinos don’t want to let their patrons win.

“Interesting point Howard. MT @sternshow: @HowardStern defends @BenAffleck – saying Ben did nothing wrong & it proves Vegas won’t let you win,” the post said.

But with the scandal still on, some casinos are trying to take advantage and get some free publicity. The owner of the D Casino Hotel in downtown Vegas has already announced he’d be more than pleased to welcome the movie star to his venue.

“The D Las Vegas is not afraid of Ben Affleck winning a few hands in a row. Ben can come play blackjack and not worry about security walking him out!” owner Derek Stevens told reporters.