How accurate are blackjack movies compared with the reality of card counters?
Blackjack is a game that inspired many movie scenes and twisted film plots. But as Hollywood romanticizes what it’s like to be a professional card counter. One can wonder if the life of professional gamblers is like what the big screen shows us. Read more – how accurate are Blackjack movies?
In our experience, it isn’t. And we’ve recently stumbled on 2 advantage players who commented on popular TV and movies scenes with their expertise. Plus, they’ve compared them with their personal experience as card counters.
While the glitz and glam of Vegas make for a terrific backdrop for an exciting storyline, one can wonder, will you end up in a backroom in a casino somewhere eating a knuckle sandwich because you’ve used your brain in a beatable game? Possibly not…
But are there any other scenes in Blackjack movies far from reality? Let’s find out what other blackjack players think about iconic blackjack films.
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Rain man – the classic blackjack movie
When it comes to iconic blackjack movies, few can rival the 1988 film Rain man. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman are making a killing when visiting Las Vegas’ blackjack tables.
Now when professional card counters commented on Rain man’s casino scenes. It started well. However, one could not help but point out that the script makes it sound like professional players know it all in this movie, which is inaccurate. Indeed, as an advantage player. Your goal is to maximize your bet spread when the deck or the odds are in your favor. Rare are those blackjack players who’ll know when the cards will come out and how. And for this reason, everyone agrees that Rain Man is an excellent film. But it does not match the reality of card counters today.
The Hangover – Is the world’s greatest blackjack book that good?
In the movie The Hangover, one of the leading characters grabs the book “The world’s greatest blackjack” and reads it on its way to Vegas. After studying for a bit, the fortunate player wins a $20,000 bet. Lucky or talented?
Well, possibly luck or a dramatization of what could happen. In fact, most advantage players would tell you they’d had to study an entire weekend to master basic blackjack strategy. After that, there are deviations, including hi-low count and deck penetration. For the latter, you can estimate that the savviest player amongst the savvy ones would take around 1 month if fully dedicated to learning.
However, most card counters would tell you they were in a position to test their games in a land-based casino after 3 or 4 months at best. So what the Hangover shows is very improbable to happen to anyone.
21 – the MIT crew that inspired many Blackjack movies
MIT’s team success is very well documented indeed. However, when advantage players looked at it, they couldn’t stop laughing. To start with, there’s the spotter who signals the better by crossing her arms. Then it’s followed by a huge smile making it evident these 2 are a pair to watch out for.
Then, on the leading character’s first hand, he sits at the table with a running count of 16. “Sweet, too sweet,” remember? Then cards slowly hit the table as Jim Sturgess adjusts the count. The pros’ reactions? “Wow, that guy needs to speed up his counting skills; otherwise, he’ll never make it.”
Dark Matter – a Blackjack movies too cool to be true?
Yes, of course, the neon blue blackjack table in Dark Matter is fantastic. Yet, it puzzled pro players. “A glass blackjack table? That I’ve never seen anywhere in the world,” one said.
But props aside, Dark Matter is more a fantasy than reality. Take a look at the player’s first move. Splitting 10s (against an 8) and not re-splitting when another 10 value card hits the table, hum? That got the expert questioning the movie script as it is not a basic blackjack strategy recommended play. However, one admitted they are times where you’ll do that if you master deviations. But what got the expert cracking up was when the movie star laid another bet on the table after no re-splitting. The pros’ final comment about this screen was, “it’s like someone did some research, but not enough to be accurate”.
To conclude
Now, of course, errors in movies happen from time to time. And it’s always fun to spot them. But if it were not for this article, could you have spotted these errors? If you’ve said yes, congrats. You’re ready to visit a casino. If you said no, you might need to practice a little more before visiting an online casino or offline one. Because in life, it’s real money on the table, and you’ll want to put the best chances you have to win more if you’re serious about blackjack.
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