When you hear the name Don Johnson, you will probably think of the TV series Miami Vice and undercover police detective Sonny Crockett. However, there is another Don Johnson worth your attention. He became infamous for winning $15 million playing Blackjack at Atlantic City-based casinos. Following his success, Johnson got banned from further playing in. Don Johnson - Blackjack Master, Bensalem, PA. High stakes blackjack player Don Johnson has absolutely been crushing the gambling scene. In fact, Johnson has earned over.
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Atlantic City and he attributed his success to negotiating favorable terms with those
casinos, terms that he believes gave him a player's edge. He faults the casinos for
accepting his terms without doing the math.
For the game itself he negotiated the dealer standing on a soft 17, a maximum bet of $25,000
to $100,000, no restrictions on doubling down, and resplitting for up to four hands. Best of
all, he negotiated a 20% rebate on any loss he incurred in a single day for a loss of
$500,000 or more.
Apart from the effect of the rebate, he calculated that the game had a house edge of 0.253%.
Casino management probably thought that the house still had the advantage and would merely
be giving up a percentage of their profit. Proper analysis would have shown that this rebate
would shift the odds in Don's favor.
The house edge is defined as the ratio of the average loss to the initial bet, For an
average win or loss of one betting unit it can be converted to the probability of winning by
p = (1 - He)/2. We will need this for what follows.
For an He of 0.00253, p = 0.498735 and the probability of losing is q = 0.501265. We shall
use this to calculate Don's expected winnings taking into account the loss rebate.
At what point should he have decided to quit for the day? A loss of $500,000 would be a good
quitting point because playing further would involve the risk either of increasing the loss
or decreasing it and losing the rebate.
The optimal quitting point for a win can be calculated using the gambler's ruin formula for
an unfair game. For a house advantage of 0.00253 p = 0.49873, q = 0.501265 and
r = q/p = 1.00508291.
The probability of winning n units before losing 5 units is
w = (1 - r^5)/(1 - r^(n + 5)).
The player is betting on winning n units with probability w against losing 4 units, taking
into account the rebate, with a probability 1 - w and the player's expectation is
nw - 4(1- w)
This has a maximum of 0.57093 betting units at n = 15 so the player should
stop if he reaches a win of 1,500,000. and his expected average return per day is $57,093.
Teliot has done a similar calculation using simulation and has gotten comparable, though not
identical results.
The strategy works because the house edge in properly played blackjack is small and r is
very close to 1. At r = 1.1 the strategy is unprofitable for all stopping points. This
corresponds to a house advantage of 4.76%. It follows that this strategy is useful only for
blackjack and baccarat and that the house may safely offer this rebate for slots or roulette
without fear of being taken advantage of.
Calculations were done using Derive 6. Maxima were found using calculus.
He also gave us this
A television actor: not the same person.
Teliot has done a similar calculation using simulation and has gotten comparable, though not
identical results.
http://apheat.net/2013/07/02/the-loss-rebate-theorem/
Here are the results of this theorem, when applied to Don Johnson with a $100,000 wager and 20% rebate:
Here is the full theorem:
In my book, he manipulated casino managers to give him an edge on the game. That makes him a cheater, not an AP. Same goes for Ivey.
Manipulate? Sure, if you accept the definition of 'to use or change (numbers, information, etc.) in a skillful way or for a particular purpose'. But that's a far cry from 'cheating'!?!?
People in all industry's negotiate deals every day, some are to their advantage and other that are not. This is no different, in both cases the individuals who negotiated and agreed to terms with Johnson and then with Ivey just made bad deals.
Here are the results of this theorem, when applied to Don Johnson with a $100,000 wager and 20% rebate:
Thank you for your attention; I think this is a very worthwhile topic. As I read your image, the loss exit point is $2,600,000, the win exit point is $2,400,000, and the expected win is $124,999.
The result of your simulation is that the loss exit point should be $500,000. the win exit point should be $1,600,000, and the expected win is $61,876.
The result of my calculation, which does not take into account the standard deviation of the game, is that the loss exit point should be $500,000, the win exit point should be $1,500,000 and that the expected win is $57,093. This is in pretty good agreement with your simulation but not with your calculation.
I think the idea of using a formula is a good one. I was able to find the optimal quitting point for a gain merely by differentiating the expression for the player's expectation, setting to zero, and solving. Derive and other computer algebra systems can do such things quickly and accurately. Simulation takes time and the error is not always easy to estimate.
In my book, he manipulated casino managers to give him an edge on the game. That makes him a cheater, not an AP. Same goes for Ivey.
Savings deposit. A savings account is a deposit account in a bank or credit union that pays interest on your balance - though some institutions require that you have at least a minimum amount in.
A cheater?? He negitoiated a deal, caino accepted it, how is that cheating? Same with Ivey, casio didn't mind turning the cards, after all he was losing, is it only okay to do things while the player is losing and not while they are winning? Ever exprienced dealer trying to upset players, either through fast dealing, section spinning, they don't always offer a fair game despite the HE, you reall do sound jealous.The result of your simulation is that the loss exit point should be $250,000. the win exit point should be $1,600,000, and the expected win is $61,876.
False. See this post:http://apheat.net/2013/05/03/don-johnson-3-could-he-have-won-more/
My simulation gave a quit loss of 2,750,000 and a quit win of 2,200,000 and an average win of $125,209.
Don Johnson Blackjack Strategy
The result of my calculation, which does not take into account the standard deviation of the game, is that the loss exit point should be $250,000, the win exit point should be $1,500,000 and that the expected win is $57,093. This is in pretty good agreement with your simulation but not with your calculation.
Your method gives incorrect results. You misquote my results. The standard deviation is everything. You are using the wrong house edge.
Don Johnson Blackjack Documentary
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When you hear the name Don Johnson, you will probably think of the TV series Miami Vice and undercover police detective Sonny Crockett. However, there is another Don Johnson worth your attention. 27 Ways to Get Paid to Play Games for Real Money in 2021. He became infamous for winning $15 million playing Blackjack at Atlantic City-based casinos. Following his success, Johnson got banned from further playing in Caesars Casino and became the member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame we have recently written about. Stay with us to learn more about the Blackjack legend and his winning strategy.
Who Is This Guy?
Don Johnson was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1962. As a kid, he rode horses and although he dreamed of becoming a professional jockey, he didn’t manage to pursue such a career because of his height. However, he stayed committed to his favourite activity and managed racetracks as a racetrack and casino executive. Johnson also worked as a gaming regulator and while observing Blackjack players, he learned more about game strategies. Johnson has also founded the software company Heritage Development in Wyoming that provided the software for horse race bettors.
Back in 2001, Don Johnson started playing Blackjack as a casual player and he played only low bets up to $100 initially. After he had learned the basic strategy and the perks of being a high roller, in 2010 he started playing at stakes going up to $100,000 per hand at Atlantic City casinos. Some of the casinos he played Blackjack at were Trump Taj Mahal and Caesars, the casinos that recognised him as an advantage player and were ready to negotiate special rules with him. Teksaski poker.
Johnson’s Winning Strategy
Don Johnson Blackjack Strategy
As a high roller, Johnson didn’t want comp points. His strategy was to have better game rules that would help him gain an advantage over the casino. Initially, he won $220,000 in Taj Mahal, but his future wins were far higher than this one. With a help from his friends and a couple of attractive women, Johnson applied his winning strategy which included card counting and playing low or high bets when the card count was favourable.
Without fancy clothes and a perfect strategy, Johnson won $4.2 million at Caesars. His next stop was Borgata where he accumulated wins worth over $5 million. All the time, his strategy included certain rules and advantages he claimed from the casinos that helped him reduce the house edge. These included a 6 deck and a hand-shuffled shoe, the dealer standing on a soft 17 and 3:2 payouts for a natural Blackjack. He was also allowed to split up to four hands per round and double down on any hand including the split ones as well.
With such rules, he lowered the house edge to 0.263%, but that didn’t make him satisfied as he also requested a maximum bet of $100,000 per hand, no minimum play requirement before he could quit the game and a 20% loss rebate. Whenever he lost $500,000 or more, he was able to claim a 20% loss rebate that was reset after each session.
The truth is that Atlantic City casinos were desperate with their businesses not going well at that time and Johnson managed to take advantage of their situation. What Johnson also did was taking advantage of the dealers’ mistakes by distracting them with an atmosphere he created with alcohol and hot girls, complicated side bets and making hand gestures when he played high stakes. Whenever the dealer didn’t register his gesture to split or double down, he would receive a free bet. The last “victim” of his winning strategy was Tropicana where his winnings amounted to over $5.8 million during a 12-hour Blackjack session.
Don Johnson Gambler Strategy
The Aftermath
After beating the casinos and winning $15 million, Don Johnson was banned from Caesars. Other casinos, like Tropicana, invited Johnson, who is called the Beast of Blackjack, to play but under a bit changed rules, like the exclusion of the 20% loss rebate.
Johnson has not become infamous only for his Blackjack playing style but also for the way he partied with celebrities like Jon Bon Jovi and Charlie Sheen and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on liquor. Apart from that, his life hasn’t changed much since he walked away from the table with $15 million in his pockets and became one of the living Blackjack legends.