But even in that scenario, Johnson won’t play. Beyond the usual high-roller perks, the casino might also sweeten the deal by staking the player a significant amount up front, offering thousands of dollars in free chips, just to get the ball rolling. It does this primarily by offering discounts, or “loss rebates.” When a casino offers a discount of, say, 10 percent, that means if the player loses $100,000 at the blackjack table, he has to pay only $90,000. Because the casino values high rollers more than the average customer, it is willing to lessen its edge for them. Sophisticated gamblers won’t play by the standard rules. But the vast majority of players lose, and the longer they play, the more they lose. That doesn’t mean you can’t win playing by the standard house rules people do win on occasion. This is, in his words, tantamount to “blindly throwing away money.” The rules of the game are set to give the house a significant advantage. He does not just walk into a casino and start playing, which is what roughly 99 percent of customers do.

Johnson is very good at gambling, mainly because he’s less willing to gamble than most. The edge he found was actually much more subtle, and brilliant, than that. Some famous and successful traders, like Blair Hull in New Market Wizards, and more notably Ed Thorpe and Bill Gross, got their start counting cards at the blackjack table. You may think this is another “card counting” story. In a three-hand sequence, he took $1.2 million. In just one hand, he remembers, he won $800,000. His winning run had been picked up by the casino’s watchful overhead cameras and drawn the close scrutiny of the pit bosses. The towers of chips stacked in front of him formed a colorful miniature skyline.

Word spreads when the betting is that big. Inside, playing at a green-felt table opposite a black-vested dealer, a burly middle-aged man in a red cap and black Oregon State hoodie was wagering $100,000 a hand. Here’s an excerpt:ĭozens of spectators pressed against the glass of the high-roller pit. You can read it here: “ The Man Who Broke Atlantic City” from, oddly enough, The Atlantic magazine. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

How much is king in blackjack