The Player Secrets Of A Vegas Whale

On Tuesday, January 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Bloomberg Television will air 'The Player: Secrets of a Vegas Whale.' The program follows Trish Regan as she goes inside the secret life of the ultimate casino whale — Don Johnson — and receives a step-by-step tutorial on how he was able to beat the system and cause the titans of a $37 billion industry to rethink their business models and re-evaluate security measures.

Johnson preyed on the casino industry at its weakest moment and walked away with $15 million in Blackjack cash. Did he cheat? Was it luck? Or did he simply exploit the vulnerabilities of the industry to his ultimate advantage?

The 45-minute film, 'The Player: Secrets of a Las Vegas Whale,' tells the story of Don Johnson, a professional blackjack player who hit Vegas and Atlantic City casinos for a total of $15 million. The Player Secret of a Vegas Whale HD - Duration: 46:12. Eric Sidewater 2,349,863 views.

'The Player' features interviews with casino industry executives, including Steve Wynn (CEO, Wynn Resorts), Jim Murren (CEO, MGM Resorts Ltd.), Gary Loveman (CEO, Caesars Entertainment) and Bill Boyd (Chairman, Boyd Ltd.), who discuss the measures they have taken to ensure another whale does not take the house, the heated post-recession Vegas casino arms race and how they plan to boost gambling revenue.

To find Bloomberg Television in your area, visit https://bloomberg.viewerlink.tv/. Download the free Bloomberg TV+ iPad app on iTunes to watch 'The Player' on your mobile device or watch via livestream on Bloomberg.com.

Check out a preview of the show here:

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HotBlonde
Has anybody seen this? It's about Don Johnson, who's been mentioned here in the forum before. He gives his 'secrets' for how he turns the house edge upside down without counting cards. Pretty simple stuff but I didn't understand the 20% discount part. Plus he said they give him $50,000 in free money to gamble with up front? I want to watch it again.
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Venthus

Pretty simple stuff but I didn't understand the 20% discount part.


He negotiated a loss rebate.
Hardly an authoritative site, but it has a handy excerpt: http://boingboing.net/2012/03/30/how-a-high-roller-took-million.html
(Edit: Slightly more specific question-- at least in terms of BJ, how would a loss rebate affect the edge? A straight reduction of the edge by the percentage of the rebate doesn't seem right.)
AxelWolf

. Pretty simple stuff but I didn't understand the 20% discount part.

It seems like simple stuff because if you don't understand that part then you really don't understand at all. All the other stuff is mostly meaningless. The 20% is really the only key to everything he was able to do.
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪
HotBlonde

It seems like simple stuff because if you don't understand that part then you really don't understand at all. All the other stuff is mostly meaningless. The 20% is really the only key to everything he was able to do.

TheHow was he able to negotiate that? Can anybody do that? It's funny cause in the video he says his 'secrets' and all they are are typical liberal double deck rules.
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AxelWolf
Establish yourself as a sucker and have a nice line of credit. Its harder to get any deals like this nowadays but it is possible.
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪

The Player Secret Of A Vegas Whale

AxiomOfChoice

The Player Secrets Of A Vegas Whale Netflix

He negotiated a loss rebate.
Hardly an authoritative site, but it has a handy excerpt: http://boingboing.net/2012/03/30/how-a-high-roller-took-million.html
(Edit: Slightly more specific question-- at least in terms of BJ, how would a loss rebate affect the edge? A straight reduction of the edge by the percentage of the rebate doesn't seem right.)


There was a long thread about this. Eliot wrote a good paper about it -- I think it's available on his site somewhere. It assumes normal distribution or results but that is probably close enough for blackjack. It also assumes that you can play arbitrarily long (DJs discounts were daily, so he had a limited amount of time in which he had to quit) so Eliot's numbers are probably a slight over-estimate, but that's not going to make a huge difference.
The Player Secrets Of A Vegas WhaleIn short, it's a non-trivial problem to solve.
AxiomOfChoice

Establish yourself as a sucker and have a nice line of credit. Its harder to get any deals like this nowadays but it is possible.

The Player Secrets Of A Vegas Whale


You don't really need to establish yourself as a sucker. Loss rebates are pretty typical. They are downright easy to get on machines (though not 20%; that is ridiculous)
I think front money is generally preferred to credit.

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AxelWolf

You don't really need to establish yourself as a sucker. Loss rebates are pretty typical. They are downright easy to get on machines (though not 20%; that is ridiculous)
I think front money is generally preferred to credit.

I was talking about someone trying to AP, I assumed we were talking 20%. Whales often have lines of credit. If you can get a line of credit and negotiate the same deal your better off whit the line of credit. This way, if the casino tries to renege or pull any stunts you have the upper hand.
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪

Las Vegas Whales List

HughJass

I was talking about someone trying to AP, I assumed we were talking 20%. Whales often have lines of credit. If you can get a line of credit and negotiate the same deal your better off whit the line of credit. This way, if the casino tries to renege or pull any stunts you have the upper hand.


There's a casino that refused to pay me over $13,000 that they owed me because the casino's owner reneged on an agreement which we had. Don't make a verbal agreement with any casino representative unless it's witnessed.
AxelWolf

There's a casino that refused to pay me over $13,000 that they owed me because the casino's owner reneged on an agreement which we had. Don't make a verbal agreement with any casino representative unless it's witnessed.

that's why phones have a video recorder.and a line of ctedit could come into play.
♪♪Now you swear and kick and beg us That you're not a gamblin' man Then you find you're back in Vegas With a handle in your hand♪♪ Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you're able In the land of casinos and money You must put them on the table♪♪ You go back Jack do it again roulette wheels turinin' 'round and 'round♪♪ You go back Jack do it again♪♪