counting with a celebrity

[Fire11]

Hey guys, wondering what you think the pros and cons are of card counting with a fairly recognizable celebrity. It's one of my buddies, he's in television and just getting into card counting as well, I've been to Vegas with him before and he's extremely recognizable amongst the 18-25 demographic, but not at all to most people over 30 (i.e. dealers, pit bosses, etc.)

Obviously the downside would be the added attention we'd receive, but the plus side is that I'm sure the casinos would think long and hard before throwing him out, or at least longer than they would for a typical 22 year old no-name counter outta Cal Tech. Then again once we're thrown out it would be next to impossible to get in again.

What are your thoughts on this? Any other pros/cons that I'm not touching on?

 

[Mimosine]

What are your thoughts on this? Any other pros/cons that I'm not touching on?

PROS:
maybe you can get a private table! is he loaded?
maybe you'll fly under their radar while playing in his shadow.

 

[ihate17]

He still plays when he can

There is a recognizable character actor, probably been in near 100 movies, quite a few as top supporting actor, who happens to be a pretty good card counter also.
Unfortunately, somehow casinos got word that he was a counter and he began to get very nice and friendly backoffs before ever playing a hand. Someone in a blackjack forum had posted that he had played with him and that his skills were well above average.
So, no matter what you decide to do, do not name your friend or give out information that could nail him such as where you were, when, names of casinos etc. They do monitor us.

ihate17

 

[EasyRhino]

I believe ziggy's interview mentioned seeing some celebrities who were counters (often bad ones), and their action was often tolerated. (presumably as long as it didn't get out of hand)

This would be assuming that the floor, eye, and management recognizes the guy. But if they don't recognize him, then he might be treated like any punk.

However, a celebrity who is a known counter, with an entourage of known counters, probably would be frowned upon. Just guessing.

On the flip side, if y'all had a really good act, then I would guess you'd have some great team play opportunities. Far better than well finance teams. who have to pretend to be rock stars.

 

[zengrifter]

Hey guys, wondering what you think the pros and cons are of card counting with a fairly recognizable celebrity. It's one of my buddies, he's in television and just getting into card counting as well, I've been to Vegas with him before and he's extremely recognizable amongst the 18-25 demographic, but not at all to most people over 30 (i.e. dealers, pit bosses, etc.)

All pro, no con. Go for it, should work well! zg

 

[halcyon1234]

If you're going to use him as an attention drawer, I'd suggest entering the casino seperately. Have him sit down at a table first, and draw the attention. Once the pit is all googly eyed over him, you can just casually sit down a couple seats away from him and play away.

If you go in together, sit down together, play together-- then you and him are linked. The pit will pay attention to you just as much as him (or at least, they'll pay more attention to Friend of X than they will to Random Guy At X's Table).

Plus, if you get tagged as a counter, his slate is clean-- and you can then go to the next casino and repeat the act.