Was "21" sponsored by Casinos?

[Dyepaintball12]

I just watched "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" about product placement and advertising in movies and television shows and it got me thinking again about casinos involvement in the movie "21".

The way they portray card counting in the movie is that it is a "dying" trade that will soon be obsolete. They make several references to that fact, even though it really does not add anything substantial to the plot.

Do you think Planet Hollywood allowed them to film in their casino as long as they made card counting look dangerous and soon to be worthless?


- Dye

 

[SystemsTrader]

Probably. Planet Hollywood had ads for the movie on their felts before the movie was even out.

 

[MangoJ]

In the movie every +EV bet is winning, while every -EV bet is losing. Of course this is Hollywood, but it would give people the perception that counting doesn't work when they try it.

 

[zengrifter]

Wasn't there also a scene where its emphasized that you bet big in minus counts and small in plus? zg

 

[Dyepaintball12]

The only thing I learned from the movie was that it is not uncommon to have TCs of +16 most of the time, and usually when you are happy you win and when you are unhappy you lose.

 

[Most Interesting Man]

And that splitting 8s is for suckers.

 

[tthree]

And that splitting 8s is for suckers.

I didnt watch the movie but are you sure it wasnt 88 v T? When you understand risk averse play this match up is one you might want to pass on putting out extra money to lose a little less on the hand in the long run. If you are maximizing profit with optimal bet sizing it will cost you profit in the long run from having to bet smaller to keep your bet optimal. Maybe the better way to put it is, by not splitting this matchup your optimal bet is slightly larger which increases long term profit more than the losing slightly less in the long run by splitting does.

 

[Dyepaintball12]

I didnt watch the movie but are you sure it wasnt 88 v T? When you understand risk averse play this match up is one you might want to pass on putting out extra money to lose a little less on the hand in the long run. If you are maximizing profit with optimal bet sizing it will cost you profit in the long run from having to bet smaller to keep your bet optimal. Maybe the better way to put it is, by not splitting this matchup your optimal bet is slightly larger which increases long term profit more than the losing slightly less in the long run by splitting does.

You didn't see "21"? Who are you?

 

[Tarzan]

It's the movies!

That movie was "fluffed up" and a long way off from the truth and reality of the matter. Anyone who has played blackjack for any length of time knows this. When you see "the Arnold" kill 743 guys all armed to the teeth single-handedly with only one gun (that never seems to run out of ammo!) and 5 grenades in one of his movies do you feel that this is how it REALLY is?

The movie 21 probably planted a lot of misconceptions into people's heads because there is no such thing as "easy money" in this world, only rude awakenings! The casinos SHOULD have backed, endorsed, sponsored, etc. this movie because it was something to perk the interest of a feeble-minded general public into thinking they could somehow get over on the casinos. In some of the review and discussion of the movie here on BJINFO, AutoMonkey or someone else quite knowledgeable made a comment along the lines of , "What a joke!" The casinos should be showing this movie back to back for FREE to anyone who wishes to see it and then have a red carpet leading straight out of the theater directly into the blackjack pit!"

 

[tthree]

You didn't see "21"? Who are you?

I tried to watch it. I have seen small parts but it was so bad about the truth and plot couldnt keep my interest. I really dont remember much about it today.

 

[Iron Man]

I think casinos loved that movie

That movie made counting seem 100% easier than it is and also showed them always winning money. I'm sure Red Rock and PH loved having the movie there! I would say for every one person inspired by the movie who actually became a counter there were thousands who watched the special section that "taught" the secrets at the end and ran to Vegas. Same thing with Beat the Dealer, check out Hot Shoe, that is a good documentary...

 

[Dyepaintball12]

That movie made counting seem 100% easier than it is and also showed them always winning money. I'm sure Red Rock and PH loved having the movie there! I would say for every one person inspired by the movie who actually became a counter there were thousands who watched the special section that "taught" the secrets at the end and ran to Vegas. Same thing with Beat the Dealer, check out Hot Shoe, that is a good documentary...

I disagree. I think that movie made counting look much harder than it really is.

"Counting isn't illegal, but it takes a gifted mind."

False.

 

[Iron Man]

I agree as far as making it look like you have to be a genius to do it. You certainly don't. What I meant was winning money almost every time, high true counts all the time, etc. That made it seem like counters win every hand when they want to and never lose.

 

[steiner]

i remember the scene where ben(?) made a bunch of money while staying at the SAME table for the whole night. this must have been a magic table with only high TCs. :laugh:

 

[MangoJ]

i remember the scene where ben(?) made a bunch of money while staying at the SAME table for the whole night. this must have been a magic table with only high TCs. :laugh:

Yeah. They play only +16 or more, and if one shoe turns cold another one immediatly opens beneath. Don't mention, sharp after the wong-out point every hand loses immediatly by a dealers Blackjack.

 

[nighthawk718]

Yeah. They play only +16 or more, and if one shoe turns cold another one immediatly opens beneath. Don't mention, sharp after the wong-out point every hand loses immediatly by a dealers Blackjack.

Seem liked they using High/Low running count system. I didn't see they mentioned about the true count conversion ... just my 2 cents.

 

[MangoJ]

I'm still not sure how the Monty Hall problem is related to nonlinear equations^^

And no, it's not a change of variables, it's a change of information (i.e. expectation vs. conditional expectation).

 

[BetaPro]

I'm still not sure how the Monty Hall problem is related to nonlinear equations^^

And no, it's not a change of variables, it's a change of information (i.e. expectation vs. conditional expectation).

and being able to see that dosnt really make u a better BJ player imo.

 

[Dyepaintball12]

i remember the scene where ben(?) made a bunch of money while staying at the SAME table for the whole night. this must have been a magic table with only high TCs. :laugh:

THAT was probably the most inaccurate part haha

 

[prankster]

Ladies and Gentlemen-
The movie was fun-and you got to look at Liza Lapira-what more could we ask for?