Don Johnson Blackjack

Over the last six months, the previously-unknown Don Johnson has won $15.1 million playing blackjack, The Press of Atlantic City reports. Johnson, a chief executive for a Wyoming-based company that wagers on horseracing, won at three different casinos during the course of his run, too. It’s about the high roller who won so much money playing blackjack. Don Johnson is a high roller who beat casinos in Atlantic City for $15 million dollars in 2010 and 2011. And he did it without counting cards. (In fact, you can’t count cards in Atlantic City, because they shuffle the cards after every hand.). The largest sum ever won in consecutive wins in blackjack provides for a fitting testimonial. The honor goes to Don Johnson and $15.078 million he took in five months at three Atlantic City casinos between December 2010 and April 2011. The deconstruction of Johnson’s achievement is easy; it’s based on public information at hand.

• Don Johnson Gambler Strategy
• Don Johnson Blackjack Strategy
• Don Johnson Blackjack Documentary
• Don Johnson Blackjack

1. Don Johnson is the chief executive officer of Wyoming-based Heritage Development, which develops computer programs to help bettors wager on horse racing. Johnson, 51, also has owned thoroughbred racehorses and began playing blackjack about 17 years ago when he discovered he has a knack for the game.
2. Don Johnson won nearly $6 million playing blackjack in one night, single-handedly decimating the monthly revenue of Atlantic City’s Tropicana casino. Not long before that, he’d taken the Borgata.

October 3, 2019 General Gambling News by Kristina Vujadinovic

Every casino enthusiast knows the name, Don Johnson – the Atlantic City legend that won millions of dollars playing blackjack. His story is an inspiring tale of how one man managed, not to only to beat the house, but to take down three major casinos in Atlantic City for a $15.078 million between December 2010 and April 2011, without counting cards or any form of cheating.

It is the largest sum ever won in consecutive wins in blackjack, which put Johnson into the casino history books.

Negotiating the Odds – First Step in Johnson’s Strategies

It seems impossible that anyone can win over $15 million fair and square in a period of five months. Yet, Johnson pulled it off. While everybody thought he was counting cards or executing some kind of elaborate scam, the truth is actually much more interesting than that.

Don Johnson Gambler Strategy

He developed his own system that allowed him to beat the house in its own game. According to his interviews, Johnson explained that he didn’t just walk into a casino and start playing. In his opinion, playing casino games in Atlantic city was like throwing money away, as the rules of the game are set to give the house a significant advantage. His goal was to change the odds.

And that’s exactly what he did, by negotiating better terms before even approaching the tables. The tactic that most sophisticated gamblers and high rollers do. Surely, it might not work with average players, but casino management is usually very keen to negotiate a deal with players with a large enough bankroll.

The unfavorable environment in the gambling sector of Atlantic city after the financial crisis of 2008, made casinos desperate for customers, so they offered very beneficial deals for layers. Johnson knew exactly how to take advantage of such a climate.

Perfect Timing

Don Johnson Blackjack Strategy

At the time Johnson began his winning streak, AC casinos were seeing a significant drop in revenue and were keen to attract high rollers. Desperate might be the better word since casino marketers were offering deals that no one in the New Jersey gambling industry had ever seen before.

Accepting a greater risk for the possibility of a larger return was the game plan for casinos at the time. For instance, Johnson had a lifetime discount at Borgata casino. He was getting a 20% rebate on each $500,000 he’d lose.

Under the rules before the crisis, this perk would kick in only after he would lose whatever amount he’d won on previous trips to the casino plus an additional half a million. When he realized such rules were skewed against him, he took a break on visiting until the most convenient chance opened up – which it did, since the gambling sector was struck hard by the economic crises in 2008.

Looking to solicit Johnson with more enticing inducements to return to Borgata, the casino executive offered him a historic deal by changing a lifetime discount into a trip-to-trip basis just to make it more appealing.

Due to the casino’s competition for high rollers, once Borgata closed the deal with Johnson, Caesars and Tropicana offered him similar terms. That’s how he was able to negotiate once-in-a-lifetime changes in rules and conditions.

Bulletproof Plan and Sticking to It

Starting his winning streak at the Tropicana which is now operated by Eldorado Resorts, Johnson brought along a boatload of cash and negotiated a deal that effectively allowed him to play a 50/50 game of blackjack and to have a 20% on his losses on a visit-by-visit basis.

Johnson has approved a $100,000-a-hand limit since he had the cash to back himself up. Over the next 12 hours, he managed to work the odds in his favor, rolling with the punches and cashing in on the big wins. For such a short time, he won $6 million which resulted in the Tropicana CEO being fired a week later.

During play, Johnson was closely monitored by video cameras to see if he was using card counting strategies or cheating in any way. It turned out that he was winning fair and square, simply by using the basic blackjack strategy to ensure that every hand was played according to its merits.

After he ruined Tropicana’s revenues for the month, Johnson then moved on to other unsuspecting AC venue, generating a win of over $15 million dollars for its legendary five-month winning streak.

By using his rather large bankroll as a hook, Johnson continued playing blackjack via similar negotiation deals at Borgata and Caesars venues. He took down Borgata for $5 million and picked up another $4 million from Caesars before being politely asked to leave the premises.

Although he wasn’t specifically banned from the casinos after having his face printed across the newspapers, it’s not likely that Johnson will be getting such beneficial odds ever again.

The Simplicity of His Strategy

After taking down Atlantic City casinos, he has become a local legend and an inspiration for many gamblers. Players with a taste for huge wins and high risks were eager to find out its secret. The truth is – there isn’t any magic formula.

It all comes down to math and negotiating better terms with casinos. Johnson himself explained that there is no point in risking your cash and playing a casino game where the odds are never going to be in your favor. Hence, the player needs to find a way to improve the odds in order to start to win.

When it comes to blackjack, this means:

• Sticking to the strategy
• Playing the perfect game
• Looking for the best odds

Aside from his skills and intimate gambling industry knowledge, Johnson is also an avid horse racing bettor and has been involved in equestrian performance sports for years. He grew up with racehorses on his uncle’s farm and worked as a professional jockey before being hired to manage Philadelphia Park racetrack back in the 1990s.

Johnson used his experience and keen intellect to serve as a state regulator in Texas, Oregon, and Wyoming, before making enough capital to found the company that develops custom-made software which defines risks and odds on horse wagering.

If Johnson was into making a lot of money, he could have used such background, and his obviously excellent negotiating skills to monetize on it.

However, he opted for blackjack and it turned out to be the smartest move due to a massive win of over $15 million over the course of only 5 months.

Why Blackjack?

Johnson opted for blackjack because of the house edge and the idea that knowledge, intelligence, and discipline are needed when relying on skills and math to beat the house.

When it comes to this, no other game can stand toe-to-toe with 21. It is clearly shown by comparing the odds of other games.

Let’s take a peek at those numbers:

• Roulette – The mathematical advantage of the roulette in Europe is 2.7 percent, whereas in the American version it’s 5.26%.
• Baccarat – Comes with the house edge of 1.06% on the banker, 1.24% on the dealer, and whooping 14.36% on a tie.
• Caribbean Stud Poker – Is at 5.22% not including the casino’s rake.
• Slots – Can be anything between 5% to 12%.
• Craps – Even the closest companion of blackjack, lags with 1.41% or below, although it can go up to 1.6% to 2.7% on some bets.

In comparison, 21’s house edge is below zero by default – meaning if the player executes a proper blackjack strategy in a well-selected game variant the house edge drops down to between 0.2 and 0.4 percent.

However, with the proper strategy executed to perfection, the house edge is close to zero.

The only countermeasures at casinos’ disposal are the rules, which are being changed slowly, gradually, almost invisibly for the last sixty years in order to revert their advantage.

As the industry insider and a professional blackjack player, Johnson was utterly aware. It is exactly the reason why he negotiated the rules so wisely before taking a seat at the tables.

He knew precisely when was the right time to strike, beat them at their own game, and walk away with over $15 million. It is why he will remain as the legend who only by his own wisdom has conquered the toughest opponent – the house itself.

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 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.

Johnson’s Winning 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 Blackjack Documentary

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.

Don Johnson Blackjack

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.