Five unbelievable blackjack wins

With the house edge as low as it is in online blackjack variants (can get as low as 0.13% ) wins can be quite likely. At land-based venues however, the higher house edges can mean some wins, especially big ones, are just unbelievable. We take a look at five of the most unbelievable blackjack wins at land-based venues.

1. The real life 21 win

Remember the movie 21 which was based on a fictionalised story of a group of genius college students counting cards? Well there is a real life version – though it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the film.

A group of college kids (up to 21 at one point) at MIT used card counting in order to beat the casino. For card counting, all you have to do is figure out if the upcoming cards are high or low to determine if you Hit or Stand and if do it correctly it’ll pay off as it it did for this team.

The problem with card counting is the casino can pick up on it quite quickly and ask you to leave – but that’s where the team comes in as a few from the group would count and then signal to the third member who would make the big wagers.

The other members who were counting would make bets ignorant of the card counting result to distract the dealer.

They managed to rack up millions with this method – in just one trip their biggest win was recorded to be half a million dollars.

2. The $15 million blackjack man

Don Johnson wins life-changing blackjack jackpotsDon Johnson didn’t need a team of geniuses to turn his wagers into millions, all he needed was to ensure he was playing the best possible rules he could negotiate.

In a six month period in 2011, Johnson negotiated rules with three land-based casinos in order to win big.

He kicked this off by going to the three casinos with the lowest house edge and favourable rules. He then chose tables with the lowest number of decks, and opted for favourable rules such as Splitting available up to four hands, dealers stood on Soft 17s, Double Down was available on nine 10, or 11, etc.

While these rules can be found online including on Microgaming’s Classic Blackjack, they aren’t as common at land-based venues – but this wasn’t all which saw his wagers turn into millions.

Usually, the best and most generous casinos offer up to 10% cash back for high rollers, but Johnson managed to score a huge 20% cash back, meaning when he made a wager of say $500,000 he would still get $100,000 if he lost.

He also managed to play $25,000 per hand, and since he had an edge over the three casinos he played at, he managed to rack up $15 million in six months.

He has been banned from most Vegas and Atlantic City casinos but we think he’s most likely playing online now.

3. Kerry Packer’s big win

Kerry Packer blackjackThe late Australian media tycoon was known for his antics at casinos all around the world, but in one visit to the Las Vegas Hilton he managed to win millions in a game of 21.

In 1991, Packer visited the casino with his polo team – yes we said polo – as a stopover on the way to Argentina.

Here, he won a whopping $7 million, something we hear millionaires doing since they can risk it, but the unbelievable part was it was played at public tables and he actually took the winnings from regular players.

4. The UFC President blackjack win

The President for the UFC, Dana White, has managed to earn himself two bans from the Las Vegas casino, the Palms, thanks to his high winning streaks in blackjack.

Dana White blackjack beltIn 2012, White received his first ban, which wasn’t taken lightly, thanks to winning millions and as such White switched UFC events to the Hard Rock Cafe.

However, when the new Palms CEO, Dan Lee, came into his position he aimed to make amends with White, lifting the ban and sending him a $5000 bottle of wine in March 2014.

White he returned swiftly but it wasn’t long before he earned himself a ban again in 2014 due to his huge win of $2 million over three months, despite being limited from his usual $25,000 per hand to $5000 per hand.

But what was really unbelievable about the whole thing is he walked away with a UFC Championship-like belt for dominating the Palms in blackjack. The belt features the logo of the Palms casino as well as the text “Undisputed Blackjack Champion” and has been featured on White’s Instagram.

5. Blackjack breakfast buffet winner

While we can’t imagine big winners stick around at casinos for long, Quantitative Investment Management founder, Michael Geismar, got stuck into a plate of eggs and steak while he sat next to $410,000 of his $710,000 in blackjack winnings.

Geismar was in Vegas for a three day conference and unbelievably won $470,000 from $300 and a $10,000 line of credit at the Bellagio, a hot streak which ended in the early hours where he called it for breakfast.

He simply followed the basic strategy but varied his bet sizes, increasing (but not doubling) if he won but keeping them the same if he lost.

There are many flaws in his strategy as the Internet has pointed out, and therefore why the win is so unbelievable.

Where can I score a huge blackjack win of my own?

The five unbelievable blackjack wins listed above are amazing, but you make your own luck. Australian land-based casinos offer a range of blackjack tables with low and high limits to try out. Unfortunately, as of September 2017 Aussies cannot play blackjack online.


For international players, if you want to try your hand and win some huge life-changing winnings yourself, we recommend heading online where the house edge for 21 is low and the rules are favourable – found predominantly at our recommended online casinos.