As one of the world’s oldest and most popular card games, blackjack has found itself featured in many top films over the years. However, while blackjack is a simple game, mistakes have been made when it’s been played in movies, and you’re going to find out what errors were made and in which films, so keep on reading.
The Hangover
The Hangover is a movie that sees a group of friends head off on a bachelor party weekend in Las Vegas. They wake up, and the groom, Doug, is missing, and nobody has any recollection of the night before.
Do you have to be a mathematic genius to count cards?
Alan, when counting cards, sees everything from the cards themselves and algebra floating around his head. But you don’t have to be advanced in mathematics to put card counting to work. You just need to know the basics – addition, subtraction and division.
Are you proficient in card counting after reading one book?
Alan reads a card counting book on the way to Vegas and then has success putting his newfound skill to work. However, you’re not going to be proficient in card counting after reading one book. It takes loads of practice before you can use it successfully in real-life casino settings.
Rain Man
Two estranged brothers come together after the death of the father. One of them has a photographic memory, is excellent with numbers and can use his skills to count cards.
Can you go from £100 to £1,000,000 in a few hours counting cards?
In Rain Man, you will see a stack of chips grow rapidly. However, even with card counting and being a great blackjack player, it’s impossible because big losses will balance off big wins. Bad ones will follow good runs. It’s unrealistic to think you can win all the way and not experience ups and downs.
Do you have to have a photographic memory to count cards successfully?
Again, viewers will see Raymond use his photographic memory to count cards successfully. However, you don’t have to have a photographic memory to be able to utilise the skill. It helps, but you only need to know how to count cards and be able to add, subtract and divide.
Is hitting on a hard 18 the way to go in blackjack?
While most people have their own way of playing blackjack and devise their own strategy when it comes to standing and hitting, it’s the general consensus that you stand on a hard 18. But in Rain Man, Raymond makes the classic error of hitting on hard 18.
21
In 21, a group of MIT students team up and learn how to count cards, and then they head to Las Vegas to put their skills to work against the big casinos, raking in the money.
Do a team of card counters all enter the venue together?
It’s one of the most obvious mistakes made in 21. The group of MIT students turned card counters all walk into casinos together. In real life, a team of card counters just wouldn’t do that, as it would immediately look suspicious if links between them all were recognised by staff.
Is the quote “there’s not as much strategy as people think when you play blackjack” right?
While blackjack does rely on a lot of chance in terms of the cards that are dealt to the player, it’s also a game of strategy, and even more so when card counting is involved. So, suggesting there’s not as much strategy as people think when playing blackjack is incorrect. We at Heart Bingo offer a handy blackjack strategy chart for beginners.
Are card counters incapable of losing?
When you see card counters active in movies such as 21, they’re always successful and rake in the big bucks. However, while card counting is an effective skill, it’s only going to give players a slight edge. So, there will be losses as well as wins, which is the way it should be.
Other Casino Movie Blunders
Here are some other popular casino movies in which blunders have been made.
Casino Royale
Casino Royale sees James Bond play a high-stakes game of poker against terrorist banker Le Chiffre. But, this is immediately where the first blunder is made, as there’s a $40 million pot, which would never be the case in real life, even in high-stakes games. Usually, you’d be talking around $1 million.
Ocean’s Thirteen
In Ocean’s Thirteen, Danny Ocean and his gang are out for revenge against casino boss Willy Bank. In the movie, there’s an attempt to rig the card-counting machines used in high-stakes blackjack. But to make it possible for the dealer to go bust and players to have 20 or 21 each time, the number of players at the table must be known beforehand, which is unlikely.
Austin Powers
Dr. Evil, Mini-Me, and Goldmember kidnap Austin Powers’s father, and he decides to chase them through time in the self-titled movie. In the film, Austin Powers is playing blackjack at the casino. But he plays against Number Two, but the order in which the hand is dealt is actually wrong.
Conclusion
Because of the popularity of blackjack and how much casino games and gambling can bring to a movie in terms of the highs and the lows and the rollercoaster of emotions, it’s always going to feature in films. It’s been the case for years, and it’s not going to change anytime soon.
However, because the intention is often to add as much excitement and anticipation to movies, especially where playing blackjack is concerned, mistakes have been made, and they will continue to occur. They’re usually not too noticeable, but as seen above, they do happen, even in some of the world’s biggest box office smash hits such as The Hangover.
