Ben Affleck Returns to Las Vegas’s Gaming Tables, Seen at the Wynn

Posted on: June 11, 2021, 11:23h. 

Last updated on: June 13, 2021, 10:53h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Actor Ben Affleck was spotted at Las Vegas’s Wynn Resort and Casino’s high limit room at about 3 am one day this week, according to published reports. He did not let the fact that seven years ago he was banned from another Vegas casino for card counting stop him from playing the tables once again at a local gaming property.

Affleck has won in poker
Ben Affleck, shown in 2007, playing poker. The movie star back then played in the Ante Up For Africa Celebrity-Charity Poker Tournament in Las Vegas. This week, he was seen in the Wynn, possibly playing blackjack. (Image: AP)

Early Wednesday morning, the 48-year-old movie star was seen alone at a Wynn gaming table, possibly playing blackjack, along with a brunette dealer.

He was wearing a black T-shirt and baseball cap. His fashionable sunglasses were partially hidden in his shirt. Wynn staff were nearby to ensure fans kept their distance, TMZ reported.

Affleck Says He Is Decent at Blackjack

In 2014, Affleck was banned from the Hard Rock Casino. He has revealed in an interview with Details, “I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player.

And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack. I mean, the fact that being good at the game is against the rules at the casinos should tell you something about casinos.”

In 2014, the staff at the Hard Rock said enough is enough and reportedly banned Affleck from blackjack for life because of alleged card counting.

Card counting is a technique used by blackjack players to gain an advantage over the house. Players keep track of what cards have left the shoe. This allows them to know the composition of the remaining cards.

Affleck has certainly been successful at blackjack. Back in 2001, he had a reported $800,000 win at the Hard Rock’s blackjack tables.

He has also won in poker. Affleck won the 2004 California State Poker Championship, outlasting 90 entries who paid $10,000 each to claim the $356,400 first-place prize.

Affleck was also a key figure in the Molly’s Game scandal — underground high-stake poker games originally run at the Viper Room in West Hollywood. The incident reportedly inspired the 2018 movie, “Molly’s Game.”

Affleck was trained in poker by the likes of Annie Duke and Amir Vahedi. In 2019, Affleck was spotted playing poker at the Commerce Casino cardroom in Los Angeles.

While at the Commerce, Affleck ponied up $20,000 to sit down at a high-stakes poker table. Less than 15 minutes later, he left after winning $1,500, TMZ reported.

That night, Affleck nearly fell out of his chair during the game, tablemates told TMZ. He reportedly had a sobriety lapse around that time.

Affleck Now Working on Movie in Vegas

On Wednesday afternoon, Affleck reportedly was at The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort to work on a movie, TMZ and the Daily Mail reported.

The New York Post also reported Affleck was accompanied in Las Vegas by Jennifer Lopez’s mother, Guadalupe Lopez, 75.

Previously, the elder Lopez on one occasion won $2.4 million in an Atlantic City gaming property, the Post said. J-Lo says her mother is a “huge gambler,” the Post adds.

In recent weeks, Affleck and J-Lo, 51, were rumored to be once again dating. His former fiance and current love interest, J-Lo, was in Miami this week to work on a music video.