Quote Originally Posted by Gronbog View Post
I don't know Don, but maybe he was already wealthy enough to already have and do every thing he wanted. Thus no change.
Point taken. If Don Johnson was wealthy or not is not really my point. My point is he did nothing more than have a couple big wins at three casinos (with several losses mixed in between, which we know nothing about) and now he’s in the BJ HOF. What? This is all it takes to get in?

We know he didn’t do any advantage play during this time since he was welcomed back. At Don’s most famous win (Tropicana where he won $5.8 million) his play was reviewed many times by experts. As I’m sure people know, tape is saved and sent to gambling experts when a big win occurs and they all agreed he got lucky, nothing more. It happens. It’s called positive variance, and casinos deal with it. It’s why whales play big. They sometimes have positive variance and win big.

If the only criteria for getting in the Hall of Fame is a big win, then Kerry Packer should be in there. Before Kerry Packer died, he was the wealthiest person in Australia and a big gambler. Vegas loved him and feared him at the same time. They loved him since he was the worlds biggest ploppy. They feared him because his bankroll was so big that if he happened to get on a ploppy hot streak, he could impact their yearly profits. There are stories of Kerry winning $20 milllion at four casinos in Vegas in a weekend and hurting their financials for the year. At the Hilton in Vegas, he won $9 million in one session around Christmas and it had such a big impact on the Hilton that they couldn’t give their employees bonuses that year. He was winning this kind of money back in the 90s, when a million meant something. He obviously lost a lot too, which is why he was also welcomed back.

I always thought being in the BJ Hall meant more than just having a couple big wins. If that’s all it takes, I’m sure there are a lot of whales that should probably get in. A couple months after Don Johnson had his big win at the Tropicana another whale won over $5 million playing blackjack at the Tropicana. Why isn’t he in the Hall of Fame?

It should be pointed out there are two phases of Don’s playing career. 1) the first phase is what got him famous and I think into the Hall. In this phase, he played solo and basically took advantage of loss rebates. He did not play with an advantage since he didn’t want to get kicked out. That’s why Don always brags that he doesn’t count cards. He makes fun of card counters, saying you could teach a monkey to count cards.

2) the second phase is when he tried to do some advantage play with “his entourage”. This is the phase he always talks about in his interviews. This is the part where he claims he brought along porn stars to confuse the dealers, Billly Bob to do some hole carding, a couple counters to signal him so he knew when to bet big, etc. You know the standard AP moves. This is the stuff that got him kicked out of casinos, as if the casinos couldn’t see what he was doing from a mile away.