A chilled bottle of premium champagne is requested by each attendee and it goes far to ensure that the evening is special for all present.

Max met me at the door, we shook hands and I handed him a premium chilled bottle of champagne in the form of a 2006 bottle of Dom Perignon. The longtime organizer and originator of the Blackjack Ball, Max Rubin was called and only after he verified my invitation, was I allowed to proceed. After parking, I walked toward the club house’s main entrance and was stopped at a table 15 yards from the door where I was asked for identification, which I gave without hesitation.

I gave my name to the security guard, and she promptly located it on her master list and opened the gate. The night began with me driving my mid-sized silver rental car toward the 7 foot high steel security gate of the recently disclosed location. If a casino employee were to discover its location it would make that employee’s career, and at the same time destroy the livelihood of several great players. The location of the Blackjack Ball is one of the most closely guarded secrets among advantage gamblers and for good reason. This evening was one that I had long awaited for, and one I will never forget. Since then, my resume includes the completion of multiple graduate degrees, managing a professional blackjack team, the development of two original casino slot games, becoming a leading analytical consultant and gaming writer, as well as successfully engaging in litigation against Caesars Entertainment. My journey towards being invited began some 19 years ago, at the age of 18, when I first read the classic card counting text Beat the Dealer by Ed Thorp. A candidate must first be nominated by a sitting member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, and then be approved by the attendance committee. Simply stated, all the attendees have legally succeeded at beating the casinos at their own game(s), and on a grand scale.Īs one can expect, attaining an invitation to this event was no small feat.

The common thread that binds them all is that they each have made significant contributions to advance the cause of advantage players of casino games. Every year, from as far away as Australia and Hong Kong, hedge fund managers, top executives from Fortune 500 companies, scores of the best known professional gamblers in the world, and no less than 4 billionaires, converge on Las Vegas to attend the Blackjack Ball.

Vegas world blackjack