Not to be confused with the ‘Miami Vice’ actor, or numerous others with same name, Donald ‘Don’ Johnson has been described as a professional blackjack ‘hustler’, but that does him an injustice. True, he did collectively win over $15 million from three different Atlantic City casinos during a six-month period between December 2010 and April 2011, but he did so by playing, as he put it, ‘fair and square’. There is, and never was, any suggestion that he pretended to be anything other than what he is, or that he conned or deceived others for personal gain.
Born in Salem, Oregon on May 10, 1962, Johnson is, in fact, a former corporate executive. In the wake of the financial crisis between 2007 and 2010, during which several Atlantic City casinos filed for bankruptcy and the industry, as a whole, struggled with declining gaming revenue, he was in a robust position to negotiate changes to blackjack house rules and other ‘perks’, which effectively negated the house edge. For example, under normal circumstances, the house must hit, as opposed to stand, on a soft 17 and players can split aces only once. As a ‘high roller’, Johnson also negotiated a 20% refund on all losses over $500,000. He later said of the casinos, “They began offering deals that nobody’s ever seen in New Jersey history.”
Under such favourable conditions, and playing single blackjack hands at $100,000 at time, Johnson won a total of $6 million at the Tropicana – including $800,000 in single, unlikely hand, during which he was dealt four eights in a row, allowing him to split, re-split and double down on each of his four hands – $5 million at the Borgata and $4 at Caesars. All three casinos had a rapid change of heart, but Caesars reacted worst of all, effectively banning Johnson from all its casinos worldwide.