Celebrities Spreading Their Love of Blackjack
Blackjack has regularly been one of the most popular casino games since the activity became widespread about 100 years ago, but the game has been getting a lot of free publicity lately thanks to some A list celebrities who have been seen playing the games or pushing branded versions of it.
The biggest example of a celebrity promoting blackjack came in October when former NBA star and future Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and Dynamic Gaming Solutions revealed their new “Shaq-Jack” game, which brings live dealer casino action to players at electronic terminals at a land casino. The game sees a digital version of Shaq put onto the game, where he offers players insurance and congratulates or consoles them following their hand.
Commenting on the release Dynamic Gaming Systems CEO Charlie Barksdale said, “I wanted to find a way to make a casino game fun for everyone and find a way to bring Shaq’s unique brand of humor to the gaming floor. We clicked right away when we started talking about creating this game. We wanted a game that was familiar to everyone, even those with a modest appetite for gaming, but one that would still provide us with opportunities to bring new elements of excitement and rewards to the experience.”
Shaq-Jack is available for play now at the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, but it is likely that the game will see wider release in the future.
“When we had the opportunity to play the game and we personally experienced Shaq’s enthusiasm for creating this thrilling new game for our customers, we knew we had to have it. Shaq himself is synonymous with excitement, winning and fun – and that is what we want our guests to think about Parx,” said Parx Casino CEO Tony Ricci.
In other celebrity blackjack news, film star Ryan Reynolds stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote his new film “Mississippi Grind” in Late September, and ended up playing a game known as “Slapjack with Fallon.
Slapjack is apparently a blackjack variant in which players don a massive foam hand and play a round of blackjack. Whoever comes out on top on the particular hand is then given the ability to slap the player with their giant hand.
During the segment show host Fallon ended up victorious, scoring two wins to Reynolds’ one, although the Deadpool star did manage to knock Fallon out of his seat.
Earlier this summer it was also revealed that Australian rap star Iggy Azelea went on a massive 12 hour blackjack bender while she was staying at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas. The monster session came just before she was set to perform with Britney Spears during the 2015 Billboard Music Awards on April 15th, and the star famous for her hit songs “Black Widow”, “Change Your Life”, and “Bounce” was apparently in quite a zone as she refused to leave unless it was on her terms.
“I played blackjack for 12 hours straight yesterday. I changed clothes in the bathrooms. I’m awful. I wouldn’t leave, I refuse to lose, that’s my motto… I came up very on top,” the People’s Choice Award winner said.
While these are the latest stories regarding blackjack and celebrities, such news is not all that rare. It was previously reported that current Batman Ben Affleck has been kicked out of multiple land casinos for counting cards at blackjack , while UFC President Dana White famously took $2 million from the Palms Casino Resort before eventually being banned by the hotel. The casino had a bit of fun once the story leaked out though, ordering and engraving a custom belt for the 46 year old American businessman.
As we continue to move forward and see celebrities showing their love for blackjack, it is quite likely that we will continue to see more and more news stories about wild blackjack benders, hot licensed new games, and comedy skits relating to the game. The hard part will be predicting just how and where we will see the card game make its next headline, as celebrity behavior has proven to be about as predictable as the next card in a dealer’s shoe.
