When it comes to a night out at the casino with friends, or a quick game on your phone to pass the time, there are a few casino classics that we seem to gravitate towards, one of those being Blackjack.
First known as Vingt-et-Un, which translates to 21, Blackjack has become popular on casino floors throughout the centuries to become one of the most iconic games found within casinos, both on and offline.
With its popularity growing not only within the Blackjack online games, but in land-based casinos all over the world, we have seen plenty of winners enter the Blackjack history books.
So, let’s take a look at some of the entries:
Shoeless Joe – $1.5 million
We do not know much about this player, other than the fact that he entered a casino barefoot, and was classed as homeless after his wife threw him out.
All he had to his name was a $300 security cheque. Due to his shoeless entry, he is known in history books as Shoeless Joe.
Using the $300 he had left, he changed these into chips and headed to the Blackjack table.
With a questionable betting strategy, he managed to change $300 into $1.5 million in a single day.
However, his strategy, which included clumsy and reckless splitting and doubling, also meant that he soon lost his winnings shortly after receiving them.
Shoeless Joe’s entry into the Blackjack history books is one of inspiration as well as caution.
Taxi Driver – $132,000
Many of us dream of winning big, whether that be from the lottery, a scratchcard or going all in on a game within the casino, but we leave it at just that – a dream.
However, this wasn’t the case for one taxi driver who awoke one morning after dreaming he had won big at a casino.
Although his identity remains unknown, we do know that this winner was a taxi driver who classed himself as ‘not a casino kinda guy’, so to have a dream about winning at a casino was out of the blue.
He saw his dream as a sign and felt he needed to act upon it.
His wife was very sceptical when she heard about his dream and he claimed he needed to act upon it.
He asked for her permission to use some of their money to test out whether or not this was just a dream or a sign.
That night he headed to a casino and sat at a Roulette table. After a while, and with no wins made, he soon realised that in his dream, he was in fact sitting at a Blackjack table, not a Roulette table.
He soon switched tables and found himself sitting next to Lady Luck, as he quickly began to win, and ended up leaving the establishment with $132,000, which he reportedly used to renovate his home and buy his wife a new car.
It just goes to show, that you do not need to come from money to win big money on a Blackjack table.
Anyone holds the potential to win, but never wager more than you can afford to lose, as ultimately, Blackjack is a game of chance.
