While his relationship with Jennifer Lopez appears to be his main priority right now, Ben Affleck also has his eyes on another prize. The actor was spotted arriving at the Hollywood Park Casino in May to take part in a No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament, according to the Daily Mail. According to the outlet, Affleck was banned in 2014 from competing at The Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas for being “too good” at blackjack. Although it is not illegal, security believed that he was counting cards at the time and told him he could no longer play blackjack there. Now, the actor is taking his talents to an Inglewood casino for a competitive poker tournament.
In a 2014 interview with Vanity Fair, Affleck spoke about being “banned” from the Vegas casino. “I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player. And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack,” he said. “I mean, the fact that being good at the game is against the rules at the casinos should tell you something about casinos.”
While the actor has not been spotted at a casino in years, Affleck hasn’t stopped playing cards. In fact, he hosted a major poker event with close friend Matt Damon during the pandemic for charity. The friends and their celebrity competitors raised around $1.75 million which they donated to Feeding America, according to People.
