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Some of the casinos in Atlantic City have adopted a new strategy to compete with the increasing number of casinos in neighboring states and online opportunities – targeting high-stakes gamblers. The casinos have been organizing high-stakes games that target the “whales” which are super people who gamble. However, this strategy has not worked to their advantage thus far – several gamblers have won multi-million dollar purses over the past few months.
One man won $5.3 million at the craps table and another man won $5.8 million after playing at the blackjack table for 12 hours. The big wins are indicative of the bigger bets that these people can make. One of these winners bet $100,000 each throw at the craps table; the blackjack player was betting up to $100,000 per hand. There are high-stakes opportunities for online casinos and some of these organizations offer a welcome casino bonus for high rollers.
For the blackjack winner in New Jersey, the man also noted that he did not engage in card counting during his wins. He had worked out a 20% discount on his losses with the casino so he did not see the need for that.
Even with the record losses, the casinos have no plans to change their strategy – it’s a risk that they are willing to take to remain competitive. Unfortunately for the winner, the state of New Jersey has told him that he would have to pay New Jersey state income taxes, even though he does not live or work in the state. The issues with taxes may place a damper on high-stakes gambling in the area.