Celebrities enjoy gambling just as much as the next person, maybe even more since they can afford to play high stakes at the best casinos in the world. While for some people gambling is for opportunities, celebrities usually do it just to blow off some steam because at the end of the day, no matter how much they lose, it probably wouldn’t even leave a dent on their fortune. And while they can get away with a lot, even the A-list celebrities aren’t immune to being thrown out of gambling venues for misbehaving. Here are the most interesting celebrities that have been banned from casinos for all kinds of reasons.
Allen Iverson
Although his reputation on the court has been impeccable, the same cannot be said of Iverson’s casino etiquette. One of the best NBA players has been banned from two different Detroit casinos due to his behavior. Turns out, Iverson is a sore loser when it comes to gambling. He has been warned about improper behavior at the tables repeatedly. According to witnesses, he is often loud and disruptive, rude to dealers, other players, and the wait staff. He has even drunkenly thrown cards and chips at dealers. You can imagine how bad his behavior must’ve been for a casino to ban a player who loses and spends as much money as he does.
Drake
The Canadian rapper was banned from a casino when he got into an altercation with the staff members. The details of the event are still a mystery to the public. All we know is that Drake attempted to gamble at Parq, a casino resort in Vancouver. The rapper was in town for two nights for concerts and was presumably trying to blow off some steam in the off-hours. It’s likely that he was targeted because of British Columbia’s new anti-money-laundering regulations, which require high rollers to disclose the source of their funds. Whatever the altercation was, it wouldn’t have happened if Drake opted for playing in an online casino in Canada presented at Playamo, which limits the possibilities for such misunderstandings to taking place.
Paris Hilton
In 2006, Paris thought it was a good idea to bet a $175,000 Bentley at a blackjack table. Not only did she lose the vehicle, but she also lost her right to ever enter the Paris Casino again. Now most casinos would not ban an affluent player for losing, but when Paris Hilton’s father – one of the wealthiest men on the planet – calls and asks that his daughter not be allowed to gamble anymore, people listen.
But this is not the only time Paris has broken a few casino rules. In fact, this is one of the many occasions on which the heiress to the Hilton Hotels has gotten herself blacklisted at casinos (here you can find our more).
The biggest controversy Paris has gotten herself into was back in 2010 when she was arrested for possession of illegal substances. Hilton was busted when the substance fell out of her purse, reportedly into the hands of a police lieutenant, as she reached for lip balm during a game of poker. She was banned from the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas and later charged with felony possession with a gloomy prospect of spending more than a year in jail. But of course, her high-paid attorney somehow got her out of this tough situation and Paris was just assigned 200 hours of community service.
Derren Brown
If you are a casino owner you probably don’t want the world’s most famous mentalist and illusionist playing at one of your tables. Especially when he is best known for card tricks and his ability to count cards, which many bosses believe will give him an unfair advantage over other players. Even though all staff who work at casinos are well trained to spot any dirty tricks that players might pull, this apparently still isn’t enough to let Derren Brown play at casinos. This is exactly why he was escorted out of The Broadway Plaza Casino after attempting to play blackjack with some friends after his live show. However, Derren himself wasn’t surprised by the ban, as it wasn’t his first time getting kicked out of a casino due to his abilities.
Ben Affleck
One of the most famous blackjack bans was enforced upon none other than Ben Affleck. The winner of two Academy Awards has been known as a fan of blackjack but it turns out the reason why he loved this particular game so much and was so good at it was that he has been counting cars during his whole gambling career. Clearly, this hasn’t always gone well for him. In April of 2014, Ben Affleck was respectfully asked to leave the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas (click here for the full story) after being caught blatantly counting cards at the blackjack table. Shortly after, Affleck was notified of a lifetime ban from the casino’s blackjack tables, although he is apparently welcome to visit the hotel anytime. A few months later while in Detroit on the set of The Justice League, Affleck decided to put his card-counting skills to use once again at Caesar’s Windsor casino, Ontario. He was subsequently kicked out of that casino as well, again for card counting while playing at the blackjack table.
