Hollywood is not that far away from Las Vegas and many actors and actresses seem to enjoy casino gambling in their free time. If you wander around the best casinos on the Strip, you might very well meet Paris Hilton or Ben Affleck. Hollywood stars play casino games because they thrill them or the opposite – they relax them.
Most of them are poker or blackjack players but you’ll find baccarat or slot machine lovers as well since casino games are as varied as Hollywood personalities. With the help of Canadian iGaming expert, Michelle Thomas (view her profile) we picked 5 of the most famous Hollywood celebrities who love to gamble.
Ben Affleck
We are starting our list with Ben Affleck as there is absolutely no doubt about it that the Hollywood actor and director is a big-time gambler. He is one of the celebrities that is regularly spotted at Las Vegas casinos.
However, don’t look for him at the Hard Rock Casino because he has been banned from there and, most likely, from the number of other land-based casinos in Vegas. Ben was caught card counting and the casino decided not to welcome him again despite his fame. Now he is most likely browsing the web for the best online casino in Canada or the US, when he is in Vegas, in order to play virtual or live-dealer games over the internet.
Ben is known for his huge bets and has had successes and failures in his gameplay during the past years. As far as we know, his biggest loss happened in 2001 when he lost $400,000 on a hand of poker. In 2004 though, Affleck won $356,000 in a poker tournament. Among his opponents were actor Toby Maguire and several professional poker players.
If you live in Eastern Canada, it would be quite a leap for you to pop into a Vegas casino. Instead, check out the best online casino in Canada and play virtual or live-dealer games over the internet.
Matt Damon
Movie star Matt Damon is the best friend of Ben Affleck and the two often visit Vegas casinos together. Damon is said to be even more passionate of a gambler than Affleck and he often wins at the game tables. When Hollywood stars play poker, they often place too high bets and suffer big losses, but this is not the case with Damon. He usually places reasonable bets and seems to be in total control of his gameplay.
Poker may be the number one choice of Affleck and Damon but there are much more games than just this card game. Check out 7 of the most fun online games.
Tobey Maguire
Hollywood actor Tobey Maguire is best known for his role in Spiderman movies, but he is also quite good at the poker table. He started playing professionally in 2004 and his tutor was one of the best poker players in the world, Canadian Daniel Negreanu.
Maguire participated in the World Series of Poker Main Event Championships on multiple occasions, and he won the Hollywood Park Casino tournament, winning over $300,000. He and other celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck participated in Molly Bloom‘s high-stakes poker games at The Viper Room.
Brad Pitt
Hollywood stars play slots too and our example of a slot player is women’s favourite Brad Pitt. While filming the famous movie “Ocean’s Eleven” Pitt got a taste for slot machines and other casino games and kept this gambling habit after the shooting was long over. Let’s see if his gameplay will be as successful as the heist in the movie.
Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen’s gambling is not a success story. The actor has been struggling with cocaine addiction, but most people don’t know that Sheen is also a compulsive gambler. His favourite game is poker, and he is an avid sports bettor as well. He is said to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every month in land-based casinos. His biggest loss was $1 million which is quite a significant sum even for a Hollywood actor.
Lots of Hollywood stars are regulars at Las Vegas casinos. Some are quite good and have won hundreds of thousands of dollars in casinos, while others lost similar or even bigger sums. Las Vegas is not exactly next door to Canada, but you can also try your luck at poker or some other casino game at online casinos.
