Mysterious Blackjack Savant Single-Handedly Busts Tropicana Casino

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement yesterday reported April revenue for casinos in Atlantic City. The numbers, down across the board, are disheartening for the second-biggest gambling market in the country. Heartening for the rest of the world, however, is that the Tropicana Casino and Resort got cleaned out by a single blackjack player. We don't know his/her name. But we approve. The mysterious gambler took advantage of the Tropicana's recently arrived high-stakes tables to win a record $5.8 million in April. No idea if this took place during one drug-fueled weekend or over several weeks. But, again, we approve.

The wily gambler caused the casino's April revenue to drop by 54 percent on table-games and by 20 percent overall, according to The Press of Atlantic City, which also got the now-former CEO of the casino on the phone:

'We ran very unlucky,' lamented Mark Giannantonio, Tropicana's outgoing chief executive officer.

Giannantonio disclosed that one blackjack player won $5.8 million, but he declined to release the gambler's name.

'We had the single-largest winner in our history,' Giannantonio said. 'If it hadn't been for bad luck at the tables, we would have had a good month.'

Giannantonio was fired last week. He said he didn't feel his dismissal had anything to do with the mystery gambler. Sure. As nice as it'd be to know the identity of the blackjack maven, it's nice, too, to think that dangerous brutes still silently prowl the boardwalk, tearing into the Tropicana one night, the Taj Mahjal the next.

Blackjack player takes Tropicana for $6 million, single-handedly ruins casino's month [The Press of Atlantic City]

H/T: Andrew H.