Word: blackjacks
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Jinsed's basic premise is that a petty gambler named Howard (Rip Torn) has somehow managed to put a "jinx" on a young blackjack dealer. Willy (Ken Wahl), and is now chasing him from casino to casino trying to break the bank. Whenever Howard smokes a certain magically lucky brand of cigar, he's sure to win any hand Willy deals him Howard is a rather sleazy character with a seemingly infinite wardrobe of polyester Stetson hats, and this is his first chance...
...viewer could bet the farm that Lookin' to Get Out will hold no surprises. Alex and Jerry will run a blackjack scam; they will win more than they hoped, lose more than they know. Ann-Margret, as Alex's old flame, will keep moving provocatively, to sidestep the carnage. The film was shot 24 years ago, and Director Ashby has spent much of the time since then fine-tuning the editing. The effort shows, but not the effect: the picture is a sloppy mess that stumbles toward oblivion like a drunk on a losing streak...
...other sprints out to the field. The game soon becomes tedious, however, partly because of awkward hand controls (which hamper a good skiing cartridge) and partly because not enough of baseball's delightful complications are programmed in. It is not possible to catch a fly ball. A Poker and Blackjack cassette is fun to see once, but poor in concept, since neither game works unless money is at stake. Intellivision always puts on a handsome show, but a random sample shows that it has not yet learned to play a really good game...
...countless blackjack hands since then, Uston and the team of players he generally works with have piled up total winnings of more than $4.5 million. His biggest individual killing was $27,500 in 45 min., at Fremont Casino in Las Vegas in 1975. He once played eight hours a day for 23 straight days, falling behind as much as $35,000 before recouping and finally going ahead...
After basing himself for several years in Las Vegas, Uston now lives in Margate City outside Atlantic City, where he makes a living by remote-piloting his blackjack team. He is a busy and popular instructor and lecturer, who charges students $500 for a course but lectures for free. He has written three books-one of which, the autobiographical The Big Player, is slated to be produced as a film by Frank Capra. He is a swinging bachelor who tries to conceal his age ("I date a lot of young girls") and a celebrity in the gambling world. That...