Indiana Governor Backs Blackjack Card Counter
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Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels, has spoken out about the case of Thomas P. Donovan, a blackjack player who was banned from a casino in the state for card counting. Daniels suggested at a graduation address that he’s “rooting” for Donovan to win his long running battle against the Grand Victoria Casino Resort, which initially won the right to ban him from their venue. Earlier this year, Donovan challenged the initial court case, which gave Grand Victoria Casino permission to bar him and the Indiana Court of Appeals went on to overturn the ban. The Indiana Supreme Court is now considering whether the Grand Victoria Casino management were acting “appropriately” when they decided to ban Donovan.
In a speech to graduating students at Franklin College, in Indiana, Governor Daniels suggested that Donovan had “worked hard” to tip the odds back in his favour by card counting, noting that blackjack is primarily a game of “luck”. Daniels urged the graduating students to do the same, proposing that “we can't take all the luck out of the game of life, but, through wise choices, we can shift the odds in our direction”. The Indiana Governor has suggested he won’t put pressure on the state’s gaming commission to introduce legislation specifically dealing with card counting, but did also note that he “wouldn’t discourage” the commission from examining card counting.
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