Why was Dana White banned by Las Vegas casinos?

UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2: UFC president Dana White [Image courtesy of Getty]
UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2: UFC president Dana White [Image courtesy of Getty]

Dana White has been banned from Las Vegas casinos a total of four times, including twice from the Palms Casino.

The UFC boss is known as a blackjack master and has won millions of dollars in single sessions from multiple casinos. He was banned for the second time from the Palms Casino in 2014 after winning $2 million dollars. His winnings made the casino owners suspicious, who didn't like the fact that White was having so much success. Hence, a ban was imposed on him that refrained the 52-year-old from entering the highest stakes tables.

He was presented with a Blackjack Championship belt and was asked not to return to the venue. Here's what White said about the incident:

"Instead of just asking me to leave the way that the previous owners did, they gave me this. Undisputed Blackjack Champion. 24-0. This is a cool way to say get the f*** out of our casino and don’t come back." (h/t gamblingnews.com)

Watch this video of Dana White getting banned from casinos:

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Dana White was banned from the Palms Casino for the first time in 2012. However, Dan Lee, its chief executive, sent White an expensive bottle of wine worth $5,000.

The UFC president made his return to the casino after that and won $2 million over the course of three months. Once again, the Palms asked him not to come back. Here's what White stated on the same:

"A lot of people are going to think I’m a card counter after that Ben Affleck thing at the Hard Rock. I’m the farthest thing from a card counter. Casinos don’t want to gamble anymore. They’re all owned by hedge funds and corporations. They want to stack the odds so much against you that [you] won’t play. Realistically, there’s only one place to play left in town. That’s Caesars [Palace]. They will let you play what you want to play. No messing around with limits."

Joe Rogan once praised Dana White for his gambling skills

Joe Rogan once talked about Dana White getting kicked out of casinos for being good at blackjack. Rogan also labeled the UFC president a "notorious gambler". The UFC color commentator stated on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that White has lost as much as $1 million in casinos and won a total of $7 million:

"Dana White is a notorious gambler, but he wins millions of dollars sometimes. I think he said he lost as much as one million dollars and he's won as much as seven million in a night. They've banned him from a bunch of casinos because he's really good at blackjack."

Listen to Joe Rogan talk about White's gambling below:

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Furthermore, Rogan said that White used to host UFC events at the Palms Casino. However, after his initial ban in 2012, he decided to pull events from there and go elsewhere.

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Edited by Aziel Karthak