Ben Affleck is fully embracing his love for gambling and starring in a new sports betting ad for the Wynn Las Vegas alongside Shaq and Melvin Gregg.
In the advertisement for WynnBet sportsbook, the 49-year-old Oscar winner pokes fun at his lucrative hobby while walking through the casino floor past fellow gamblers, including Jennifer Lopez’s mom, Guadalupe Lopez.
Affleck has a checkered past in Las Vegas, in 2014 he was banned from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel for allegedly ‘counting cards.’
Place your bets: Ben Affleck is fully embracing his love for gambling and starring in a new sports betting ad for the Wynn Las Vegas alongside Shaq, Melvin Gregg and Jennifer Lopez’s mom Lupe
The spot, which was directed by Affleck, begins with he and actor Melvin Gregg, 32, riding in the backseat of a chauffeured car heading to the Las Vegas strip.
Ben tells the driver to slow down so he could ‘do his picks’ and gets some advice on placing bets on some upcoming games.
‘I don’t want you to lose,’ Melvin tells Ben, who is busy listening to the driver.
‘I win … some of the time,’ Ben responds, unconvincingly, while the two playfully bicker about Affleck’s odds.
Oscar winner: The spot, which was directed by Affleck, begins with he and actor Melvin Gregg, 32, riding in the backseat of a chauffeured car heading to the Las Vegas strip
‘I don’t want you to lose,’ Melvin tells Ben, who is busy listening to the driver. ‘I win … some of the time,’ Ben responds, unconvincingly, while the two playfully bicker about Affleck’s odds.
As Ben arrives at the Wynn Las Vegas and takes a stroll through the casino floor, he is interrupted by fellow gamblers all ready to offer advice on his sports picks.
‘Dallas always loses when mercury is in retrograde. It’s science,’ one woman tells him from the blackjack table. ‘That’s true,’ adds another.
The Good Will Hunting actor spots a familiar face playing the slots, Lupe, the mom of his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.
‘C’mon Lupe, you can do this girl,’ JLo’s mom declares while hitting slot machine after slot machine. ‘Just like the slots in St. Louis.’
Big winner: In the advertisement for WynnBet Sports book, the 49-year-old star pokes fun at his lucrative gambling hobby while taking advice on sports betting
All in: As Ben arrives at the Wynn Las Vegas and takes a stroll through the casino floor, he is interrupted by fellow gamblers all ready to offer advice on his sports picks
‘Dallas always loses when mercury is in retrograde. It’s science,’ one woman tells him from the blackjack table. ‘That’s true,’ adds another
While discussing how ‘terrible’ Miami is, Ben is overheard by former Miami Heat player, Shaq, whose seven foot one inch frame looms over the actor.
‘They’re terrible now,’ he stutters. ‘But they used to be amazing, ya know, when-when-when Shaq played. What’s going on Shaq?’
Betting is a ‘team sport’, Ben tells his casino pals – only to learn that they all used the ‘Greg’ method and won, while Ben – a Massachusetts native – bet and lost on Boston.
‘We’re betting big on Boston this year! #Ad Here’s a look at the spot I directed to launch @wynnbet —a new sportsbook app that makes betting a team sport,’ Ben wrote on Instagram. ‘Always fun teaming up with @Shaq and @melvingregg.’
Who’s that lady? The Good Will Hunting actor spots a familiar face playing the slots, Lupe, the mom of his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez
‘C’mon Lupe, you can do this girl,’ JLo’s mom declares while hitting slot machine after slot machine. ‘Just like the slots in St. Louis.’
Mom and daughter: JLo poses with her beloved mom Lupe back in 2005
‘Was honored to mentor @benaffleck and show him the ways of sports betting w/ @wynnbet—Wynn’s sportsbook app makes it easier to bet together,’ Melvin penned about the ad on social media.
Affleck has an established history as a high roller at the Wynn and earlier this summer was spotted a the tables until 3 a.m. while visiting Las Vegas to direct a new movie.
Ben is a longtime lover of gambling and was once so good at blackjack that he was accused of counting cards and subsequently banned from the game at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel.
He had been in town with his then-wife Jennifer Garner when security approached him about allegedly counting cards.
Cameo! While discussing how ‘terrible’ Miami is, Ben is overheard by former Miami Heat player, Shaq, whose seven foot one inch frame looms over the actor
‘They’re terrible now,’ he stutters. ‘But they used to be amazing, ya know, when-when-when Shaq played. What’s going on Shaq?’
Way back when: Affleck has a checkered past in Las Vegas, in 2014 he was banned from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino & Hotel for allegedly ‘counting cards’
Staff are said to have accused him of the tactic, which is not illegal but is a ground for being banned.
A source told MailOnline at the time that Ben was still welcome to the hotel and was just banned from playing blackjack.
The insider said: ‘Security said, “You are too good at the game.”‘ The hotel was really nice about it and told him he could play other games. They ended up getting him and Jennifer a car back to their hotel too.’
In 2014, Ben admitted in an interview with Details magazine that he was given the boot, temporarily, from Hard Rock after security deemed him ‘too good’ at the tables.
Yikes! He had been in town with his then-wife Jennifer Garner when security approached him about card counting which isn’t illegal but grounds for being removed from the casino floor
Too good: A source told MailOnline at the time that Ben was still welcome to the hotel and was just banned from playing blackjack
‘That is a true story. I mean, that took place,’ he said when asked to clarify reports he was banned.
‘I took some time to learn the game and became a decent blackjack player. And once I became decent, the casinos asked me not to play blackjack. I mean, the fact that being good at the game is against the rules at the casinos should tell you something about casinos.’
Ben, meanwhile, has rekindled things with ex-fiance Jennifer Lopez and things are getting quite serious between the pair.
Meanwhile: The Justice League star has been romancing Jennifer, 52, since May this year and is said to be considering proposing again
The Justice League star has been romancing Jennifer, 52, since May this year, after they rekindled their romance following two years together between 2002 and 2004.
And while the couple’s engagement during their last relationship didn’t work out, Ben is hoping to make it second time lucky, as he’s reportedly planning to ask Jennifer to marry him.
An insider told Us Weekly magazine: ‘[Ben and Jennifer are] seriously talking about getting married. They are both madly in love and don’t want to let one another go this time.’
Ben reportedly considers the ‘Hustlers’ star to be the ‘one that got away’ and he is ‘determined to make sure that doesn’t happen this time’.
Before: Bennifer, as they were affectionately known in the press, spent two years together between 2002 and 2004