The Most Famous Gamblers: Why Did They Make Headlines?

Gambling has been around for centuries and it’s a common fact that it can lead to addiction, if not controlled. However, sometimes, the temptation to win astronomical sums of money, or get back what you have incurred in losses, fuels the human’s drive to participate in games over and over again. This results in a life devoted to gambling. Many people throughout history have made headlines due to their gaming obsession and subsequent cosmic wins and/or losses. Most folks think that gambling is all about luck and they are right to a certain extent. The slot games outcomes are pure luck, however, poker requires a great deal of skill, while horse racing outcomes depend on luck, as well as knowledge on the horse’s history. The punters on our list have become famous for any of the above reasons and have obtained legendary statuses due to their excessive gambling habits and outcomes. Continue reading to find out what makes them stand out.

1. Archie Karas (November 1, 1950 – )

Archie Karas (born Anagyros Nicholas Karabourniotis in Greece) is, without a doubt, one of the most popular names in the gambling world. He became famous for what is known as “The Run”, or the longest and largest winning streak ever recorded in the history of casino gambling. He was always known as a masterful gambler in his surroundings and what he basically did is venture to Las Vegas with $50 in his pocket, get a $10000 loan from a wealthy friend of his and turn this into a $40 million net worth over the course of the next two and a half years by playing poker and pool He was unbeatable, extremely confident, very skillful and admirable. Many of the world’s best challenged him on various occasions and were all losing against him. As you know, every ascent is followed by a descent and in Archie’s case, in the course of little over three weeks, he lost absolutely everything, due to poor choices and engagement in games he wasn’t really a pro at (e.g. baccarat). It is still talked about to this very day and many gamblers have nothing but respect for him because even though he was deemed unstoppable, he always played with honour and respect.

2. Kerry Packer (December 17, 1937 – December 26, 2005)

Kerry Packer was an Australian media mogul billionaire, owner of the Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, and an avid punter. His gambling stories precede him as he has won and lost astronomical amounts in London and Las Vegas. Always betting in millions, he was always bringing the casinos to its toes, because his colossal wins and losses could easily disrupt the financial ledgers of the venues. He has been able to win as much as 33 million Aussie Dollars, while on the flip side lose as much as 28 million in a short 3-week period. The latter is reported as the biggest gambling loss in the history of Great Britain. Gambling was his passion and the casinos’ bet ceiling was his aim, regardless of the venue. There are stories of an oil investor that wanted to engage in a game of poker with him, claiming that he was worth $60 million. Pecker’s response was a coin toss with a $120 million wager in return. “I’ll toss you for it”, he said, reportedly. For him, betting a six-figure sum was like paying for a carton of milk at the grocery store. Sadly, he passed away at 68 from kidney failure with his beloved family by his side.

3. Nick Dandolos (9 April 27, 1883 – December 25, 1966)

Another Greek high roller gets the distinction of being mentioned on this list. The professional gambler Nicholas Andreas Dandolos aka Nick the Greek is another example of a person that doesn’t shy away from titanic bets, wins, and losses. In fact, he is a force to be reckoned with in the gambling world with Frank Sinatra and Aristotle Onassis being a few of his friends. Born in Crete, Nick moved to the States to pursue a career in business as per his grandfather’s request. Little did he know that he would end up in Montreal, where he would become an expert at horse racing through one of his friends. Later on, he would move on to win and lose millions at the time throughout the casinos in the US before eventually settling in Las Vegas. There, he became a legend and drove crowds to whichever casino his foot stepped in. He agreed to a duel against Johnny Moss at Binions Casino that ended up lasting jaw-dropping 5 months and having them go through a plethora of poker variations. Nick ultimately lost $4 million. It is believed that this face-off gave birth to the Poker World Serie decades later. Another fun fact, he humiliatingly beat the New York Mafia boss, Frank Costello. It is believed that he played through a total of $500 million throughout his career. He was never in it for the money though, for him it was about the excitement from playing. To quote him: “The next best thing to playing and winning I splaying and losing”.

4. Brian Molony

Gambling obsession can make people do things that were not really well thought out. Breaking the law and engaging in criminal activities with the purpose of fueling your addiction is among them. Brian Molony is famous in the punters’ circle, alright. However, he became such for all the wrong reasons. He is among the people that decided to become rich the wrong way. A person with sharp wit, intelligence to spare, and good looks, he decided that his average annual salary is far from sufficient to satisfy his gambling habits and huge bets, therefore, he went on to steal from the company he was employed for at the time: The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He did that by either apply for loans of different sizes under various aliases or by skimming funds from the accounts of big clients. As a result he managed to steal more than $10.5 million in the process before getting caught and arrested in 1982 thanks to a major bet loss at craps worth $1 million in Ceaser’s Casino & Resort in Atlantic City. Gambling can be quite addictive, if not controlled. In case you feel like you are slipping to the side and are losing grasp of reality, seek professional help immediately.

5. John Montagu (November 13, 1718 – April 30 1792)

Last but not least, we have John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. He isn’t famous for winning or losing millions of dollars by spending his own or somebody else’s money. As his name suggests he serves as a bridge between gambling and sandwiches. He believes that it was thanks to him that sandwiches exist the way we know them today. How is that, you might ask? Well, you see John used to be a passionate gambler, a fan of the cards, mostly. In addition, he loved the scheduled lunch, afternoon snack, or anything else you can munch on in between. Now, when such occasion was to arise and he was in the middle of a game, the lack of a “food for convenience” was driving him insane because he wanted to finish the game but didn’t want to keep on playing on an empty stomach. You guessed it, this is how the sandwich originated. It is believed that he got the inspiration for it from trips to Eastern Europe, where he observed how the locals were stuffing pita bread with various ingredients. John adopted the idea but not before putting his own little twist on it. He used salt beef between the two slices of bread and that was it. Soon, all the gamblers were requesting “the Sandwich” every time they were engaging at a game of cards. This information is entirely according to John Montagu himself, rather than a proven fact, however, we all know that this could not have been the very first time in history, someone has thought of the idea to put something between bread. Regardless, it’s a very interesting story to tell.