In the world of gambling, there’s a small number of players who have become famous for one reason or another. Some have managed to defy the odds and make a living from their gambling activity, whereas others are known for placing massive bets that might not always pay off. Here’s a look at some of the most popular gamblers from throughout the world, and what makes them so famous.
The MIT Blackjack Team
What makes blackjack such a popular game is that it requires the player to make decisions. There’s therefore some strategy and thinking involved, but also some luck of course. This is why blackjack is available at pretty much every casino site, including GGBet online casino. Some of the most famous blackjack players are the MIT blackjack team.
This was a group of students from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) that was active from 1979 to the beginning of the 21st century. They used the rather controversial card counting technique and other complex strategies to boost their odds at winning blackjack games.
Team members managed to make millions of dollars from various casinos, though there were many instances of people being caught by casinos and getting banned. There are several books written by team members, plus two films based on their exploits: The Last Casino (2004) and 21 (2008).
Archie Karas
No list of famous gamblers would be complete without mentioning Archie Karas. He was born in Greece in 1950 and moved to the US at the age of 17. Living in LA, he worked at a restaurant and developed an interest in playing pool, though he soon liked the idea of betting on pool more. He moved on to card games such as blackjack and poker, and discovered that he was quite good at them both.
He eventually decided to go to Las Vegas and try his luck there. When he arrived he had just $50 in his pocket. He would go on to turn this $50 into winnings worth over $40 million thanks to his skill at card games, in particular poker. Luck played a part too, of course, but Archie’s talent at playing poker, which requires logic, strategy, and mastering body language, couldn’t be denied.
Kerry Packer
Kerry Packer was an Australian media tycoon who was considered to be one of the country’s most powerful men for quite a few decades. In fact, he was the richest man in Australia when he died in 2005 at the age of 68. During his lifetime, he was known for making shrewd business deals and splashing the cash on rather high wagers.
Kerry loved the thrill of gambling huge sums of money and the excitement of winning big. There was one night at MGM Grand in Las Vegas when he was playing at eight gaming tables simultaneously, with bets totalling $250,000. Luck was on his side as he ended up winning no less than $20 million in just 40 minutes.
He wasn’t always lucky though, as there were a few times he lost seven- and even eight-figure sums of money. Still, he had a reputation for being exceptionally generous with his tipping, whether he won or lost.
Phil Hellmuth
Known as ‘The Poker Brat’, Phil Hellmuth is without a doubt one of the world’s best-known gamblers. His specialty is poker, and he’s regarded as one of the best-ever players of the game. He’s won the World Series of Poker a total of 17 times and has earned in excess of $29 million from tournament winnings.
Throughout his poker-playing career, Phil has broken various records and made some significant achievements, including being inducted into the World Series of Poker’s Poker Hall of Fame. He’s written several books about his extraordinary success at poker, commentated on poker games and published some videos about poker.
Bill Benter
Last but by no means least is American gambler and philanthropist Bill Benter, who is regarded by some as the most successful gambler of all time. He was talented at mathematics and after completing a physics degree, went to Las Vegas to play blackjack while attempting the card counting strategy. Within seven years, he was banned from all the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, no doubt because of how successful he had become at playing blackjack.
He then met another gambler, Alan Woods, who was interested in horse racing. Together, they moved to Hong Kong and developed a system that would predict the winner of horse races. They fine-tuned it over the years and lost their initial investment before their system started making a profit. Alan ended up leaving the partnership, but Bill managed to make it a huge success. In fact, he’s said to have earned over $1 billion from his horse race winner prediction system.