Everyone knows that when you visit a casino, you have a high probability of losing; however, there are some lucky or extremely skilled players that leave the casino with their pockets full of money. Most of the time, the best stories are real-life stories. We have heard so many times in the news that there were people who bought a lottery ticket or played at a and become millionaires. Someone’s life can change from one minute to the next. How easy or difficult is it to achieve such a lucky push from the Goddess of fortune? Many people believe that money itself doesn’t bring happiness, and there are many stories to confirm it.
When someone wins, he gets all the media’s attention, and they all ask the same questions. How do you feel about the success? What is the first thing you want to do with all this money? How do you plan to spend it? It is very rare to see in the media people who have managed to build entire fortunes through casinos. It is effortless to find on the internet many cases of people who made millions not at the moment but in the long run through gambling. However, to build all this fortune, is it really a matter of luck or skill? In this article, we will take a look at five cases of people who are undoubtedly the biggest winners in the history of casinos, along with some facts that you will find interesting.
Archie Karas ($40 million)
His name has a particular weight in relation to casinos. There is no decent player who hasn’t heard of the name Archie Karas, or his real Greek name Anargyros Karavourniotis even once. The Kefalonian left Greece as an immigrant and went to America for a better life, to live the American dream. In his life, he had endured absolute hunger but also absolute success and prestige.
The first time he set foot in a casino was at the age of 46. He put $50 in his pocket to try his luck, and he managed to multiply it so many times. In his case, you can’t say it was just a matter of luck since he was an experienced poker player, and proof of that is the famous “The Run.” There was no player to sit at the same table with him for six consecutive months and beat him. Until he goes to the point where he couldn’t find an opponent, this is by far the largest winning streak for a poker player.
He managed to build a larger fortune, but he also tasted the absolute bitterness since he managed to lose what he gained. However, he will go down in history forever because in one night, in December 1992, he managed to win $11,000,000 from a $50 buy-in. He continued to roll the dice from the poker tables and made $40,000,000 overnight—an outrageous amount and rightly one of history’s most significant wins.
Cynthia Jay-Brennan ($35 million)
Cynthia Jay Brennan is the most typical example of the opinion we wrote at the beginning. Money doesn’t bring happiness. She was an ordinary American woman, an everyday person, a waitress. She worked to make a living in various bars, but luck smiled at her one night when she visited Las Vegas.
The 26-year-old American then decided in 2000 to visit the Monte Carlo casino in Vegas and took part in the lottery. She was there to celebrate her mother-in-law’s birthday with her family. So, she just sat on a slot machine, specifically on a Megabucks slot, and the ninth time she played, she won $35,000,000. It was the largest jackpot in history.
However, what fortune gave her that night, took back nine weeks later. A drunk driver hit her car. Her sister, who was a co-driver, was killed instantly, while Cynthia was paralyzed from the chest down. Unable to rejoice in the millions she won, she used a wheelchair, no longer to make the necessary movements.
Kerry Packer ($33 million)
The Australian billionaire managed to make a name for himself in the biggest casinos in the world. A massive fan of roulette, he didn’t hesitate to bet vast amounts without thinking much. In 1990 he managed to lose $15 million overnight at four roulette tables and left as if nothing had happened.
Packer is responsible for another negative record. In three weeks, he lost $28 million to a casino in London, the largest amount ever lost in British casino history. He is on our list because, in addition to the great defeats, he had managed to achieve great victories. In Las Vegas and more specifically at the MGM Grand in just 40 minutes, he managed to win $33 million in blackjack and baccarat. However, this amount seems funny since his fortune in 2004 amounted to $ 6.5 billion.
Patricia DeMauro ($10 million)
Four hours and 18 minutes. This is how long it took Patricia DeMauro to write history and make it to the list of the people who won the most money in a single night in a casino. That happened in Borgata Casino on May 23, 2009.
Whether we are talking about online or land-based casinos, do you know that the odds of rolling 154 consecutive dice without the seven being ever drawn? 1 to 1.56 trillion, and DeMauro broke all predictions that night; after four and a half, she managed to earn $10,000,000 and change her life once and for all.