Maybe the Biggest Gambler of all Time

[aslan]

This week I met Archie Karas. He's an avid pool player, like me, and I ran into him at a pool room in Vegas. He's the guy who broke the bank at Binion's Horseshoe back in the early nineties. He beat them for $32 million playing craps.

He had come to Vegas with $50 in his pocket, borrowed $10,000 to play poker, and ran it up to $40 million in a couple of years. But he went flat broke in 1995. Now here he was looking for a little pool action. He seemed like a really nice guy. But a friend later told me that he is an absolute SOB when it comes to gambling, and shrewd as they come.

He beat all the world's best poker player's back in the 90's--Chip Reese, Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, everyone. Later a friend told me that they think he used dice control to make his big score at Binion's. At that time they were not as insistent that the dice bounce off the backboard, he told me. Binion must have figured it out because he had extra padding added to the felt floor of the table. When Archie played there again the extra padding made the dice bounce more and Archie lost big time. I don't know if this story is true--just what a local told me.

He also suggested that maybe, just maybe, Binion's was having troubles with the IRS, so they concocted this scam to make it look like Archie had won so much money so they could beat the tax man. I guess when there's that much money at stake, no one really knows the truth. But I do know this guy made millions playing poker, especially Razz, over his lifetime, broke one day and rich the next. He may be the biggest gambler Vegas ever saw, except for all these Arab oil shieks, but heck, they aren't gambling, they're just slumming, throwing away their millions like petty cash!

 

[k_c]

This week I met Archie Karas. He's an avid pool player, like me, and I ran into him at a pool room in Vegas. He's the guy who broke the bank at Binion's Horseshoe back in the early nineties. He beat them for $32 million playing craps.

He had come to Vegas with $50 in his pocket, borrowed $10,000 to play poker, and ran it up to $40 million in a couple of years. But he went flat broke in 1995. Now here he was looking for a little pool action. He seemed like a really nice guy. But a friend later told me that he is an absolute SOB when it comes to gambling, and shrewd as they come.

He beat all the world's best poker player's back in the 90's--Chip Reese, Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, everyone. Later a friend told me that they think he used dice control to make his big score at Binion's. At that time they were not as insistent that the dice bounce off the backboard, he told me. Binion must have figured it out because he had extra padding added to the felt floor of the table. When Archie played there again the extra padding made the dice bounce more and Archie lost big time. I don't know if this story is true--just what a local told me.

He also suggested that maybe, just maybe, Binion's was having troubles with the IRS, so they concocted this scam to make it look like Archie had won so much money so they could beat the tax man. I guess when there's that much money at stake, no one really knows the truth. But I do know this guy made millions playing poker, especially Razz, over his lifetime, broke one day and rich the next. He may be the biggest gambler Vegas ever saw, except for all these Arab oil shieks, but heck, they aren't gambling, they're just slumming, throwing away their millions like petty cash!

I had a friend who matched up with him at one pocket several years ago. I'm not sure exactly when, but I remember him telling me about 'Archie the Greek's' big craps score and how he lost it all back.

k_c

 

[aslan]

I had a friend who matched up with him at one pocket several years ago. I'm not sure exactly when, but I remember him telling me about 'Archie the Greek's' big craps score and how he lost it all back.

k_c

Tobey Flaherty matched up with him at one pocket. Archie played him $40,000 a game plus another $35,000 on side bets each game, for a total of $75,000 a game. He said he wanted to bet $150,000 a game but they didn't want to do it. He ended up losing around $700,000. I think that was around 1994.

 

[k_c]

Tobey Flaherty matched up with him at one pocket. Archie played him $40,000 a game plus another $35,000 on side bets each game, for a total of $75,000 a game. He said he wanted to bet $150,000 a game but they didn't want to do it. He ended up losing around $700,000. I think that was around 1994.

I'm sure my friend didn't play for that kind of money. It was probably a time when Archie's bank was low. He went to Vegas to play in an eight-ball bar table tournament and took second worth $5000. He was on a hot streak at the time and wound up doing some gambling for more than he ever had played for. He did well on the trip but I know he never bet nearly that high. Eventually he lost his game altogether, I think due to drugs. The last time I saw him was a couple of years ago and he seemed to be doing better.

k_c

 

[aslan]

I'm sure my friend didn't play for that kind of money. It was probably a time when Archie's bank was low. He went to Vegas to play in an eight-ball bar table tournament and took second worth $5000. He was on a hot streak at the time and wound up doing some gambling for more than he ever had played for. He did well on the trip but I know he never bet nearly that high. Eventually he lost his game altogether, I think due to drugs. The last time I saw him was a couple of years ago and he seemed to be doing better.
k_c

Right. Archie does play for less. He played a friend of mine once for a hundred or two a game and quit after he lost two games. You never know when this guy is going to lose a hundred or a million. The night I met him he was looking for a $100 game. If I had a clue how to match up with him I would have played him myself. Your friend must have been quite some player to come in second. Too often pool players get themselves involved in drugs. I think they think the drugs are going to make them play better, and they may for a short time, but the only think the drugs will do for certain is shorten their careers.

 

[WRX]

That is one cool story. I'm glad to hear that he's still around and doing at least sort of all right.

 

[aslan]

That is one cool story. I'm glad to hear that he's still around and doing at least sort of all right.

I'm guessing he has his hopes pinned on a successful biography and movie. Some say he stashed a substantial amount when he was on his run, but no one knows for sure. There's an aura of mystery around Archie.

 

[zengrifter]

This week I met Archie Karas. He's an avid pool player, like me, and I ran into him at a pool room in Vegas. He's the guy who broke the bank at Binion's Horseshoe back in the early nineties. He beat them for $32 million playing craps!

He lost, actually. But, he was up $22M, at one point. zg

From Konik / Cigar Aficiando (Archive copy)-​

But nobody, nobody has ever churned mere bus fare into truly big money. Mansion-in-Bel-Air-and-yacht-in-the-Caribbean money. Mythic money. ​

Nobody, that is, until Archie Karas. In a six-month period, Karas parlayed a borrowed stake of $10,000 into $17 million. That's right, $17 million. ​

If not for the John Gotti hairstyle and two demure gold-and-diamond pinkie rings he sports, you might think Karas was some sort of businessman, an executive at a respectable corporation, not an inveterate gambler. Karas, 43,dresses stylishly but prepossessingly, forgoing the loud tracksuits and ostentatious gold-chunk bracelets many of his colleagues favor. He's got more than one $20,000 watch, but most days he wears a Seiko. His clean-cut grooming is impeccable--far from the haggard visage of someone who spends entirely too much time in the stale environs of a casino. And his nails are always clean. ​

But the boardroom is not his domain; it's the card room. Karas likes to be referred to as the undisputed champion of gambling. "I've gambled more money than anyone in the history of the planet," he claims. "What most gamblers make in their whole life I gamble in one roll of the dice. Unless the casinos decide to raise their limits after I'm gone, I don't think anyone will ever gamble more than I have. I'm the biggest ever."​

STORY- http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,67,00.html (Archive copy)​

 

[zengrifter]

From Mike Sexton - (Archive copy)

The story behind the scenes is one of the most fascinating dramas in the history of Las Vegas, which caused the Binion family to hold numerous meetings regarding how to handle this giant of giants in the gambling world, who consistently played these limits at the dice

Either way, Jack was smart enough to know he would be the winner, whether Archie ever decided to cash out or lost all of his money. During this period, Binion's Horseshoe continued patriarch Benny's philosophy of taking the world's highest limits to new heights for the biggest gambler in the world to fire away at, day after day, week after week, month after month, and as it turned out, for over two years.

 

[zengrifter]

From Scoblete -

The sad thing about this story is that, being a wild gambler, Archie lost it all back as most wild gamblers do even after such extraordinary streaks. The last he was seen (as rumor has it) he was sleeping in his car in a parking lot.

 

[aslan]

He lost, actually. But, he was up $22M, at one point. zg

From Konik / Cigar Aficiando (Archive copy)-​

But nobody, nobody has ever churned mere bus fare into truly big money. Mansion-in-Bel-Air-and-yacht-in-the-Caribbean money. Mythic money. ​

Nobody, that is, until Archie Karas. In a six-month period, Karas parlayed a borrowed stake of $10,000 into $17 million. That's right, $17 million. ​

If not for the John Gotti hairstyle and two demure gold-and-diamond pinkie rings he sports, you might think Karas was some sort of businessman, an executive at a respectable corporation, not an inveterate gambler. Karas, 43,dresses stylishly but prepossessingly, forgoing the loud tracksuits and ostentatious gold-chunk bracelets many of his colleagues favor. He's got more than one $20,000 watch, but most days he wears a Seiko. His clean-cut grooming is impeccable--far from the haggard visage of someone who spends entirely too much time in the stale environs of a casino. And his nails are always clean. ​

But the boardroom is not his domain; it's the card room. Karas likes to be referred to as the undisputed champion of gambling. "I've gambled more money than anyone in the history of the planet," he claims. "What most gamblers make in their whole life I gamble in one roll of the dice. Unless the casinos decide to raise their limits after I'm gone, I don't think anyone will ever gamble more than I have. I'm the biggest ever."​

STORY- http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Profiles/People_Profile/0,2540,67,00.html (Archive copy)​

Tom Sexton whom I met last trip to Vegas is writing a biography of Archie Karas. He is publishing a new chapter each week at Pokernews.com. On of the most fascinating parts is where Archie explains the mistakes he made that led to his record losses, including as described here, $30,000,000 in one day.

Keeping too much in my money boxes at the Horseshoe was a big mistake. The urge to gamble it off was way too strong. During my two-and-a-half-year gambling spree, there was a three-week period of time where I lost $30,000,000, which I could never fade! What happened was I lost $11,000,000 one night at the dice table. This was the night I had to have my money boxes drilled open to continue playing, as I forgot the keys to all the boxes except for the one I had $2,000,000 in. I lost the $2,000,000 in a half hour, and got the urge to keep gambling. I was sick that night, not so much because I lost, but because I didn't quit after that first $2,000,000 loss, and should have called it a day. I switched games after this disaster dice session to play high-limit baccarat. I got Jack to let me raise the limit in baccarat up to $300,000 per bet as well, and quickly lost a few million more. In between all of this, I played Chip Reese $10,000 and $20,000 heads-up poker, and finally lost $2,000,000 to him. I wasn't focused on poker when this happened, as my head was swirling over how many millions I lost in dice and baccarat. What I'm describing is the heart of my downslide, as I went straight back to baccarat betting $300,000 per hand, and within ten days lost $17,000,000 in baccarat! With a little math you can see in a three-week period of time I lost $11,000,000 in dice, $2,000,000 in poker, and $17,000,000 in baccarat, which added up to $30,000,000! After this disaster, I took a couple of months off on vacation to go home to Greece. I still had about $12,000,000 left in the banks, and needed a break.

View attachment 221
The Downslide: Karas cleans out one of his boxes

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2008/03/sextons-corner-37-archie-karas-part-7.htm

 

[zengrifter]

 

[aslan]

I saw Archie at Poolshark's pool room on Decatur when I was in Vegas last May (2010). He was playing a certain poker player (don't recall his name (Bob?), but a friend of Dippy Dave's) on the front table for $500 a game. At his peak back in the early 90's, he was playing $30,000 or more a game with side bets at the same large amounts. He lost about a $1 million in one session to Toby Flaherty, who until a few years ago, was part owner in the Cue Club of Las Vegas. The handicap was 12 to 3 at onepocket, with Archie going to 3. I have a friend who watched the match.

 

[Ferretnparrot]

How do you logistically wager 30,000 on a game of pool? People dont just walk into a pool hall with 30,000 in cash do they?

If im ever in vegas, Ill take all your money You guy are just lucky I live in the dirty jersey..for now...

 

[aslan]

How do you logistically wager 30,000 on a game of pool? People dont just walk into a pool hall with 30,000 in cash do they?

If im ever in vegas, Ill take all your money You guy are just lucky I live in the dirty jersey..for now...

This guy does. Archie is so accomplished a poker player that he played Stu Unger and Chip Reese head up and beat them both, although I did hear that Chip beat him later on. As for pool, Archie is not a good player, but if you spot him enough, he will gladly jump up and play you for all the money he has in the world.

I just got the low down on Dippy Dave, the poker player, who was playing pool for large amounts last May. He beat the Filipino player Alex Pagulayion (?) for $80,000. How can he afford it? Not only does he place high in the poker tournaments, but recently he put up the money for a few friends who were good players but broke and his end of it plus his own winnings was $12 million. Not bad work if you can find it.

 

[aslan]

I tried to google something on this guy, Dippy Dave, and all I could find was tournament winnings of $277,000. He is know for his online play and his cash play more than tournaments. One article has him playing 400-800 holdem. It's hard to separate fact from fiction, but I have seen him playing top pros pool at $10,000 a session.