Gambling Legends

There have been many famous gamblers throughout history, and their exploits have become the stuff of legend. Take for example Archie Karas, who began his gambling endeavors in his early teens and won his first big game betting on a game of pool. Karas is best known for going to Las Vegas with only $50 to his name, borrowing $10,000 to enter a poker game, and then coming out $20,000 richer for the effort. Karas is a big bettor in gambling, not afraid to bet $100,000 on a single, risky game of Craps, and his courageous gambling endeavors has reportedly earned him a whopping $17 million.

How about Kerry Packer, the richest man in Australia at his death at age 68? An intensely fanatical card playing fan, Packer visited many casino settings in his time and brought home huge winnings. Coming from a rich family, Packer started off with a good-sized bankroll. An avid fan of poker as well as an array of casino games, Packer actually managed to win twenty hands of Baccarat consecutively in a Vegas Casino and earned himself a chunk of change to the tune of $250,000. Later, Parker got himself a 33 million dollar win at the MGM Grand Casino - one of the largest casino wins to date!

Yet another famous gambling legend is a Mr. Charles Wells, who went to Monte Carlo to try his hand at gambling. It is a good thing he was successful because the entire endeavor was funded from illegally taken funds that Wells stole from a group of investors that he defrauded. With only 4000 pounds to his name, Wells headed off to Monte Carlo and won a whopping 1,000,000 in Francs while playing Roulette. What’s more, just over a year after this win, Wells did it again and managed to win yet another one million Francs to add to his fortune! Eventually good ole "Lucky Wells" good fortune abandoned him, and on a third attempt he lost all of his money, wound up getting arrested, and spent a full eight years in prison for the fraud he committed. You think he would have learned from his mistakes, but after a quick name change, a few more fraudulent dealings, and another encounter at the casino, Wells was arrested for a second time and forced to do another three years prison time once again for fraudulent dealings. Clearly a creature of habit, Wells was release from prison, moved to France, and started all over again to earn himself another five full years behind bars! While his wins and the story of his rise to fortune are indeed the stuff of legends, this proves that even the best gamblers can fall victim to gambling addiction and lose everything.