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Casino Times
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25 September
2006
Wanna Bet?
Interesting characters
have made interesting bets over the years. Were they risking
it all, or was there method in their madness?
Tales of those who have
wagered high and won intrigue all who know the thrill of
raking in the money after testing their skill and luck at a
game. And whether we're envious or relieved that it wasn't
us, the stories never fail to impress.
What Goes Around Comes
Around
In the early 1980s,
Toronto banker Brian Molony lost millions in an incredible
gambling spree that lasted 18 months. The kicker was that if
he'd known when to stop, Molony would have been a wealthy
man today. In 1982 the 24 year old placed $5,000 on each
outcome of 40 different college football games and lost all
his money. Then he staged a dramatic recovery and put
$50,000 down on the Super Bowl and won. Over the next year
and a half, however, Molony lost over $10 million - all the
money he had stolen from the Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce.
The Poker People vs.
Larry Flynt
It cost Larry Flynt $2
million when he challenged Amarillo Slim to find out who was
the better man at poker. Flynt, founder of the magazine
Hustler, also reportedly lost $5 million to Stu Ungar in a
series of poker matches. However, when he's having a good
day apparently Larry is one helluva player.
An Exact
Science
In 1873 Joseph Jaggers
spent days at a Monte Carlo casino writing down every number
that came up on the roulette wheels, hoping to spot a trend.
After a while he walked away with $450,000. Not bad for a
days work back then.
Jaggers, a British
engineer, had noticed that cotton mills began to wear down
after periods of use and realised that roulette wheels would
probably do the same. He figured that once that happened,
each wheel would have developed its own balance in favor of
certain numbers. By painstakingly scrutinizing each wheel at
a casino, he worked out which numbers came up most
frequently on one of them.
He made $300,000 before
the casino noticed that something was amiss and had the
wheel moved. Jaggers lost a small fortune before he realised
this. Finding it again he quickly added to his winnings
before the casino modified the wheel and reset the
balance.
It would have been strange
watching someone betting on the same numbers, spin after
spin, but Jaggers took the gamble and went down in history
as one of the men who broke
the bank at Monte Carlo.
Blackjack For A
Cause
For a publicity stunt in
2001, Howard Stern wanted to lay down $1 million on a single
hand of blackjack. There were no takers among the casinos
and Stern's much hyped about bet was shrunk to an
anti-climactic $100,000. Despite losing $800 during one
session at the blackjack tables, Stern's luck held when it
counted, and he won the bet. Stern didn't pocket the money.
The winnings went to a charitable cause.
A Really Good
Year
Australian media mogul
Kerry Packer reportedly won over $25 million playing
blackjack at the MGM Grand in 1995. Packer was apparently
playing between six and eight hands simultaneously, betting
$200,000 and upwards a hand when he made the small fortune -
and he did it all in 40 minutes.
According to one eye
witness, Packer was actually down to start off with but then
surged ahead to over $30 million before losing $5 million
and calling it quits. On leaving the floor he tipped each of
the 40 people on shift $2,500.
Super
Sevens
William Lee Bergstrom has
pride of place in the annals of famous wagers. Legend has it
that in 1980 Bergstrom asked if he could place a $1 million
bet at the craps table. Bergstrom went to raise the money
and later arrived with a suitcase containing $777,000,
apologizing because it was all he could raise.
He bet it all at once on
the Don't Pass line. He was so optimistic he could win that
he brought along another suitcase for his
winnings.
Supposedly the shooter
that Bergstrom bet on 'sevened out' in three throws and he
left with $1.5 million.
The Midas
Touch
He's been called the
luckiest man alive for turning a borrowed bankroll of
$10,000 into a $17 million winning streak. Archie Karas,
first arrived in Vegas in 1992 with just $50 in his pocket.
He managed to borrow a $10,000 stake and headed straight to
the poker tables. What followed was what people now fondly
refer to as 'The Run.' Karas quickly doubled his money, paid
back his benefactor, then won over $1 million in just a few
short hours.
From there Karas headed to
Binion's Horseshoe and, over six months, played winning hand
after winning hand of poker. When he ran out of people to
beat at poker, he gathered his chip and went for the craps
tables, winning millions of dollars more. By the time his
winning streak had ended he had a pot of over $17
million.
The Beautiful
Game
Well known hotelier Bob
Stupak has made his fair share of notable bets. In 1989 he
made the largest wager in Nevada history betting on the
Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San
Francisco 49ers. He won $1 million on the game. A decade
earlier Stupak had made another extravagant bet with card
player Stu Ungar. Stupak bet Ungar $100,000 that he wouldn't
be able to count down the last three decks in a six deck
shoe. Ungar called out every one of the 156 cards correctly.
Stupak later said of Ungar, "He was the best. You can't
expand on that."
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