Category: gambling history

Stan Tomchin claims to be "the most powerful gambler in the world," and he may have been. Stan was a chess master, a bridge master, and possibly the best backgammon player in the world. He then progressed to blackjack, horse racing, and, finally, sports betting. Stan, who grew up on Long...

Archie Karas, a gambler who started with $50 in 1995 and made it into $40 million in three years, only to lose it all in three weeks. Man with one of the most outstanding streaks in gambling history tells his life story. Article about Karas

Roulette as we know it today seems to have first appeared in Paris in 1796. It was enshrined in Monte Carlo in the nineteenth century and celebrated in story and song as the preferred high-stakes game of the rich and royal. It was a target for those with systems attempting...

Rothstein was born in New York City on January 17, 1882, and saw his last classroom at age 16. He worked as a traveling salesman for a while, but he became drawn to a life of crime when he started hanging out in the neighborhood pool clubs. Rothstein started out...

Full Tilt Poker was founded in 2004 and soon became one of the world's biggest poker site with many poker pros becoming the face of the business such as Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Gus Hansen and many others. But issues started to emerge for Full Tit Poker from...

Next month, an Atlantic City casino is scheduled to be demolished and city officials are planning to turn the demolition event into a fundraiser, aiming to raise more than $1 million. Trump Plaza, and the bidding winner will be able to press and blow up the button. The demolition of the...

Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal was a sports handicapper, Chicago Outfit partner, and a former Las Vegas casino executive (June 12, 1929-October 13, 2008). He had received the mocking nickname "Lefty" because at a hearing on gambling and organized crime, he had cited the Fifth Amendment thirty-seven times, even invoking his...

Las Vegas was halfway through a recession. It was April 1957, and two years earlier the town had still come to terms with the opening of five major resorts. The Dunes, the Riviera, New Frontier, Royal Nevada and Moulin Rouge had all fought through changes of ownership, some falling into...

Lester Ben Binion (November 20, 1904 - December 25, 1989) was an American gambling legend, career criminal, and convicted assassin who set up illegal gambling operations in the Texas city of Dallas-Fort Worth. He would later move to Nevada, where gambling was legal, and in downtown Las Vegas open the...

There is one guy actually being thought of as having the greatest gaming run in history. He turned $50 to $40000000 during his run which lasted three years. He is the legendary Archie Karas of course. Archie Karas was born 1951 in Antipata, Kefalonia, Greece. Karas had lived an early life...