Risk and Reward: The Untold Stories of 2024’s Gambling Moguls

Many people continue to argue about the possibility of legalizing gambling due to the high controversy that surrounds this subject. Although it could be considered immoral by some, there are those who look at it as a fun pastime business with great potential for being very profitable. The monetary factor associated with betting undeniably is the other reason why people from different stratum find themselves attracted to gambling. Indeed, many phenomenal people have emerged to become success stories in gambling areas throughout the world through outstanding casino wins or creative and unique approaches to betting. This article explores the experiences of the highest rollers by looking at the key parts of the gamblers’ stories, which have made them the great achievers in gambling business.

Kerry Packer

Kerry Packer is an Australian known to have been born on December 17, 1937 in Sydney; he engaged in gambling after he contracted polio at the tender age of 8. Packer had to face many difficulties, but he fostered a passion for Baccarat, and frequently travels to such places as London’s MGM Grand, Bellagio, Crockford’s, etc. While he lost $16.5 million at Crockford’s within three days only,his excellence in gambling world was proved when it was reported that he won between $20 & $40 million at MGM grand casino- Las Vegas while playing Blackjack in 1997. However, apart from his gambling achievements, Packer was more than a mogul who founded and was managing Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, a media colossus. He was also involved in the establishment of World Series Cricket and the support for the World Rugby Corporation making his impact felt in various areas.

Drake

Drake loves to gamble, and he turned his love into an entrepreneurial venture by entering into a $100M partnership with Stake, an online casino and sports betting company, in December of 2021. XXL reports that “since then, he’s reportedly wagered over a billion in cryptocurrency through the platform and gambled away a fortune of real money on sporting events as well.” Sheesh.

Tony Bloom

Tony Bloom who has graduated in Mathematics at The University of Manchester is often referred to as “The Lizard” because of his relaxed demeanor when playing casual poker. He has been playing for over five years and has earned slightly over $2.5 million in tournaments, playing main events of important circuits such as the World Poker Tour and even finishing second in Poker Million IX. Having established himself as the biggest horse race gambler ever before in March of 2023, Bloom clinched more greatness by placing key each way bets in Cheltenham Festival earning him £1,205,080 inclusive of a £5,80,000 profit from his bet and £2,200,00 from the horse he owned. This victory underscores the relevance of horse racing culture in England as well as Britain. However, it should be noted that most of Bloom’s money comes from his company Starlizard consulting which can be considered as a leading company in betting business to a considerable degree.

Bill Benter

Self made money making genius, Bill Benter, famed for his ability in Blackjack, and his prowess in betting on the horses studied physics at the University of Pennsylvania to improve his capabilities. Nor did he have ambitions in casinos, but managed to master card counting through Edward Thorp’s book “Beat the Dealer”, to win thousands in Blackjack. Four years later in 1984, Benter partnered with another gambler and mathematician named Alan Woods that translated to golden years of horse race betting in Hong Kong through their computers’ data. In Hong Kong horse racing is one of the legal vices together with football betting and the Mark Six Lottery, and it is monopolized by the Hong Kong Jockey Club that regulates Sha Tin and Happy Valley racetracks. Benter has an estimated wealth of $1 billion and it is believed he earns approximately $100 million in a year from sports betting with the help of the software that is developed to factor more than 130 variables.

Edward Thorp

Edward Oakley Thorp was popular as a card-counter and turned the gambling industry around with it; he became known as ‘The Man Who Beat The House. ’ His work did not stop with the gambling fields as with Probability Theory, statistics and mathematics, he left an impact on the world of finance and economics. It was owing to this expertise that he got the fame he had across the world and can be rightfully placed among the Blackjack legends whereby he was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Thorp’s wins went far beyond the casinos; he not only changed views on certain things but provided players with a significant potential in the field of blackjack and the strategies used in it as well as promoting analytical thinking in games of chance. This book “Beat The Dealer” gained popularity and became New York Times Best Seller, selling more than 700,000 copies, thus encouraging people to master games like Blackjack as well as other card games and therefore expanding the casino business clientele and their earnings. In fact, perhaps Thorp’s most profound achievement is his infinite contribution in changing the way we approach games of chance.

Andrew Black

Andrew Black’s experience started in computer programming and then moved to professional betting where he devised a unique approach of placing large bets on horse racing. After a brief stint at a London derivatives firm after his brother’s death, Black got back to betting and started a software firm. There he met Edward Wray, another Bridge lover, who found intriguing potential in Black’s algorithm that could predict the outcomes of horse races. It is through their partnership that they came up with Betfair, an online betting exchange which has now expanded to be among the best earning online casinos thereby increasing the US Sports Betting revenue which in 2023 was recording $1.55 billion. Betfair Casino stands out as the largest and the most popular betting exchange globally with more than 5 million trades in a day and as many as 1+ million customers. It is also known for delivering Crash Gambling and other new generation games, and therefore, strengthening its presence in the online casino markets segment.

Alan Woods

One of the most famous bettors Alan Woods, Australian professional gambler, with Bill Benter used to make a great deal of money out of horse race betting in Hong Kong. Before that, Woods began his gambling career as a skilled card counter and a Blackjack player but after meeting Benter in Las Vegas, he switched to horse racing and sports betting. Woods, well-known for his analytical approach, successfully participated in sports betting with a mission of constantly developing new methods to outwit the existing strategies. One interesting feature about horse racing is brought about by Fusaichi Pegasus, which is the most expensive horse sold. Purchased for $4 million as a yearling, its value soared to $70 million following its Kentucky Derby victor feat, epitomizing the high risk and handsome rewards that defined Woods successful career.

Zeljko Ranogajec

Originally from Serbia, Zeljko Ranogajec, or The Joker as he is known in the gambling world, has accumulated a great sum of money relative to a great many of gambling activities including Keno, Blackjack, Bet on sports, and most peculiar horse racing. His unrivaled calculating skills in combination with the knowledge of work in bank, financial and taxation specialties together with experience in casino helped him home the method of card counting when playing Blackjack. California No Bust, along with Surrender Rules added to Ranogajec’s gambling experience in which he managed to improve his Blackjack expertise. Due to his deftness, he found himself blacklisted in some of the biggest casinos both in Australia, and Vegas. Together with Alan Woods, just like Bill Benter he used great mathematics to beat casinos. Although Keno came with small chances of winning, Ranogajec won $7.5 million in a casino in New South Wales, which influenced gambling tremendously.

Billy Walters

Billy Walters, an American businessperson and now a retired professional gambler is renowned for his record-breaking performance in sports betting. Billy Walters was born in Munfordville, Kentucky in 1946 and at a tender age of nine, he began gambling and in his early years of betting he lost all his savings on one bet and later experienced several years of misfortune with the sports However, Walters faced the first of many obstacles throughout 2006 and 2007 but then achieved his greatest success in 2010; he won $3.5 million by betting on Super Bowl XLIV which was viewed by over 106.5 million people. For the first twenty years of gambling, Walters only enjoyed moderate levels of success; it was not until he was able to devise an efficient sports betting system that he was able to warrant losses in only one year of the last thirty nine, whilst using the gambling realm.

David Walsh

David Walsh had ventured into gambling when he participated in the University of Tasmania and developed certain software for predicting horse races. He was incredibly good in his mathematics and greatly valued in computing complex calculations for his betting group. Walsh came into the limelight of the gambling world in 2009 when he bagged over $17 million from one bet on the Melbourne Cup, amount that could build a casino. Interestingly, Walsh, a self-made gambling expert, does not like the conventional ways of gambling. Rather than squander it, he decided to donate the amount into charity, founding the MONA, a famous museum of Old and New Art located in Tasmania, Australia.

Terrance Watanabe

Terrance Watanabe took over the Oriental Trading Company from his father and this business emphasized selling arts and crafts, party supplies and resources, school stationery and toys. In 2000, he decided to let the Company go as he pursued his passion in playing Baccarat, Roulette and Blackjack well. After a short time Watanabe was unable to pay his debt for enormous losses in gambling in the Wynn and Caesars Palace, two casinos that contributed largely for the development of the Las Vegas Strip. He was lavishing and by the year 2007 had reached a record of a colossal loss streak in Las Vegas, losing $827 million out of which $127 million was a record loss in the history of Las Vegas. It was made worse by the fact that he had an outstanding balance of $14.7 million that he owed to Caesars Entertainment, a fact that he disputed saying that they never refunded him 30% on his losses.