Before we get into the biggest gamblers in the world, keep in mind that gambling is one of the most popular activities in the world. It involves taking a chance and betting your money in the hope that you win.
Although gambling involves luck, some activities require mathematical skills and the ability to calculate the stakes. These skills have enabled some people to make it big while gambling.
Below, you’ll find a list of top gamblers around the world, all of which understand the intricacies of this popular pastime. This is by no means a complete list, as there are too many to count in one place. Rest assured that these are some of the best gamblers ever. Let’s begin.
The Biggest Gamblers in The World
- Archie Karas
- Mikki Mase
- Jonathan Duhamel
- Chris Ferguson
- Phil Ivey
- Billy Walters
- Edward Thorp
The World’s Biggest Gamblers in Detail
Now that you know who the most successful people in the industry are, let’s talk about what makes each one unique.
Archie Karas
Archie Karas’s net worth reached $40 million, but he lost everything in a Hollywood-film twist. Regardless, he remains one of the biggest gamblers in the world.
Archie Karas was also known as the “Greek” of Sin City. He was the largest gambler in professional poker and also the biggest loser. He amassed a fortune of over $40 million between 1992 and 1995. This three-year winning streak, now known as “The Run,” is widely regarded as the longest and most intense hot streak in gambling history.
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Karas was unable to find rivals after “The Run,” so he started to play other games. Then everything fell apart for Karas, one of the most successful gamblers in the world at the time.
Karas’s downfall began with an $11 million loss on craps and then a $17 million loss on one game of baccarat. Karas lost $30 Million in a short period of time and never recovered.
Mikael “Mikki” Mase
Mase (a.k.a. Mikki Gambler) regularly posts about his casino experiences via social media. This advantage player is one of the biggest gamblers in the world and claims that he can beat the house edge in baccarat using his system. Is Mikki really a professional gambler? Or is he just an Instagram influencer pretending to be the real deal?
He posted a photo of his $3.1 million winnings at MGM Grand Las Vegas casino on Instagram. Mikki also posted a video in which he counts the $1.7 million he won at the Palazzo.
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Mikki Gambler’s net worth is alleged to have come from craps and baccarat, but we are still not sure. One thing is certain: Mikki has played alongside poker legends such as Garrett Adelstein and Antonio Esfandiari and held his own. This makes him a true gambler.
Based on the wins that he shared over his Instagram account so far, he has earned at least $8,450,000.
Jonathan Duhamel
Duhamel, a Canadian pro-poker player, is most well-known for his victory in the Main Event of the 2010 World Series of Poker. Duhamel defeated John Racener to win $8,944,310 and became the first Canadian player to win the bracelet.
Duhamel is widely accepted as one of the most successful and biggest gamblers in the world. He was the champion of the European Poker Tour Deauville’s High Roller Event in January 2011. He also cashed twice at the WSOP for more than $45,000.
His success doesn’t end there. In his second year, Duhamel made it to the final four tables of the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure. This gambler won more than $18 million in live tournaments as of 2021.
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Chris Ferguson
Ferguson started playing poker as a child, just like other gamblers. He started becoming known in professional circles during the mid-90s and competed in his first World Series in 1995.
Ferguson is one of the most successful gamblers in America and one of the biggest gamblers in the world, thanks to holding six WSOP bracelets. He was the main event champion in 2000, which was his best performance.
Ferguson is unique because he is the only poker player who has won three WSOP circuits as well as six bracelets. The gambler is known for his extraordinary ability to throw cards so quickly that they can cut vegetables and fruits.
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Phil Ivey
Here’s how this professional poker player from California made it onto our list of the wealthiest gamblers.
Phil Ivey has won more than $26,250,000 in live tournaments and many millions of USD online. At the same time, he is a World Poker Tour winner and a ten-time World Series of Poker champion.
Additionally, the gambler was able to place in the top 25 of the WSOP Main Event as well as win bracelets in 2002’s World Series of Poker.
In 2009, Ivey also won his sixth bracelet, defeating 147 players at the No-Limit Draw Lowball Event. He then won the Commerce Casino LA Poker Classic for $1,596,100, and the mere mention of his name makes it clear he is one of the biggest gamblers in the world.
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Billy Walters
It’s possible to make a lot of money betting on sports, and Billy Walters is a prime example. This individual is also the reason why over half of Americans have placed at least one bet on a sport in their lifetime.
Walters made his first bets at age nine using the money he earned from his newspaper career. He amassed a staggering net worth of $250 million since the start of his career.
Walters was a successful gambler in his adult years and founded a sports betting company in Los Angeles, where he earned millions.
However, he was sentenced to five years for insider trading but was released in 2020 after being pardoned by former President Donald Trump. Betting on sports made Walters an estimated $15 million before he was sent to prison, which is why he’s one of the biggest gamblers in the world.
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Edward Thorp
Thorp is an author and a mathematics professor, but he also plays professional blackjack. In 1961, he and Claude Shannon invented the first wearable computer.
Thorp was a successful casino gambler for many years. Thorp arrived on Wall Street, using his mathematical abilities to predict market anomalies. He actually explained his method of making money with stocks in his book Beat the Market (1967).
Thorp is an outstanding thinker and a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
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Honourable Mentions
King Henry VII
This historical personality was also known as England’s Number 1 Gambler. According to legend, Henry would rather spend his nights at the casino than in the royal palace. He enjoyed dice, Bragg, a form of checkers gambling, and dice. Henry was addicted to gambling, and it was the crown’s money that he used to gamble.
The crown quickly accumulated gambling debts that the taxpayers had to pay. Consequently, his gambling caused a financial crisis for the nation. This king was unique in that he did not discriminate against his rivals, as he gambled equally with commoners and royals, making him one of the biggest gamblers in the world back in the day.
Richard Nixon
This list includes Richard Nixon because he is the only person who played his way to becoming the leader of the free world.
The most controversial US president gambled his way to the White House. Although his winning streak isn’t public, it is likely that he had many big wins. After beating him in a poker match, one of Nixon’s greatest wins was a sports car from President Ronald Reagan. His gambling winnings and networks helped him finance his campaign.
Final Thoughts
Gambling involves a lot of risks. While some people are successful, others lose everything. Consequently, it is vital to note that this list of the biggest gamblers in the world can be viewed as relative. The net worth of certain gamblers cannot be determined and is, therefore, not known.
