Archie Karas is a Greek American gambling, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest gamblers of all time. He is famed for what is known as “The Run,” which is the longest and richest winning streak in casino gambling history. During that time he turned $50 into over $40 million over three years but would lose it all within one year.

Karas’s Rise to Prominence

Karas was born in 1951 on the Greek island of Cephalonia. Born into poverty, he learnt to shoot marbles as a teenager in order to make money for food. When he was 15, he had a bitter feud with his father and ran away from home, immigrating to the US by working as a waiter on a ship. He landed in Portland and then made his way to Los Angeles where he started his legendary gambling streak. He started by playing competitive pool but he so good that soon, there were no opponents willing to play against him. This forced him to start playing poker and he was really good at it. He saw his bankroll swell to $2 million but he would lose it all but $50 in December 1992. Instead of giving up, he went to Vegas where he could play for bigger stakes.

Arriving in Vegas with only the $50 in his pocket, he was lucky to run into a friend who lent him $10,000. He started by playing Razz, a game very similar to poker and was able to repay the loan with 50% interest in three hours while leaving him with his own decent pile of cash. With more than $10,000 in his pocket, he began playing high stakes pool with a respected and wealthy pool player. Karas won a few hundred thousand dollars playing $10000 a game and then they raised the stakes to $40,000 a game. He ended up winning $1.2 million from his undisclosed opponent. The two then started playing poker and Karas won an additional $3 million. Over the next three months, he raised his bankroll to $7 million through high stakes games with Mr. X and other players. At this point, he had built a reputation for himself and only the best players dared to challenge him. He beat many top players including the likes of Chip Reese, Stu Ungar and Puggy Pearson, amassing more than $17 million over a period of seven months. When no more players were willing to challenge him in poker, he switched to $100000-a-game dice. His lucky streak continued, again winning millions of dollars from his illustrious opponents. He left casinos with millions of dollars on most nights and would carry a gun with him at all times as well as having casino security escort him and his brother to his car. By the time his winning streak came to an end, Karas had won more than $40 million.

Archie Kara’s Downfall

In 1995, his luck dried out and it was replaced by an equally devastating losing streak saw him lose his entire bankroll in less than three weeks. He first lost $11 million playing craps, followed by $17 million in baccarat. With about $12 million left, he took a break from gambling and traveled to Greece. He then came back to Vegas determined to win back the money he had lost. In less than a month, he only had $1 million left and he floated this at the Bicycle Club against Johnny Chan and Lyle Berman. He double his money, but he lost the two million in a few days playing dice. Instead of giving up, he borrowed a further $40,000 and turned it into $1 million in three weeks at the Desert Inn. He was up to $4 million after a few weeks but in familiar pattern, he lost it all in a day. He had a few other small winning streaks but nothing close to the magnitude of The Run.

In September 2013, there was further embarrassment for Karas after he was arrested on charges of burglary and cheating at blackjack. Surveillance footage at the Barona Casino in San Diego showed him marking blackjack cards which led to $8000 worth of illegal winnings. He was found guilty and charged to three years’ probation and was banned from entering casinos in Nevada by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. This put serious doubts on the legitimacy of his prior winnings although no evidence from the time showed that he had been cheating during the run.

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