Top 6 Wealthiest Gamblers in The World
Introduction
- Number one on the list is Kerry Packer with a $5 billion net worth, a known high-stakes player by betting heavily on activities like winning $20 million in 40 minutes of blackjack
- Most of the highest gamblers used mathematical prowess in an attempt to gain edges, from card counting to developing intricate betting algorithms
- Horse racing algorithms proved particularly lucrative, with Bill Benter and others amassing hundreds of millions relying on forecasting models
- Some rich players set up syndicates or betting advisories to squeeze as much edge as possible and put billions on bets every year
- Outside of gambling, most on the list diversified their fortunes with investments, some of which have gotten themselves into legal trouble for getting too close to crossing the line
The phrase is that the house always wins and largely, it does.
But every so often, there is a gambler with such skill, nerve, or resources that they can reverse the bookmakers' fortunes, such as CanadaCasinos.biz, and take millions of dollars out of their pockets while doing it.
Most people like the occasional flutter but there are very few who have made their livelihood beating the bookmakers.
Continue reading to discover how they built their fortunes and what prizes they gained along the way.
1. Kerry Packer – $5 billion
Kerry Packer might have built his fortune as Australia's richest man through his family business empire, with some estimating his net worth at $6.5 billion. But gambling is where he will always be best remembered, thanks to his love of playing high stakes.
Part of it was losing huge sums of money and Packer was notorious for having some incredibly poor runs during his gambling career.
The worst-documented of these was in a 10-month spell between September and July when, allegedly, he lost $22.06 million all at once, going on to total an estimated $40 million overall at Crockford's in London and the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Fortunately for Packer, he also had the occasional hot streak. Perhaps his largest gambling victory was in May when he won $20 million in 40 minutes playing several games of $250,000 stake blackjack simultaneously.
2. Tony Bloom – $1.5 billion
As with a lot of people who have made their fortunes in the realm of gambling, Tony Bloom is something of an enigma. What we actually do know is that he studied mathematics at The University of Manchester and started playing poker as an interest.
Though often put at around $1.7 billion, otherwise, he is rather a mystery beyond his gambling success and ownership of a soccer club.
Since the beginning this hobby has generated him around $2.5 million and has seen him play some huge games like the World Poker Tour and Poker Million IX in which he has finished runner-up.
3. Bill Benter – $1 billion
And yet another mathematical prodigy who has used his brains to amass a fortune from gambling is Bill Benter. Most notably estimated to be worth around $1.55 billion, Benter started his working life counting cards in Las Vegas before transferring his interests to Hong Kong horse racing.
Like most young gamblers, Benter started his working life counting cards in Las Vegas before transferring to horse racing in Hong Kong.
With another gambler, Alan Woods, Benter started developing an algorithm that would determine the likelihood of a horse winning with phenomenal precision. A talented card counter turned 'casino nightmare', Benter diverted his attention to race prediction. After a few difficult initial years and system refinements, his model finally started bringing tens of millions annually.
4. Edward Thorp – $800 million
Taking second place to one behind Bill Benter is the fellow who first got him into gambling, Edward Thorp – the fellow who invented card counting. With his technical and mathematical abilities, Thorp engineered a system for reversing the house edge when playing blackjack.
On his first weekend testing out the method he made a profit of $11,000 and realizing that it actually worked, he decided to write a book outlining his methods.
Published, "Beat the Dealer" was a sensation with over 1 million copies sold. Thorp subsequently further capitalized on the success of his book by inventing the first wearable computer. The device gave him superior chances of winning roulette.
Taking his gamble in the stock market turned Thorp into a fortune and he has continued to be a very wealthy man since.
5. Alan Woods – $500 million
Alan Woods was another former partner of Bill Benter and made his wealth in very much the same way. They both started out counting cards, and actually worked together as a team at one point.
Later on, once blacklisted from the Las Vegas casinos they directed their efforts towards the Hong Kong horse racing. Following the split, Woods also established his own model which proved to be every bit as productive as Benter's.
But he was forced to flee the Philippines after his syndicate of gambling came under police investigation.
Continuing to gamble from his own real estate, Woods made an enormous sum of money of around half a billion dollars and worked closely with former rival Zeljko Ranogajec.
6. Zeljko Ranogajec – $420 million
One of the most famous "Joker" or benefit gamblers is Zeljko Ranogajec. Another richly blessed man who has accumulated money for himself as a supposed advantage gambler, Ranogajec profited millions from hundreds of dollars gambling at the blackjack table.
Ranogajec teamed up with Alan Woods before he started his syndicate of bets, known as the Bankroll. Majorly involved in horse racing, Ranogajec's syndicate is said to place over $3 billion every year.
Even when most of them lose, Ranogajec still wins money because bookmakers give him discounts and rebates on his very large bets.
Although Ranogajec is a private person, the wealth he has made cannot be so easily hidden. He reportedly owns a flat in One Hyde Park, the world's most expensive flat complex. Even more astonishingly, his syndicate's wagers appear to equal one third of the total operations of Betfair Australia.