The Legend Anyone heavy in the
world of gambling knows the name Archie Karas. He’s one of the most prominent
legends when it comes to huge gambling swings, and his track record has cemented him as a Las Vegas
legend. Was it sheer luck or something more? How did Archie Karas go from being
a waiter in LA to embarking on the single greatest winning streak in Vegas history?
The Run Karas went
from having only 50 dollars in his pocket to $40 million dollars cash in roughly 2
and a half years. It’s known as one of gambling's biggest winning streaks.
Popularly dubbed "The Run," Archie's multimillion-dollar streak got the
who's who in the gambling world to pay attention to him. Before,
Archie was nothing more than a runaway poverty-stricken teenager from Greece.
Archie sat on top of a mountain of cash for three lucky-filled years but sadly lost it all
in a matter of days once the gambling finally caught up with him. Archie himself once said he
didn't care much about the money. After all, his life wasn't exactly peaches and cream as a kid.
Growing up Greek Archie was dealt a poor hand from the
start. In 1950, he was born into an impoverished family on the Greek island of Cephalonia. His dad,
Nickolas, barely made enough to support his family of six. Not that he didn't have any
particular skills—he was an exceptional house builder. But just like him, those who needed
his services were barely scraping by, which made making a livable income pretty difficult.
Archie understood the dire situation from early on and was already trying to fend for himself
at a young age. Unknown to him, those were the early days of his gambling career.
As a teenager with no valuable skills, he'd shoot marbles and hope to win enough for a half loaf of
bread. Back then, that would cost about 2 ½ drachmas, the now-defunct Greek currency.
But that was more or less of a side hustle for Archie.
Leaving Greece Archie also helped his dad in construction work,
although he hated every moment of it. Especially the part where he had to touch cement which was,
of course, most of the time. He voiced this discomfort to his dad one day,
and that conversation didn't go very well.
To show just how displeased he was, he started yelling at a young Archie and topped it off by
throwing a shovel at his head. Had his dad's aim been any good, who knows what might have happened?
The incident was Archie's last interaction with his dad. He immediately ran away
from home and never returned. His dad succumbed to cancer four years later.
Life in LA Archie spent several years working as
a waiter on ships and freighters for about $60 per month. He finally jumped ship in Portland, Oregon,
and set out on his quest for the American Dream. The 17-year-old who didn't speak a word of English
finally made his way down to LA, landing a waiter gig next to a bowling alley and pool hall.
It was at that pool hall that Archi would launch his gambling career.
Archie took particular interest in pool and, as they say,
the rest is history. When he wasn't waiting tables at the restaurant,
he was in the pool hall honing his skills – and it paid off big time. He began betting on pool games,
even challenging his restaurant boss, who loved to shoot pool.
Archie wound up making far more money betting on pool games than he ever did as a waiter.
So, he did the only sensible thing; he quit his job and went all-in on gambling.
He became the most feared player in the pool hall, and most players were hesitant to face him both
because of his winnings and the exceptionally high stakes he threw around. As the pool opponents ran
dry, he turned to poker games, which he excelled at, building up his bankroll to $2,000,000.
But he was a high-roller, and the thing about being a high roller is that you're always a
few losses away from decimating your bankroll. That's exactly what happened to Karas. Through his
twenties and thirties, Archie's bankroll behaved like a roller coaster. He'd go up a few million
on Monday, lose most of it by Thursday, and then be back on top of his game on Sunday.
In December 1992, he was down to his last 50 bucks. Not the one to give up,
he drove to the gambling capital of the US, the one and only Las Vegas.
Vegas Poker $50 wasn't going to do much,
at least not for a high roller like Archie. If he had any chance of winning big again,
he needed a backer, someone to kickstart his gambling career.
Lucky for him, Karas bumped into a familiar face from LA and convinced him to loan $10,000.
Lending money to someone who's going to gamble it away sure seems like a poor financial decision.
Well, unless that someone was the risk-loving Karas.
Almost overnight, he turned 10,000 into 30,000 playing Razz, a take on 7-Card stud that Karas was
considered the best at. He paid the 10,000 dollar loan he owed his friend and chipped in some extra
on top. The stories say it was anywhere between 5-10 thousand extra for being a good friend.
With his debt paid and plenty to spare, Archie was ready to conquer Las Vegas.
He was about to embark on his famous winning streak, "The Run."
Mr. X Billiards His first stop was at the pool table, playing
against a supposed poker legend that Archie has never revealed to this day. In interviews,
he just called him Mr. X claiming he wanted to guard his reputation in the gambling world.
The pair kicked off their 9-ball pool battle at $5,000 per game and
kept raising the amount the more they played. And despite Mr. X being a legend in the game,
he was finding it hard to keep up with Archie's winnings. They kept
increasing the bet. It grew from 5,000 t0 40,000 after a handful of games.
By shooting pool with Mr. X in a Vegas bar, Karas converted his initial $10,000
to a six-figure bankroll. The two would continue back and forth for about two and a half months.
Within that period, Karas had accumulated a nice stash of $1.2 million. But knowing
who Mr. X was as far as 9-ball pool was concerned,
Archie reckoned he didn't have much time before his fortunes turned.
So he challenged his opponent to a game he knew he could keep winning – poker. Mr. X
didn't oppose the idea, so they hit Binion's Gambling Hotel for another high-stakes run.
Again, Archie maintained his winning streak this time around, raking in an
extra $3 million from Mr. X, bringing his total winnings so far to an eye-watering $4 million.
Big money encouraged Archie to keep playing.
He'd end up raising his stakes so high that Mr. X had to cut his losses. At that point,
Karas had amassed a $7 million bankroll that he almost seemed willing to give away.
For every dollar that he won, he raised the stakes significantly,
which scared off lots of would-be opponents. After Mr. X was out of the picture, he sat at
the table with $5 million in cash, waiting for a daring player to take him up on his challenge.
Poker Legends Soon enough,
someone stepped up – Stu Ungar, a World Series of Poker champion and
a highly-regarded poker player. It turns out he wasn't a match for Karas. The first round
ended with Ungar losing $500,000 in a Razz game. Next up, the pair battled in 7-card stud,
with Karas emerging the winner again this time, increasing his bankroll by $700,000.
Chip Reese, another poker heavyweight, was the next one to challenge Archie. But just like those
before him, he lost a chunk of change to Karas. At the end of their 25 games, Reese was down
$2 million. Again, that meant more stakes for Archie and even fewer
opponents willing to play him. But he did get challengers eventually.
Poker greats like Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Moss
all fell to Archie's prowess. Six months after arriving in Las Vegas,
he had grown the initial $10,000 loan to a $17 million stash. And he wasn't about to stop.
But not so many people were willing to go up against him at the poker table.
His reputation for winning and overly high stakes scared most players off.
So he turned to dice with equally high stakes combined with
quick winnings. Karas seemed to enjoy it since, according to him,
it was easier to win big playing dice compared to poker. To Karas, he could win or lose $1
million in one dice roll where it might take him hours of poker to win that much.
Karas was forced to cap his bets as casinos weren't willing to take them.
Working within his limits, Karas grew his winnings to just over
$40 million for the 2 ½ years he'd been gambling in Las Vegas.
But as the Germans would say, trees don't grow to the sky.
Archie's streak was bound to be cut short eventually.
The Fall In 1995, Karas seemingly lost
his winning edge when his hunger for high-states games finally caught up with him. It all began in
a single night when he lost $2 million at the dice table. Considering he was working with 40 million,
the loss wasn't exactly damaging to his balance. But he just kept playing, probably in the hopes
of winning back the $2 million and then some. He switched over to high-limit baccarat but
still bled millions from his bankroll. He wasn't willing to give up just yet.
He spent three weeks trying to plug the hole in his bankroll but
would wind up losing $11 million playing dice, $17 million in baccarat, and $2
million playing poker. That's a staggering $30 million gone in less than a month.
While he was known as a daring gambler, the losses did shake Archie a bit.
As a result, he decided that a break from the tables was all he needed.
With $12 million still in the bank, he left the US for Greece, his homeland, for a few months.
But Vegas called to Karas, and he couldn't resist her any longer. He
returned and blew through $11 million on the craps table.
Now down to his last million,
he made a stop at Bicycle Club in California to try and revive his gambling career.
He bet his final million on heads-up poker with Johnny Chan and managed to double his money.
Instead of pulling out with 2 million still in his pocket, Karas would eventually lose
his last penny. He disappeared from the Sin City scene for several months.
Four months later, he was back and firing from all cylinders.
He borrowed $40,000 just like he had done when he first set foot in Las Vegas and
grew the amount to over $1 million in five days—and he didn't stop at that.
Karas took the million to a different casino and managed to grow it to $5 million this time
around in a matter of hours. He was back in his element, it seemed. Unfortunately,
his luck faded overnight. Karas was penniless again by sunrise.
The Attempt Since then,
Archie had been attempting to replicate his glory, but every one of his strategies failed
over and over again. He seemed interested in reviving his legacy through the World Series
of Poker tournaments as he participated in several tournaments between 2004 and 2013.
His performance in the 2008 WSOP wasn’t anything to scoff at,
but short of the glory he was looking for. He showed up with $9 hoping to tap into some
past magic. That didn't happen, and he had to settle for about $19,000 in prize money.
2009 was his best year as a participant in WSOP events cash-wise. He won a little over $53,000,
which, of course, was far from what he used to rake in at casinos.
Marking In 2013 he became
the talk of the town again. Only this time, it was for committing a mortal gambling sin.
Karas was caught marking cards at a San Diego blackjack table, a damning allegation
for someone of his caliber. However, this wasn't the first time Karas had run into legal trouble.
He had been arrested four separate times in Nevada, all related to cheating.
He was later charged with cheating, burglary, and winning by fraudulent means,
all of which earned him three years probation, 73 days in jail, and fines amounting to $6,800.
The offenses also dealt a huge blow to his gambling career.
Archie was blacklisted by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for pleading guilty to the charges,
effectively denying him access to any casino in the state.
Since then, Archie Karas has maintained a pretty low profile.
Details about his whereabouts today aren’t publicly known.
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