Binion's Horshoe Las Vegas/craps player question

DesertDevil · Jun 14, 2011

A few years ago I remember reading or seeing a story about a guy who won millions playing craps in downtown Vegas. I believe it was at the Horseshoe in the 1980's or 1990's. He kept playing and eventually lost it all back. His goal was to own the place.

Anyone know or remember the story? Was this at Binion's? Anyone remember the guy's name? Thx.

VOLTITAN · Jun 14, 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Karas

wilheim · Jun 14, 2011

Your talking about "The Suitcase Gambler" at Binions in the early 80s. I was living there at the time and played craps myself on occasion. I was dating a blackjack dealer who worked at Binion's around that time and she verified the now greatly exaggerated stories.

In early 1980s, the “suitcase man” arrived at Binions to make a big bet. The story of the “suitcase man” has become another modern legend of Las Vegas and it has lost nothing in the telling over a period of almost 20 years. In fact, there are at least six different versions of the story, the following being the most accurate.

William Lee Bergstrom from Austin, Texas decided to test the Binion claim that Binion would book any bet, no matter how large, as long as you make it your first.

Bergstrom arrived with a suitcase filled with $777,000 which he bet on the Don’t Pass line at craps. The shooter established a point of six and then sevened out two rolls later. Bergstrom took his original $777,000 and his win of $777,000 and departed.

However, Bergstrom couldn’t stay away for long. He came back and won a single $590,000 bet, then he came back some while later and won a $190,000 bet; then he appeared again and won $90,000. Finally, he came back to make his famous $1,000,000 bet (circa 1984) -- which he lost.

Three months later Bergstrom killed himself at a Strip hotel. Bergstrom died $647,000 ahead -- at casino gambling -- but he was obviously down at the game of life.

wil..

KillaRSox · Jun 14, 2011

I can remember one of the first times I went out to Vegas with my father, he brought me down to fremont street to show me "old vegas" as he called it. In one of the casino's near the craps table they had a plaque with peoples names who held the dice for long periods of time. Can't quite remember which casino it was, If I remember correctly it had sort of a hawaiian theme to it. I do remember the plaque said the top guy held the dice for over 3 hours......

wilheim · Jun 14, 2011

Probably The Califirnia Hotel and Casino well known for it's connection to Hawaii and it's residents who came to Vegas..Always was a fun stop when you were downtown..

On A Roll: The Stanley Fujitake Story

On May 28, 1989, Stanley Fujitake walked into the California hotel in Las Vegas to do some gambling. There was nothing out of the ordinary about that--Fujitake was a regular at the popular casino for more than 20 years. It is said that he had a kind of magic about him; when he was at a craps table, people in the area could feel a buzz. Fujitake was known to have a good arm when it came to throwing the dice, but on this day, his roll would be like no other.

Fujitake sauntered into the California Club and sat down at craps Table 3. It was a little past 1 a.m. After an hour of Fujitake's continuous shooting, those at the table were up more than $100,000. The crowd surrounding the table was four or five people deep. You could hear the cheers from the other side of the hotel.

Fujitake went on to set the record for the longest craps roll. His 118 rolls lasted three hours and six minutes, according to surveillance footage from that evening. It went down as the greatest monetary loss in the history of the California. Fujitake would be remembered as the man with the golden arm.
John Repetti, the casino's general manager at the time, handled the situation well. He called off a staff change that would have taken place in the middle of the streak. Instead, he paid the workers overtime so that Fujitake could continue uninterrupted. Though the casino lost a great deal of money that night, Repetti feels the cash has been paid back tenfold thanks to the publicity that has come from that historical evening.

Fujitake has since passed away, but his 19-year-old record remains alive. Rumor has it that superstitious casino officials burned Table 3 in an alley shortly after Fujitake walked away from it that night. Regardless, those who were there will never forget the magic of the man with the golden arm.

wil.

5teamparlay · Jun 14, 2011

Thus guy---

Perhaps the most extraordinary of recent legendary streaks is possessed by Mr. Archie Karas, a Greek immigrant, who in 1992-1993 had one of the greatest runs in Vegas history. Starting with a borrowed stake of ten thousand dollars, Archie went on a rampage of poker at Binion's Horseshoe, defeating 15 of the world's greatest poker players in head-to-head competition, including World Champions Chip Reese, Stu Unger, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Chan. When he ran out of poker competitors, Archie headed to the Horseshoe's craps tables where he won millions more. At one point in his run, Archie possessed all of the Horseshoe's $5,000 chips -- over 11 million dollars worth. When the run was over, Archie was up over 17 million dollars between poker and craps, all at the Perhaps the most extraordinary of recent legendary streaks is possessed by Mr. Archie Karas, a Greek immigrant, who in 1992-1993 had one of the greatest runs in Vegas history. Starting with a borrowed stake of ten thousand dollars, Archie went on a rampage of poker at Binion's Horseshoe, defeating 15 of the world's greatest poker players in head-to-head competition, including World Champions Chip Reese, Stu Unger, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Chan. When he ran out of poker competitors, Archie headed to the Horseshoe's craps tables where he won millions more. At one point in his run, Archie possessed all of the Horseshoe's $5,000 chips -- over 11 million dollars worth. When the run was over, Archie was up over 17 million dollars between poker and craps, all at the Horseshoe.

DesertDevil · Jun 14, 2011

5teamparlay said:
Thus guy---

Perhaps the most extraordinary of recent legendary streaks is possessed by Mr. Archie Karas, a Greek immigrant, who in 1992-1993 had one of the greatest runs in Vegas history. Starting with a borrowed stake of ten thousand dollars, Archie went on a rampage of poker at Binion's Horseshoe, defeating 15 of the world's greatest poker players in head-to-head competition, including World Champions Chip Reese, Stu Unger, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Chan. When he ran out of poker competitors, Archie headed to the Horseshoe's craps tables where he won millions more. At one point in his run, Archie possessed all of the Horseshoe's $5,000 chips -- over 11 million dollars worth. When the run was over, Archie was up over 17 million dollars between poker and craps, all at the Perhaps the most extraordinary of recent legendary streaks is possessed by Mr. Archie Karas, a Greek immigrant, who in 1992-1993 had one of the greatest runs in Vegas history. Starting with a borrowed stake of ten thousand dollars, Archie went on a rampage of poker at Binion's Horseshoe, defeating 15 of the world's greatest poker players in head-to-head competition, including World Champions Chip Reese, Stu Unger, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Chan. When he ran out of poker competitors, Archie headed to the Horseshoe's craps tables where he won millions more. At one point in his run, Archie possessed all of the Horseshoe's $5,000 chips -- over 11 million dollars worth. When the run was over, Archie was up over 17 million dollars between poker and craps, all at the Horseshoe.

Thanks 5team. This was exactly the story I was looking for.

5teamparlay · Jun 14, 2011

Wildcat Coach said:
Thanks 5team. This was exactly the story I was looking for.

Would have liked to have witnessed this, having dealt dice and being a dealer going on 20 years...

wilheim · Jun 14, 2011

That is the same story from the link in Post #2 of this thread.

Archie Karas (born Anargyros Karabourniotis[1] in 1950) is a Greek-American gambler, high roller, poker player, and pool shark famous for the largest and longest documented winning streak in gambling history simply known as The Run when he turned $50 in December 1992 into over $40 million by the beginning of 1995, only to lose it all later that year. He is considered by many to have been the greatest gambler of all time and has often been compared to Nick the Greek, another high stakes gambler.[2][3] Karas himself claims to have gambled with more money than anyone else in history.[4]
<TABLE id=toc class=toc><TBODY><TR><TD>Contents

[hide]

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[edit] Early life

Karas was born in 1950 at Antypata on the island of Cefalonia, Greece. He grew up in poverty and had to shoot marbles as a teenager to avoid going hungry. His father, Nickolas, was a construction worker who struggled financially.[1]
Karas ran away from home at the age of 15 after, in a rage, his father threw a shovel at him, barely missing his head. He never saw his father again. Nickolas died four years later.
Karas worked as a waiter on a ship, making $60 a month until the ship arrived at Portland, Oregon. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he would gamble his bankroll up to $2,000,000 before losing it playing high stakes poker.[1][5]
[edit] Gambling career

After arriving in America, he worked at a restaurant in Los Angeles which was next to a bowling alley and a pool hall. There he honed his pool skills and eventually made more money playing pool than he did as a waiter. When his victims from the pool hall thinned out, he went to Los Angeles card rooms to play poker. He quickly became an astute poker player, building his bankroll to over $2,000,000. In December 1992, he had lost all but $50 playing high stakes poker. Instead of reevaluating his situation and slowing down, he decided to go to Las Vegas in search of bigger games. He claims to have gone from broke to millionaire and back several times before he went to Las Vegas. What happened in the next three years would go down in legend as the greatest run in gambling history.[1]
<TABLE style="BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: auto; WIDTH: auto; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none" class=cquote><TBODY><TR><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif; COLOR: #b2b7f2; FONT-SIZE: 35px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=top width=20>“</TD><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" vAlign=top>You've got to understand something. Money means nothing to me. I don't value it. I've had all the material things I could ever want. Everything. The things I want money can't buy: health, freedom, love, happiness. I don't care about money, so I have no fear. I don't care if I lose it.[4]</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', serif; COLOR: #b2b7f2; FONT-SIZE: 35px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 10px" vAlign=bottom width=20>”</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[edit] The Run

Karas drove to Vegas with nothing more than his car and $50 in his wallet. His initial run lasted for six months where he turned $50 into $17 million playing poker and pool. After arriving at the Binion's Horseshoe, he started gambling and went on a hot streak. Karas recognized a fellow poker player from the Los Angeles scene and convinced him to loan him $10,000, which Archie quickly turned into $30,000 playing $200/$400 limit Razz. Karas returned $20,000 to his backer, who was more than content.
With a little over $10,000 in his pocket, Karas began looking for pool action. He found a wealthy and respected poker and pool player, Karas refused to reveal the name of his opponent for the sake of his opponent's reputation; he simply referred to him as "Mr. X". They started playing pool at $10,000 a game. After Karas won several hundred thousand dollars, they raised the stakes to $40,000 a game. Many gamblers and professional poker players watched Archie play with stakes never seen before. Karas ended up winning $1,200,000. He then played Mr. X in poker and won an additional $3,000,000 from him. Karas was willing to gamble everything he made and continued to raise the stakes to a level few dared to play at.[6]
With a bankroll of $4 million, Karas gambled his bankroll up to $7 million after spending only three months in Vegas. By now many top poker players had heard of Mr. X's loss to Archie. Only the top players dared to challenge him. Karas sat at the Binion's Horseshoe's poker table with 5 of his 7 million dollars in front of him waiting for any players willing to play for such stakes.[7]
The first challenger was Stu Ungar, a three-time World Series of Poker champion widely regarded as the greatest Texas Hold'em and gin rummy player of all time. Stu was backed by Lyle Berman, another professional poker player and business executive who co-founded Grand Casinos. Karas first beat Stu for $500,000 playing heads-up Razz. Ungar then attempted to play him in 7-card stud, which cost him another $700,000. The next player was Chip Reese, widely regarded as the greatest cash game player. Reese claims that Karas beat him for more money than anyone else he ever played. After 25 games, Reese was down $2,022,000 playing $8,000/$16,000 limit. After the loss, Reese said to Karas "God made your balls a little bigger. You're too good."[4]
Karas continued to beat many top players, from Doyle Brunson to Puggy Pearson to Johnny Moss. Many top players would not play him simply because his stakes were too high. The only player to beat Karas during his run was Johnny Chan, who beat him for $900,000 after losing to Karas the first two games. By the end of his six-month-long winning streak, Karas had amassed more than $17 million.[8]
The poker action for Karas had mostly dried up due to his reputation and stakes. He turned to dice rolling for $100,000 on one roll.[2] He said that he could quickly win $3 million on dice, while it would take days to weeks with poker. He said that "With each play I was making million-dollar decisions, I would have played even higher if they'd let me."
Transporting money became a hassle for Karas as he was moving several millions of dollars in his car everyday. He carried a gun with him at all times and would often have his brother and casino security guards escort him. At one point, Karas had won all of the Binion's casino's $5000 chips.[9] By the end of his winning streak he had won a fortune of just over $40 million.[10]
[edit] Downfall

By mid 1995, Karas lost all of his money in a period of three weeks. He lost $11 million playing dice and then lost the $2 million he won from Chip Reese back to him. Following these losses he switched to baccarat and lost another $17 million, for a total of $30 million. With $12 million left and needing a break from gambling, he returned to Greece. When he came back to Las Vegas, he went back to the Horseshoe shooting dice and playing baccarat at $300,000 per bet, and in less than a month, lost all but his last million.
With his last million, he went to the Bicycle Club and played Johnny Chan in a $1,000,000 freeze out event. This time, Chan was also backed by Lyle Berman and both took turns playing Karas. He preferred playing the both of them instead of just Chan, as he felt Chan was a tougher opponent. Karas won and doubled his money, only to lose it all at dice and baccarat, betting at the highest limits in just a few days.[11]
[edit] Mini-streaks

Since he lost his $40 million, he has gone on a few smaller streaks. Less than a year later, he turned $40,000 into $1,000,000 at the Desert Inn. He then went back to the Horseshoe and won an additional $4 million before losing it all the next day.
A few years later, Karas went on another streak at the Gold Strike Casino, 32 miles outside Las Vegas. He went with $1,800 and lost $1,600 until he was down to just $200. Then after getting something to eat, he decided to gamble the rest of it. He shot dice and ran his $200 into $9,700 and then headed to Las Vegas. He stopped at Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel and won another $36,000 betting $1,000 with $2,000 odds. He went back to Binion's and won another $300,000 at the Horseshoe and by the third day, had won a total of $980,000 from that $200 start.[12]
[edit] Personal life

Karas currently resides in Las Vegas. His family resides in Greece. His mother, Mariana, is 87. Pete, his older brother, is 63 and owns a restaurant/pub. His older sister, Helen, is a homemaker, and his youngest sister, Dionysia, 45, is a school teacher. Karas stays in touch with his family by phone, and tries to travel back to Greece at least once per year. He brought his mother to Las Vegas for six-month visits when he was on his winning streak.
Karas's story was documented in Cigar Aficionado by American author Michael Konik[4] and also was featured in an E! documentary special along with Stu Ungar called THS Investigates: Vegas Winners & Losers.[13] Konik also wrote an article about Karas which was featured in a book about Las Vegas gamblers called The Man With the $100,000 Breasts.[2]
New York Post editor Linda Stasi was extremely critical of Karas, categorizing him as one of the "Biggest Losers".[5]
He was interviewed along with Tony G by Tiffany Michelle during the 2008 World Series of Poker.[14] He was also a featured player on ESPN's coverage of the 2008 WSOP.[15]

5teamparlay · Jun 14, 2011

Having seen every system under the sun thrown at me, wondering what his strategy was, and if he have some sort of controlled shot. Saw this story on TV once as well.

KillaRSox · Jun 14, 2011

Stanley Fujitake, that's it. Thanks Wil!

bigbet1234 · Jun 14, 2011

I was at a table with my sis where she rolled 45 mins, that was great.....can't imagine over 3 hours. lol

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