The world of casinos, both land-based and online casino gambling, is known for its glitz, glamour, and high-stakes drama. From life-changing jackpots to legendary wins (and losses), casinos have been the stage for some truly unforgettable moments. SlotoCash online casino has collected tales of some iconic casino events that have made their mark on casino history:
The MIT Team’s Legendary Casino Adventure
One of the most famous stories in casino history involves the MIT Blackjack Team’s run when they used their mathematical skills to count cards and win at Las Vegas blackjack tables. In the 1980s and 1990s, a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other top university students worked together to devise sophisticated strategies that would allow them to beat the casinos at blackjack.
By counting cards these teams were able to determine the high and low cards that had already been played so that they could figure out the probability that they could get a desirable high card as compared to a low card. Old members left the team and new members joined but over time the team won millions of dollars from Vegas and other casinos. The story of these card counters inspired a number of books as well as the 2008 film 21.
Slot Jackpot Bonanza
Everyone dreams of winning a huge slot machine jackpot and many gamers do but, to date, no one has come as close to the 2003 jackpot won by Chris from Los Angeles who won an astounding $39.7 million at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Chris, a software engineer, wagered $100 on a Megabucks slot machine and walked away with the jaw-dropping jackpot prize. The winner said that he placed his bet and then turned his head away for a minute…..when he glanced back at the machine, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Other big slot machine jackpot wins are nothing to sneeze at -- $34.9 Million at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 2000, $27.6 million on a Megabucks slot machine at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino in 1998 and $20.1 million at an online casino in 2013.
Archie Karas
Archie Karas started “The Run” in 1992 with $50 and then went on to win over $40 million playing casino games. Karas’s rise is one of the most dramatic stories of risk and reward in gambling history. Over 3 years he enjoyed the biggest gambling winning streak in recorded history. Most of Karas’s money was made playing craps though he also achieved wins playing poker and pool. Success was Karas’s undoing though – he didn’t pay any attention to casino advisors who tried to encourage him to hold onto a portion of his winnings and play with the other portion – by 1995, he had lost everything.
Banning Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck, a well-known actor and Oscar winner, was banned from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas after the casino accused him of counting cards. Counting cards is not illegal but casinos have the right to keep players away if they suspect that they are tilting the odds in their favor by keeping track of which cards have been played and which are still in the deck. Affleck achieved significant winnings over his blackjack-playing casino adventure but when the casino identified the reason that he was winning so consistently, they asked him to leave. The Affleck event showcased the fine line between skill and chance in casino gambling.
Monte Carlo Casino Heist
In 1891 the Monte Carlo casino, one of the most opulent casinos on the French Riviera, lost a large sum of money to Charles Wells who “broke the bank”. The Monte Carlo has done its best to keep the details of the heist under wraps, even today, more than 130 years after the event. But what is known is that in July 1891, Charles Wells arrived at the Monte Carlo casino with £4,000 (worth some £400,000 today). He remained at the same table all day for 5 days, never pausing, not even for food or drink, and kept up a winning streak as he played a mixture of cards and roulette. During one session at the roulette table, he won on 23 out of 30 successive spins of the wheel. At the end of the week he had won the equivalent of, what would be today, £4 million which meant that he ‘broke the bank’ – cleared a table of all of its reserves of money.
Other people broke the Monte Carlo bank – one only a week before Wells’ arrival. But Wells was able to repeat the trick many times. Till today, no one is 100% sure how Wells managed to succeed so consistently but most casino observers who have studied the incident believe that Wells was able to find a faulty roulette wheel and utilize his knowledge for his benefit. A number of books have been written and a movie made about “The Man Who Broke the Monte Carlo.”
One Shot At Success
In 2004 British Gambler Ashley Revell sold his home and all his other possessions. He traveled to Las Vegas where he bet everything on one spin of the roulette wheel. Revell bet $135,300 on Red. The spin resulted in a Red 7 which allowed Revell to double his money. With that $270,600, Revell walked away.
Megabucks Times Two
Multiple players have won the Megabucks slot machine’s jackpot but Elmer Sherwin won twice. In 1989 Sherwin won $4.6 million playing Megabucks at The Mirage and 16 years later, age 92, he won $21.1 million at the Cannery Casino, giving him the title of having achieved one of the rarest feats in gambling history.
Casinos are the place where the daring, the lucky, and sometimes, the reckless can dream and live big. These and other moments of casino history reflect the human desire to chase the thrill of the gamble.
