Archie Karas, the person who ran $50 as much as $40 million and misplaced all of it, has died. A submit on September 29 on AzBilliards Boards revealed the demise of one of many most notorious excessive rollers in historical past.
Karas was a pool hustler, poker participant, and high-stakes gambler who gained and misplaced thousands and thousands a number of occasions all through his profession. None have been extra notorious than “The Run” from December 1992 to 1995.
Sadly, Karas’ Vegas playing profession resulted in shame as he was added to Nevada’s “Black Ebook” in 2015. Karas frequently risked all of it and have become the last word instance of how “the home all the time wins.”
Key Highlights
- Archie Karas, the notorious excessive curler who ran $50 to $40 million and misplaced all of it, has died.
- Karas reportedly amassed $40 million in winnings throughout “The Run” from pool, poker, and high-stakes craps and baccarat.
- Karas was finally banned for all times from Vegas casinos for dishonest.
Was “The Run” Exaggerated?
When you have heard the story of Archie “The Greek” Karas, you realize he’s notorious for going to Las Vegas in 1992 with $50 and operating that to $40 million. Or in order that’s the way it was portrayed for a few years.
Some stories have put the quantity as excessive as $50 million. Final yr, Doug Polk chronicled “The Run” and, in his report, broke down how the last word determine was $40 million as a substitute of $50 million.
The submit from AzBilliards Boards on Sunday from well-known discussion board member Fatboy claims that Karas’s run was $26 million, not $40 million as claimed in documentaries.
The Polk documentary reveals Karas gained $17 million from poker and billiards. If what Fatboy says was true, that may imply that solely $9 million of Karas’ run was from craps and baccarat.
No matter which model of the story is correct, the result continues to be the identical. Karas misplaced his whole bankroll again to Las Vegas, largely at craps and baccarat video games.
It’s a real “rags to riches to rags” story — not less than so far as high-stakes playing is anxious.
My Expertise Protecting Archie
I loosely knew Karas via the late Tom Sexton. In the course of the 2008 WSOP, I began declaring occasions that Karas was in as I acknowledged him and thought it will be attention-grabbing to observe his exploits.
Sexton launched me to Karas, and it was evident in our transient interplay that he was extra involved about enjoying poker than making buddies.
Archie has been quoted as saying that cash meant nothing to him, and he was the primary skilled gambler that I met who truly meant it.
As soon as Sexton defined that I used to be overlaying him for PokerNews, he was somewhat extra welcoming, however our restricted interactions largely centered on how he was doing on the desk.
What I bear in mind most about Archie was that successful or shedding didn’t appear to section him a lot in both route.
Whereas poker gamers are used to successful or shedding massive sums, you often see some type of emotion from them. Archie would bust out of a $10k match and never bat a watch.
It was on to the subsequent gamble for him. Archie has been quoted as saying that cash meant nothing to him, and he was the primary skilled gambler I met who truly meant it.
Karas Banned for Life From Vegas Casinos
After “The Run,” Karas had a number of smaller successful streaks, however none got here near what he achieved within the early Nineteen Nineties. Nonetheless, his playing profession didn’t come with out incident.
In response to a 2015 article within the Las Vegas Overview-Journal, Karas had been arrested 5 occasions for dishonest.
His first arrest was in 1988 when he was caught marking playing cards on the Flamingo Reno. In 1992, he was arrested on the River Palms in Laughlin for dishonest at playing cards.
He was arrested in 1996 on the California Membership in downtown Las Vegas for dishonest at playing cards once more and on the Aquarius in Laughlin in 2007 for a similar.
The ultimate arrest got here in September 2013 on the Barona On line casino in San Diego for dishonest at blackjack.
Finally, the Nevada Gaming Fee voted in 2015 to position Karas on Nevada’s Checklist of Excluded Individuals, also called the “Black Ebook.” This positioned a lifetime ban on Karas from all Vegas casinos, leading to potential felony expenses if he violated the order.
After his addition to the Black Ebook, Karas largely disappeared aside from to do interviews about his high-roller profession. Whereas his story is the last word high-roller legend, additionally it is the last word cautionary story.
The home all the time wins in Vegas, and Karas gave the world 40 million the explanation why that’s true.
Sources
https://www.pokernews.com/information/2024/09/poker-playing-gambler-archie-karas-dead-47040.htm
https://www.pokernews.com/information/2015/09/archie-karas-banned-from-nevada-casinos-22834.htm
https://www.reviewjournal.com/enterprise/casinos-gaming/gambler-karas-known-for-the-run-placed-in-nevadas-black-book/
https://boards.azbilliards.com/threads/rip-archie-karas.568895/
