They say the house always wins in the end and boy, were these guys prime examples of that old saying.
Let's take an uncomfortable look at the top 14 biggest gambling losses that left these poor souls destitute and crushed. Maybe it will convince me to quit while I'm ahead at the penny slots.
This unlucky heir to the Oriental Trading Company basically got a $615 Million inheritance and said hold my beer; it's time to lose it all in Vegas! Over a crazy year in 2007, Watanabe gambled away $127 Million.
The legendary binge included $835 Million in total bets, drinking multiple vodka bottles daily & Caesars Palace getting fined $225k for letting his drunk butt play. He still owed $15 Million of that loss and risked jail time. Now, that's what I call going all-in!
Now this is what you call a high-amplitude life. Archie Karas was straight up broke in 1992, with just $50 to his name.
But he ran that $50 up to $40 Million in just three years thanks to an epic hot streak playing poker, dice, and Baccarat.
But then he started pushing his luck too far, getting casinos to lift betting limits. Within three weeks, he lost every single penny of that $40 Million fortune.
Boom, just like that - from deadbroke to multiMillionaire to deadbroke again. Someone get Archie's story to Hollywood!
When you're an 11-time NBA All-Star like Sir Charles, losing approximately $20 million doesn't seem like that much to lose.
Except when you realize that's his ENTIRE NET WORTH he blew on blackjack, baccarat & roulette over many casino visits.
In Barkley's words: “I've gone to Vegas and won a Million bucks probably 10 times. But I've gone and lost Million bucks probably three times as much.”
That's a pretty cavalier attitude about vaporizing fortune! At least he learned and stopped betting more than he can afford to lose.
This Australian real estate tycoon must have really hated having money. Over 16 months from 2012-2013, Kakavas gambled a staggering $1.47 BILLION (with a B!) playing Baccarat at Crown Casino in Melbourne.
In a single 5.5 hour session, he blew $164 Million! Yeah, just a typical Friday night for old Harry. His total losses were only $20.5 Million.
Clearly, he had more money than sense, because he actually tried suing the casino for exploiting his pathological urge to gamble.
The judge shut that down fast, saying Kakavas was perfectly capable of rational decision-making...like pissing away a billion dollars is rational?
With a nickname like Mattress Mack, you'd think this guy would avoid risky gambling situations that could bankrupt his bedding empire.
But nope, McIngvale is a fearless (reckless?) bettor who has dropped over $15 Million, including $9.5 mil on just the 2022 Super Bowl!
His-aus MJ-esty would be proud of Mack's $1.5 Million money bonfire bet on the 2022 Kentucky Derby favorite Epicenter, too.
I'm starting to think this guy should stick to selling Serta Perfect Sleepers and avoid dropping 7-figures-per-weekend on pony bets.
Being mayor of San Diego apparently doesn't preclude you from having a massive gambling addiction.
O'Connor managed to burn through $13 Million despite only betting a total of $1 billion. That's actually kind of impressive in a sick way?
What's less impressive is that she had to embezzle $2 Million from her husband's charity to keep feeding her video poker jones.
Yikes! At least she paid back the entire $13 mil loss afterwards - probably took her entire McDonald's promotions paycheck though.
Clearly, Frank Saracakis missed the memo about betting with money you can comfortably afford to lose.
This Greek tycoon heir just strolled into Crockfords Casino in London and YOLO-ed $13 Million on roulette on a whim over the course of a few hours.
No pressure! At least he didn't have to scrimp and save for that $13 mil beforehand.
Still, talk about an inglorious way to light a small fortune on fire. Hey Frank, next time, maybe just buy a tropical island and pools full of supermodels to enjoy your riches properly; I'm just spitballing here.
Now, this is the kind of high-rolling horse betting action I can respect...and by respect, I mean gape at in disbelieving horror.
Aussie media mogul Kerry Packer took his private-jet-owning gambling antics to the next level by betting $7 Million on a single race - the 1987 Sydney Cup!
The kick in the gold-plated gut? Packer didn't even bet on his own horse, Major Drive, the race-winner. No, he put the $7 million on runner-up Myocard because...reasons?
Maybe he confused it for some kind of equine myocardial infarction prophylaxis? Either way, a $7 mil single-race single-punt loss is the kind of dumped cash that burns its way into legend.
While the gambler's name is lost to history, his astronomical losses are the stuff of degenerate dreams/nightmares.
You see, this unknown but obviously quite a wealthy gambler buddy of Stu Ungar's managed to lose a clean $3 Million in a mere THREE WEEK span!
From the limited details, he seems to have been one of the big money whales who would ante up at cash games against legends like Ungar and Archie Karas back in the 90s Vegas poker boom.
Imagine having that kind of Scrooge McDuck money pile to be able to burn $3 Million in such a short span. I'm not sure whether to be awed or terrified.
You know things are going south when a professional golfer like John Daly drops $1.65 Million...on SLOT MACHINES...in just FIVE HOURS!
I've had more financially prudent benders pulling Golden Nugget slot handles when blacked out on night trains and nachos.
Amazingly, that ridiculously rushed $1.65 Million incineration was just a small percentage of an estimated $55 Million Daly has burned through gambling over his life.
Yikes, no wonder he's better known for his booze and gambling demons than his decent pro golf skills. If this doesn't scream an addiction issue, I don't know what does.
Soooo, let me get this straight. Robert Maxwell was a British officer, MP & media mogul...who blew $1.5 Million in just 180 seconds by playing THREE ROULETTE TABLES AT ONCE at fancy Ambassadeurs Club.
I don't know whether to be awed or appalled. On one hand, having that kind of Money To Utterly Incinerate is hugely impressive.
On the other, any self-respecting degenerate gambler could have stretched out that $1.5 mil burn over at least a long weekend in Vegas. Three MINUTES? Sheesh Maxwell, show a little more self-restraint next time!
Michael Jordan is a legendary gambler with an estimated net worth of $1.6 b despite his rumored losses over the decades.
While most of his horror stories involve craps and casino tables. Apparently, one of MJ's biggest on-paper losses involved a truly silly golfing prop bet.
According to one of Jordan's gambling memoirs, he once lost around $1.2 Million to a wealthy businessman over a heated 10-day high stakes golf/betting bender.
Sure $1.2 Million is horrifying...but it was centered around just a SINGLE GOLF HOLE wager at one point.
Even for a hyper-competitive savant-like His Airness, putting seven figures on the result of ONE back nine hole has a strong addict, making it rain vibes.
For most people that sum could buy a house, fund college for their grandchildren AND leave something left over for precious memory spending.
For Michael, it was just another entertaining me sweat en route to the next reckless gambling lineup card.
I don't know whether to be in awe of or terrified by the sheer unrestrained gambling insanity of William Lee Bergstrom.
This guy - who fancied himself the Phantom Gambler - literally showed up at the Horseshoe Casino in the 80s with $777,000 he had BORROWED TO BUY GOLD & instead put it all on the Don't Pass line in craps.
And this wasn't even close to his biggest loss! No, Bergstrom later came back and lost a cool $1 Million on another single craps roll.
He then killed himself months later, leaving a note asking to be called the Phantom Gambler of Horseshoe. I honestly don't know whether to laugh, cry, or immediately check myself into Gamblers Anonymous.
Last but not least, the Vegas Dave Oancea. This professional gambler is known for his audacious bets and social media braggadocio.
But even by his standards, his $1 Million wager on Miesha Tate to win a 2016 UFC bout was shockingly reckless.
Cupcake Tate ended up suffering a submission loss after just 3:16 of the first round, immediately shifting a cool $1 mil from Dave's bankroll straight into his bookie's vault.
What's most insane is that Vegas Dave seemed to barely flinch at lighting a small fortune ablaze due to a 3-minute lapse in judgment.
So there you have it - a Who's Who of gambling's most prolific money-torchers. Certainly puts my quarter-slot heartbreaks into perspective!
I'd say something about learning from their mistakes...but if you'll excuse me, I have to go put a NiceNSober lock on my bank accounts.
That’s all about insane examples of gambling fortunes utterly obliterated through a combination of ego, poor impulse control & general recklessness.
