Whether you’re playing for fun or playing to win, the goal at any casino is always to walk out with more than you entered with and the opportunity to find a huge win and a life changing amount of money is always just around the corner too – whilst online casinos have been closing the gap by offering bigger and bigger jackpots that are more accessible than ever too, traditional brick-and-mortar locations still hold the key for the record big winners, but what are the biggest wins in casino history, and may they look to change in the near future with the growing prominence of online alternatives?
Archie Karas – Certainly a Cinderella story turned bad dream for many, Archie Karas is one of the big original winners who made his fortunes from the game that is often responsible for many of the big wins – Poker. Arriving in Vegas with just $50 in his pocket, he quickly worked up his fortunes and gained access to playing on the high stakes tables and beating some poker greats along the way too. A streak of good luck and good fortune grew this cumulative fortune to over $40 million over nearly three years, but would blow it all away going right back down to $0 in just three weeks showing how the wins can come and go at the casino.
Kerry Packer – A player that has managed to gain some fame over his gambling career with winnings that could total more than $40 million, but unlike the previous winner not one from humble beginnings as Packer was already a billionaire before starting his gambling career. Nicknamed the ‘Prince of Whales’ for the amount he’d often throw towards the slots machines and the huge tips he would often give away, certainly not the rags to riches huge jackpot winning story but does go to show if you have enough to play at a casino, you could walk away with one of the biggest jackpots in casino history too.
Amy Nishimura – Players will come up with all sorts of rituals and superstitions for how to get their next win, and this is a case that may have inspired many others to follow. Whilst not as grandiose as the previous entries at a seemingly much smaller but still impressive $8.9 million, the rumour is that Nishimura spent three hours at a slots machine in Vegas whilst sweet talking to the machine the entire time – who would’ve thought that talking to a machine could provide an opportunity to win, and certainly many other players since may have started talking to their machine in the hopes that it may also lead to the big pay-out they’ve also been hoping to see.