Famous Gamblers and Poker Icons

Who are the most famous gamblers?

A poker title has an official result. So does a documented race payout. A giant private baccarat wager may have only the player and the casino as witnesses.

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The WSOP all-time bracelet standings record tournament titles. They tell us nothing about private cash-game profits or a celebrity's gambling history.

Casino legends: the biggest swings and the most enduring stories

Archie Karas: from a handful of dollars to "The Run"

Archie Karas, born Anargyros Karabourniotis in Greece, arrived in Las Vegas in the early 1990s reportedly carrying about US$50. After securing a loan, he played high-stakes pool and poker. At its peak, his extraordinary streak, "The Run", was said to have reached roughly US$40 million. Further gambling eventually wiped out his bankroll.

Karas reportedly faced Stu Ungar, Johnny Moss and Walter "Puggy" Pearson at the poker table before moving heavily into craps and baccarat. The numbers attached to "The Run" come largely from interviews and press accounts; no complete audited bankroll record is public. The scale of the rise and fall is what made him famous.

Kerry Packer: the Australian high roller who changed the atmosphere

Australian media magnate Kerry Packer made huge bets in casinos from Las Vegas to London. Baccarat was a particular favourite, and reports of exceptional wins, losses and tips followed him wherever he played.

Packer was already rich through his business empire. His casino sessions did not establish a lifetime gambling profit. In VIP rooms, he could bet sums large enough to worry even the casino.

Nick "The Greek" Dandolos and Johnny Moss: when a poker myth becomes history

Nick Dandolos, or Nick the Greek, became a fixture of early Las Vegas lore. The most repeated tale describes a marathon heads-up poker match with Johnny Moss, supposedly organised by Benny Binion at the Horseshoe. Some versions link that game to the origins of the World Series of Poker.

The story is disputed. A 2017 account based on Jack Binion's recollections distinguishes a public Horseshoe exhibition from the private Moss-Dandolos game. The famous five-month version remains unsubstantiated, although Moss's role in early WSOP history is beyond doubt.

Charles Wells: the man who "broke the bank" at Monte Carlo

Charles "Charlie" Wells became a celebrity after roulette victories at Monte Carlo in the late 19th century. His exploits reached New Zealand readers through an 1891 report in New Zealand's Evening Post . To "break the bank" meant exhausting the money at one table until staff replenished it, not bankrupting the casino.

Wells's story encouraged belief in roulette systems. The Martingale, which raises the stake after a loss, can produce a run of small wins but cannot alter the probability of any spin. A run of good results is not evidence of a permanent edge.

Terry Watanabe: fame built around losses

Terry Watanabe became famous for the opposite reason: reports of enormous losses at Las Vegas casinos. The American businessman's gambling drew scrutiny to casino credit, VIP benefits and how much a high roller could lose in a single period of play.

Poker players who made gambling a spectator sport

Poker differs from roulette or pokies. Most of the competition is between players; the house collects a fee or rake. Position, hand selection, bet sizing and bluffing matter over many hands, though luck can dominate a single tournament. Television and online satellites turned top players into recognisable personalities.

Doyle Brunson: the Godfather of Poker

Doyle Brunson connected the old Texas road-game circuit with modern tournament poker. He won the WSOP Main Event in 1976 and 1977, claimed ten bracelets and wrote the influential Super/System . Ten-deuce became known as the "Doyle Brunson" hand after his back-to-back Main Event finishes. Amarillo Slim, Puggy Pearson and Johnny Moss belonged to the same pioneering circle.

The official WSOP player record lists Brunson's tournament achievements. His books also brought the thinking of a professional gambler to ordinary poker players.

Stu Ungar: unmatched talent and a costly personal story

Stu "The Kid" Ungar dominated gin rummy before turning to poker. He won the WSOP Main Event in 1980, 1981 and 1997. Billy Baxter financed his entry for the third title, a remarkable comeback during a period of financial trouble. Ungar also struggled with addiction and money management; he died in 1998.

Phil Hellmuth: the Poker Brat and the bracelet record

Phil "Poker Brat" Hellmuth defeated Johnny Chan to win the 1989 WSOP Main Event. The WSOP profile records 17 WSOP bracelets , more than any other player. His temper and televised table talk helped make his name familiar beyond poker circles.

Phil Ivey: eleven bracelets and the limits of advantage play

Phil "The Phenom" Ivey has 11 WSOP bracelets , including a win in 2024, putting him second behind Hellmuth on the all-time list. He is equally well known for high-stakes cash games and appearances on High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark . His matches against businessman Andy Beal, involving the professional group "The Corporation", are still part of poker lore.

Ivey was also involved in a landmark baccarat dispute. In 2012 he and Cheung Yin Sun used edge sorting at Crockfords in London, where the casino withheld roughly £7.7 million in winnings. On 25 October 2017 , the UK Supreme Court ruled against Ivey . The judges considered the method cheating under the rules of that dispute, despite Ivey's argument that he had used legitimate observation.

Daniel Negreanu: Kid Poker and the television era

Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu brought personality and accessible hand analysis to the World Poker Tour (WPT), High Stakes Poker and the WSOP. The Canadian's 2024 Poker Players Championship title showed his strength across mixed games, not just no-limit Texas hold'em.

He won his eighth WSOP bracelet in July 2026 in the US$100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, as recorded in the official event report . Profiles crediting him with six or seven bracelets use older figures.

Chris Moneymaker: the win that changed who imagined playing poker

Chris Moneymaker entered the 2003 WSOP Main Event through an online satellite and defeated Sammy Farha for US$2.5 million. ESPN broadcast the victory, and an accountant who had qualified online suddenly became poker's unlikely new star.

The WSOP's 2003 event record documents the prize. The boom in online poker and live tournament entries that followed became known as the "Moneymaker effect". The remarkable result said little about the odds of repeating it.

Jennifer Tilly, Vanessa Selbst and Kristen Foxen: different routes to poker recognition

Actor Jennifer Tilly won the 2005 WSOP Ladies Championship and remained active in poker. Vanessa Selbst won three WSOP bracelets. Kristen Foxen claimed her sixth at the 2026 WSOP, including a US$25,000 high-roller victory. Their competitive records stand independently of any celebrity appeal.

Barbara Enright reached the WSOP Main Event final table in 1995, an important milestone for women in the game. Her achievement belongs alongside those of Tilly, Selbst and Foxen, although their careers took different paths.

Card counters, betting analysts and people who challenged the odds

Edward O. Thorp, Stanford Wong and the MIT Blackjack Team

Edward O. Thorp's 1962 book Beat the Dealer explained how the cards left in a blackjack shoe can shift the expected return. His work, recognised by the Blackjack Hall of Fame , brought mathematical card counting to a broad audience. Stanford Wong later helped develop and popularise advantage-play methods.

The MIT Blackjack Team became famous for organised card counting. Its story inspired Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House and the film 21 . Counting requires particular game rules and favourable conditions; casinos can change dealing procedures or refuse service. The method does not give a player an edge in every blackjack game.

Don Johnson: negotiating the game before sitting down

Don Johnson won a reported US$15 million playing blackjack in Atlantic City during 2010–11. Tropicana, Borgata and Caesars were the three casinos involved. Negotiated loss rebates and favourable game terms, not only the cards, were central to his results.

An account of his arrangements explains why the rules negotiated before a session can matter as much as what happens at the table. Johnson's approach required money and bargaining power that ordinary players lack.

Bill Benter, Zeljko Ranogajec and the data-driven betting world

Bill Benter used statistics and computer models to assess Hong Kong horse races. Instead of simply choosing the likeliest winner, he looked for horses whose odds offered value against his probability estimates. Building that edge meant collecting data and continually updating the model.

Australian gambler Zeljko Ranogajec is associated with large betting syndicates and racing markets. These operations involve huge turnover, data and sometimes narrow margins. Money passing through a betting account should not be confused with the syndicate's net profit or an individual's wealth.

Billy Walters and Tony Bloom: betting as an information business

Billy Walters earned a reputation as a successful high-stakes sports bettor in the United States. Tony Bloom, chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion, is associated with statistical sports betting and Starlizard. Their work focuses on prices offered by betting markets, unlike games with fixed casino house edges.

Reliable lifetime profit figures for sports bettors are rare. Outsiders cannot see most private bets, losing runs, expenses or syndicate arrangements.

Richard Marcus: why cheating is not the same as an advantage

Richard Marcus has described manipulating casino chips using a method he called "Savannah". He is often grouped with clever gamblers, though altering or misrepresenting a wager is cheating. Card counting and chip manipulation are not equivalent forms of advantage play.

Famous gamblers from New Zealand

New Zealand gamblers have reached major poker stages in Melbourne, Macau and Las Vegas. The results span long poker careers as well as the rise of gambling entertainment online.

Lee Nelson: the Kiwi who won the Aussie Millions

Former medical professional Lee Nelson won the 2006 Aussie Millions Main Event at Crown Casino in Melbourne for A$1,295,800 , according to the Hendon Mob tournament record . He later competed internationally and co-wrote Kill Phil and Kill Everyone , influential books on tournament strategy.

Sosia Jiang: New Zealand's high-roller standout

Auckland-based Sosia Jiang won a high-roller event at the 2017 PokerStars Championship Macau and later played on the Triton Poker circuit. Her career reflects the growth of international tournaments with substantial buy-ins and prizes.

As of late October 2026, the Hendon Mob player database showed roughly US$6.13 million in recorded live tournament cashes for Jiang and ranked her first among players listed under New Zealand nationality. Recorded prizes are gross payouts; buy-ins, travel expenses and staking arrangements are excluded.

Simon Watt: New Zealand's first WSOP bracelet winner

Software developer Simon Watt became the first New Zealander to win a WSOP bracelet in June 2010. He beat Tom "durrrr" Dwan heads-up in a US$1,500 no-limit hold'em event. The WSOP recorded a US$614,248 first prize .

Reported side bets involving Dwan added drama to the final table, though the amounts remain less reliable than Watt's official result.

Thomas Ward, Tong Li, Hamish Crawshaw and David Yan

Wellington-linked Thomas Ward finished fourth in the 2020 WSOP Online Main Event for around US$1.35 million. Tong Li has recorded strong results in pot-limit Omaha; Hamish Crawshaw has numerous live tournament cashes. Jan Suchanek, JP Rounce-Sue, Honglin Jiang and Graeme Putt also feature in New Zealand poker records.

David Yan is another high-stakes name. Triton Poker lists him under the New Zealand flag with multimillion-dollar results in super-high-roller tournaments. A Triton profile, national rankings and WSOP records draw on different event lists and may not produce identical totals.

Tim Naki and Mike King: fame beyond tournament leaderboards

New Zealand-born Tim Myers, known online as Tim Naki, gained attention for a 2024 blackjack social-media challenge that linked his daily wager to his follower count. Forbes Australia profiled the viral series . Large streamed bets, audience numbers and sponsorship revenue do not establish a long-term gambling profit.

Comedian and mental-health advocate Mike King has also appeared in New Zealand poker coverage. He is primarily known for entertainment and advocacy rather than a record of elite international tournament wins.

Celebrity gamblers and the Hollywood version of casino culture

Ben Affleck won the 2004 California State Poker Championship and has been linked to blackjack. Tobey Maguire is known for taking part in private high-stakes poker games. Matt Damon and Edward Norton helped bring poker to the screen in Rounders ; Damon, Maguire and Affleck have also appeared in WSOP-related coverage.

Jennifer Tilly has a WSOP bracelet to go with her acting credits. Shannon Elizabeth and Ray Romano have played poker tournaments, while accounts of Charlie Sheen, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan tend to concern sports betting or private gambling. A public appearance at a card table is different from a professional tournament record.

Hollywood made casino games look cinematic. James Bond plays poker in Casino Royale ; Molly's Game draws on private celebrity poker, and 21 dramatises blackjack team play. High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark turned genuine hands into television, though editing leaves out the long, uneventful sessions and losses that form much of real play.

Who really won the most? How gambling records can mislead

A big bet, a big prize and a big profit are not interchangeable. Someone wagering US$1 million has put that amount at risk, not won it. A US$1 million tournament prize is a gross payout before entry costs and expenses. Net worth may include property, investments and businesses unrelated to gambling.

• Tournament earnings: Public WSOP, WPT, Triton and Hendon Mob records give a useful history of cash finishes, but generally omit losing buy-ins, travel costs, deals and staking splits.
• Cash-game results: Private poker games are seldom audited for the public. Famous hands shown on television represent only a fraction of a player's sessions.
• Casino wins and losses: A run at roulette, craps or baccarat can be dramatic without indicating any advantage over the game's built-in mathematical margin.
• Sports and horse-racing betting: Turnover, rebates, market prices, fees and syndicate arrangements affect whether a large betting operation is profitable.
• Celebrity and streaming revenue: Media contracts, sponsorships and content income should not be mistaken for winnings at the table.

Hellmuth's bracelet record, Thorp's blackjack mathematics and Packer's casino wagers measure different things. There is no meaningful all-games leaderboard for the "best" or "richest" gambler.

Two famous stories that deserve a second look

Jack Binion disputes the celebrated five-month Moss-Dandolos match. Another familiar gambling tale involves John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who supposedly invented the sandwich rather than leave a card table. That origin story is contested. Claims that Montagu was playing modern poker in the 18th century are historically wrong; poker developed in North America during the 19th century.

Francois Blanc helped develop the casino at Monte Carlo but was an operator, not a professional player. Casino owners, advantage players and cheats appear in the same popular histories, although their roles were quite different.

The New Zealand perspective on gambling fame

New Zealand has its own casino vocabulary: gaming machines are usually called "pokies". Local gambling stories also connect SkyCity Auckland, Christchurch, Crown Melbourne's Aussie Millions and international poker tours. Most famous players made their names at poker, blackjack, baccarat or roulette tables, or in racing and sports markets.

New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs says the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 is in force. The licensed online-casino market is being phased in and is not expected to be fully operational until 2027; advertising without the relevant licence is prohibited. A player's casino biography says nothing about whether a gambling website is lawful in New Zealand.

New Zealand's Gambling Helpline offers free, confidential support on 0800 654 655 or by free text to 8006 for people affected by gambling and their whānau.

Frequently asked questions about famous gamblers

Who is the most famous gambler of all time?

Archie Karas and Nick the Greek are casino folk legends. Doyle Brunson and Stu Ungar shaped tournament poker; Phil Hellmuth holds the bracelet record. Which is most famous depends on whether the measure is public recognition, sporting success or an exceptional gambling story.

Who is the best poker player in history?

Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu are common contenders. Hellmuth has 17 WSOP bracelets, Ungar won three Main Events, and Ivey is highly regarded in both tournaments and cash games. Cash-game skill and tournament results are separate tests.

Who are the most famous gamblers in New Zealand?

Lee Nelson, Sosia Jiang and Simon Watt have major tournament records. Thomas Ward, Tong Li, Hamish Crawshaw and David Yan are also prominent internationally. Tim Naki is a blackjack streaming personality rather than a tournament champion.

Did Archie Karas really turn US$50 into US$40 million?

The widely cited story says Karas grew a US$50 start into approximately US$40 million during "The Run". It relies largely on interviews and reporting rather than audited records; he later lost the money.

Can a person consistently beat casino games?

Roulette and standard slot machines have a built-in house edge. Card counting can alter blackjack's expected return under particular rules, and skilled poker players compete against opponents after paying the rake. A dramatic win is never evidence of a repeatable advantage on its own.

Are gambling winnings the same as a player's net worth?

No. Tournament earnings usually mean gross prizes, while net worth includes assets and liabilities from all sources. Buy-ins, losses, backing deals and non-gambling income can make the figures very different.