It is no surprise that high rollers do not play for money. It’s always nice to win something after a long gaming session, but most high rollers don’t care. Yet, they don’t feel goodwhenthy lose and this happenes often. The fact, most casino whales probably lose a lot of money in the long run, which is one of the reasons why casinos like them.
Speaking of losses, some people will go down in history for the amounts they had to part with. Many regular gamblers lose money, but high rollers are more popular because of the amount they play with. With that said, let’s check some of the most significant gambling losses recorded so far.
More Than $1 Billion – Harry Kakavas
A billion dollars is a lot of money, to say the least. Most of us can’t earn 1% of that amount throughout our lifetime, so losing close to $1B in gambling looks insane. Yet, Harry Kakavas from Australia achieved that and will go down in history.
Kakavas is an Australian billionaire and a passionate gambler. Considering his wealth, it’s no surprise he is extremely successful, but it seems like this is not the case in terms of gambling. According to many sources, Kakavas lost more than $1.5B in around one year, which is absolutely insane. In fact, there was one day during May 2006 when he spent more than $165M in 5 and a half hours of play.
What’s interesting about Mr. Harry Kakavas is that he and his legal team decided to sue Crown Casino for luring him and taking advantage of his gambling problems. According to the legal team, the casino provided exclusive transportation and other things.
Kakavas seems to borrow money from friends and family to fuel his gambling addiction. Sadly for him, the court in Australia did not rule in his favor.
$112M – Terrance Watanabe
Besides Harry Kakavas, another interesting high roller who lost a lot of money is Tarrance Watanabe. After taking his parents’ business, Watanabe expanded his business and became one of the wealthiest people in the world. That said, he decided to sell his business, and the money they got for it was used for different philanthropic activities and gambling.
What’s interesting about Watanabe is that he loved visiting the Wynn in Las Vegas. However, after meeting with the owner of the casino, the latter determined that Terrance Watanabe was a compulsive gambler and banned him from using his casino. Consequently, the high roller decided to move to Caesars Palace and Rio.
The bad news is that this is where things went wrong because the stats reveal that Watanabe lost close to $112M. Furthermore, the casino cheetah even accumulated debt of around $14.7M.
$42M – Fouad al-Zayat
This Syrian gambling fan is famous for a lot of things, including the fact that many people call him “The Fat Man”. According to the stats, the businessman has lost close to $42M while he was an active gambler. Rumor has it that he played for nearly 12 years and was mainly focused on the big casinos in London.
Like some of the other names on the list, Fouad al-Zayat also got in debt from gambling. In fact, one of the casinos in London even decided to sue him.
$40M – Archie Karas
Unlike some of the other names on the list, Archie Karas was different. He went into Vegas in the early 90s with a handful of dollars in his pocket and made it to the top.
The player is famous for being really good at poker, but he was also into dice games. He was so good that he quickly became a millionaire just a couple of years after starting gambling. What’s more, he even has a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for earning $40M in one of the “greatest winning streaks” ever.
Unfortunately, even a casino high roller of his caliber was unable to deal with the dark side of gambling – losses. After breaking the records, the stats show that he lost close to $11M while playing craps and more on baccarat. Overall, his losses are close to $40M.
It’s no surprise that this gambling behavior was not left unnoticed, and he eventually received a ban from entering any casino in Nevada. He was even involved in a cheating scandal in California, so he received the same penalty as in Nevada.
$25M – Charles Barkley
NBA fans from all over the world have heard the name Charles Barkley. He is an MVP and has been a part of the All-Star team many times. Besides being a basketball star, Barkley is also famous for being a huge gambling fan.
After retiring in the early 2000s, Charles Barkley started gambling a lot more than before. In fact, he even said in 2006 that he had lost close to $10M in casinos. Two years later, one of the biggest casinos in Vegas decided to sue the ex-basketball star. This happened because he had close to $400k in gambling debts.
Although no one knows the exact amount of his losses, Barkley recently appeared on a podcast and said he had lost $1M over 25 times. This means that his overall losses should be around $25M.
What’s interesting is that the ex-NBA star was involved in advertising one of the biggest gambling operators in the USA. This is ironic, considering his losses.
Conclusion
These are just some of the high rollers that are famous for losing a lot of money. If you decide to learn more about the losses, you will find loads of other people who have accumulated serious losses while gambling. Therefore, you have to be responsible when you decide to start playing, no matter your wealth.
