Believe or not, this has happened - stories from gambling industry

Beginner Granny’s Luck

Do the math. What is the likelihood that you play Craps and remain seated at the table for 4 hours and 18 minutes since you’re on a roll of, well, 154 consecutive winning rolls? Calculations say that the odds of pulling that off are 1 in 1.56 trillion. “Unlikely” is an understatement. However, a nice, old lady named Patricia Demauro turned that into a solid fact. One day, she wandered into the Atlantic City’s Borgota Hotel Casino and Spa and headed over to the Craps table with $100, and what started off with a “lucky roll” turned into an endless blessed streak. To up the “unbelievable” factor, it was the first time ever Ms. Demauro was playing Craps. It’s not clear how much she made at the end of her 4 hours plus spree, but it was definitely in the thousands, and possibly in the millions. She went down in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest winning streak at Craps ever.

FedEx Was Built in One Day in Las Vegas

FedEx, with its current employment population having surpassed the 300,000 mark and that has a $33 billion capital gain, is one of the biggest and most renowned freight companies worldwide. What is less known is that CEO Fred Smith, now carrying a net worth of $2.1 billion, saved his company from liquidation at a Blackjack table in Las Vegas. Back in 1973, the company had $5,000 in the bank and a $24,000 fuel bill hanging on its head. In a final attempt to resuscitate his company, Smith packed the $5 grand and headed to Las Vegas, where, in one magical night, he turned those last funds into $27,000. The rest is history.

20 Seconds to Double or Nothing

Would you empty your savings account, sell everything in your possession, and bet the lot on one round of Roulette? Most people wouldn’t; not even the hardiest and gutsiest gamblers. But Ashley Revell from the U.K. did that. After selling off everything he had and adding the amount to the one in his savings account, he had a combined amount of $136,000. Then, he somehow felt inspired to bet the whole amount on one single spin of the Roulette wheel. 20 seconds later, he walked away with $272,000. Do not try this at home!

So Close, Yet as Far… as Mexico

In Arizona, a woman cracked the jackpot, winning herself $1200. Yet, her exhilaration was short-lived. When she got to the cash booth to collect her lucky earnings, she was asked to show her passport. She failed to do so, and this led to further questioning. It turned out that she was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. The authorities were called on site to intervene and she was deported back to Mexico and her winnings withheld. Figuratively speaking, she never got to ‘pass GO and collect $200’, or more precisely, $1200.

Wagers as Big as James Bonds’ in the Hands of Walt White

The references made in the header are to Casino Royale and Breaking Bad. The reason for this is because Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenil Ye Gon managed to combine elements from both cult classics. The man became a VIP at The Venetian in Las Vegas after often wagering $150,000 per hand in Baccarat. This eventually added up to total losses of somewhere around $120 million. As a token of appreciation, the casino sent a Rolls Royce to his house, not to escort him to the casino, but for him to keep! Eventually, however, he received a slightly less pleasant visit by the Mexican Federales at his villa, who discovered a stash of $205 million. His not-so-modest savings were accrued from selling quite a considerable amount of chemicals used to make crystal meth on the black market. So, there you have it – insane wagering the likes of James Bond vs Le Chiffre and crystal meth down in Mexico ala Walt White!