Gambling Greats (and Rogues)

The invention of the sandwich in its modern sense – that is, two slices of bread with a layer of filling in between – is credited to John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), although the circumstances in which he happened upon this ‘food of convenience’ are disputed. According to ‘A Tour to London, Or, New Observations on England and Its Inhabitants’ – a French travel guide, written by Pierre Jean Grosley in 1772 – Montagu once gambled for twenty-four hours straight with only a piece of corned, or salted, beef between two slices of toasted bread for sustenance. However, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, this particular incident, which reputedly occurred in 1762, is widely believed to be fictitious.

Nevertheless, Montagu did have a reputation for immoral conduct, including reckless gambling. Some sources suggest that he may have invented the sandwich to sustain him through long working hours at his desk, but it is not entirely inconceivable that he did so to create a quick, portable foodstuff that he could eat without breaking off from his gambling activity. The current Earl of Sandwich, also John Montagu, believes that his namesake is more likely to have eaten a sandwich simply as a matter of convenience during his active working life.

Born Anargyros Karabourniotis in Kefalonia, Greece in 1950, Archie Karas is best known for a legendary winning streak, dubbed ‘The Run’, during which he reputedly turned $50 into $46 million in the space of three years. Having already won, and lost, millions of dollars playing poker in Los Angeles, Karas arrived in Las Vegas in December, 1992. He borrowed $10,000 from a wealthy friend, which he promptly turned into $30,000 playing razz poker – a variant of seven-card stud – before repaying $20,000 and switching his attention to nine-ball pool.

Playing for up to $40,000 a rack, Karas increased his bankroll to seven figures and, thereafter, took on, and beat, some of the best poker players in the world in a series of high-stakes, heads-up games. Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Johnny Chan, and Puggy Pearson all tried, and failed, to beat him and, having effectively run out of opponents, Karis switched to playing craps, for eye-wateringly high stakes, at Binion’s Casino. His success continued, at least for a while, but when his luck ran out it did so in spectacular fashion. Karas lost $11 million at craps and $17 million a baccarat before returning to Greece for a break from gambling; on his return, he fared no better, eventually losing his entire bankroll playing baccarat.

Not to be confused with many namesakes, Ronald Dale ‘Ron’ Harris is former Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) technician who was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, of which he served two, after pleading guilty to four counts of rigging slot machine in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe in 1996. Harris modified slot machines to pay out when a certain combination of coins was inserted, allowing him and three associates to illegally win jackpots of, at least, $42,000, although the exact amount scammed from the casinos is unknown. Unsurprisingly, Harris was placed on the Excluded Person List, making him the first former Nevada GCB employee to be so listed.

In January, 1995, one of Harris’ associates, Reid McNeal, won a $100,000 jackpot playing keno at Bally’s Park Place Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. However, his apparent lack of emotion, and identification, aroused suspicion and a search of his room, which he shared with Harris, revealed a glut of incriminating evidence, including notes handwritten by Harris. Both men were subsequently arrested, McNeal in Atlantic City for criminal attempt, conspiracy and computer theft and Harris in Las Vegas for larceny and being a fugitive from justice.

Nicholas ‘Nick’ Dandolos, affectionately known as ‘Nick The Greek’, was a Greek professional gambler who once said, ‘The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing’. That philosophy was reflected by his gambling career, in which, by his own estimation, he won and lost around $500 million and went from rags to riches, and back again, on dozens of occasions.

Born in Rethymnon, on the Greek island of Crete, in 1883, Dandolos travelled to the United States alone, as an 18-year-old, and after a spell in Chicago settled in Montreal, Canada. He was introduced to Canadian jockey Phil Musgrave – who was later killed in an accident at Havre De Grace – and formed a partnership in which he won, and lost, $500,000 in six months. Thereafter, Dandolos travelled throughout the United States, gambling in cities in Illinois, New Orleans, New York and Nevada, garnering a reputation as the ‘Gentleman of Gambling’.

Later in his career, in early 1949, Dandolos played the ‘Grandfather of Poker’, Johnny Moss in an exhausting, five-month, heads-up poker match, arranged by Benny Binion to promote his casino Binion’s Horseshoe, now Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel, in Downtown Las Vegas. Finally, having lost $4 million, Dandolos conceded defeat, famously telling his opponent, ‘Mr. Moss, I must let you go.’ Thirteen years after his death, on Christmas Day, 1966, Dandolos was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu currently lies second on the all-time money list, behind only Justin Bonomo, with $41.9 million in total live earnings. Born in Toronto, Canada, to Romanian émigré parents, he collected his first live cash, $1,050, for a tenth-placed finish in the $ 200 + 30 Limit Hold’em event at the Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas in July, 1997.

However, the following April, Negreanu won his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and $169,460, in the $2,000 Hold’em Pot Limit event at Binion’s, Las Vegas. He has since won five more WSOP bracelets, plus two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, and achieved his best live cash, $8.3 million, in WSOP The Big Drop for One Drop at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas in 2014. That same year, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and named Player of the Decade by Global Poker Index (GPI).

Although no longer a member of Team PokerStars Pro, from whom he split amicably in May, 2019, Negreanu ranks first for all-time popularity – that is, in terms of unique hits for each player – according to The Hendon Mob. As recently as July, 2019, he collected $1.73 million for a second-place finish in the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event, again at the Rio.