Gambling is a sport enjoyed and enthusiastically taken part by many players. It is a source of entertainment where the money you have initially given is endangered, and you place a bet to increase the odds to win more money. There are various types of gambling and games to bet on. Chance-based gambling such as playing the lottery, roulette, bingo, or gaming machines where the results are random, and one can’t predict the winning. So anyone can win this type of gambling without any effort.
At the same time, skill-based gambling such as betting on races and playing poker or blackjack is based on one’s ability or skills to calculate and predict—the odds of winning favor the house and not the same for all.
Let us now look into the top 5 richest and gamblers in the world and briefly get the idea of the story behind their success.
5 Richest Gambler and their Success Story
Bill Benter (Blackjack)
Bill Benter brought a new perspective to gambling, proving to everyone that gambling is not only about luck. By using mathematics, a graduate in physics had made his way into the world of gambling with simple calculations of the cards. Counting cards is the strategy for most card games, especially in blackjack. He used to visit blackjack tables in Las Vegas, all strip casinos of Vegas became forbidden for him after seven years. He then met Alan Woods, who had a knack for horse racing. They both moved to Hong Kong and gave birth to the formula for choosing race winners, and they cracked the code of Gambling in Horse racing.
Bill founded The Benter foundation in 2007. He earns around $100 million per annum and is said to be the richest gambler in the world as of this date.
Edward Oakley Thorp ( Blackjack)
Being a professor in mathematics with knowledge of physics, he was completely new to the world of gambling, but blackjack caught his attention when he first visited a Casino. He believed in himself and was determined to learn the game with his frequent visits to the Casinos. House advantage with correct strategy can overpower counting cards is something he proved by applying his tactics in the games. He was completely new to the game but had a unique approach towards it that stunned others. He was then banned from the Casinos as he started winning most of the games. He is the author of the book “Beat the Dealer” which was published in 1962 which helps so many aspiring gamblers all around the world. He wrote other books dealing with Gambling too. Many tried to follow in his footsteps, but none could be as successful as he was. He then applied his ideas in stock market strategies and was successful once again.
Billy Walters (Sports Betting)
Billy Walters is a renowned sports bettor of all time. He is known to be the wealthiest sports gambler. He comes from a poor family, his father died when he was 18 months old, and his mother walked out on them soon after that. He worked in Steven’s brother’s auto sales for 5 years as a sales manager, after which he started his own business. Throughout this time, he was involved in gambling. He started gambling when he was nine. His luck in gambling wasn’t great at the beginning, and he lost most of the games and his home, too, which he agreed to pay off for 18 months. He was known to lose 1 million dollars twice at Las Vegas blackjack tables, but that didn’t keep him away from gambling. He then joined Atlantic club Casino hotel, where he and his partner made records on gambling. Walters joined the Computer Group, which used computer analysis to analyze sports outcomes with his excellent analytical skills. He is known for having a winning streak that extended for over 30 years.
Zeljko Ranogajec (Black Jack and Horse Racing)
Born to Croatian parents in Australia, his life went topsy turvy when he dropped off from his college to try his luck in blackjack. Incredible photographic memory and with his firm grip in mathematics, he soon took over the world of gambling in Blackjack. Like other gamblers who earned a lot in casinos, he too was banned from all casinos. It pushed him to try other games like keno and horse racing. He holds the highest record of 7.5 million dollars in keno. He created a formula of his own to predict which horse has the highest probability of winning.
His betting activities on horse races were a strategy combined with specific factors like identifying betting opportunities, installing a highly sophisticated betting system, and, importantly, closing deals with bookmakers for significant rebates on his bets. Ranogajec’s success has been said to be based upon favorable discounts and rebates that he has already worked out with betting pool operators.
Alan Woods (Horse Racing)
Woods is widely seen as the horse racing software master. He was one of the leading entrepreneurs and mathematicians who is considered one of the biggest gamblers in the world. He was introduced to the world of gambling by his fellow bridge players, who gave him the concept of card counting in blackjack. He retired from blackjack and went to Hong Kong to focus on horse racing. He worked with many other famous gamblers like Bill Benter, Bob Moore, and Zeljko Ranogajec. Woods and Benter together cracked the concept of gambling in Horse Racing and developed their model, which was a huge success and generated around 100,000 dollars, but in the same year, their partnership ended. Woods won millions from horse betting.
Concluding Thoughts
Most of the people on the list have made their millions on blackjack and House racing. They have all started with a vague idea and made their unique approach towards the game. With skills and the idea of gaining knowledge through gambling, they all played for fun and enjoyed the game. Some turned it into their livelihood with utmost determination, and for some, it turned into livelihood without even realizing it.