Biggest Blackjack Wins in History
The Biggest Blackjack Winners
Our first, most unlikely blackjack hero is Shoeless Joe, who used his $400 government social security cheque to hit the blackjack table at a Las Vegas casino. According to newspaper reports at the time, he was in his 80s, carried a walking stick, and was rather unkempt. Many so-called eyewitness accounts describe him as ‘homeless’. Whatever his appearance, Lady Luck was on Shoeless Joe’s side that day because he managed to turn $400 into a cool $1.5 million!
Our Cinderella story doesn’t end there, however. Rumor has it Joe lost his big windfall shortly after receiving it, as so many do. The wheel, after all, keeps turning. But who knows. Shoeless Joe might have taken the money and run (and hopefully stopped along the way to buy himself a pair of new shoes). It might not have been the biggest blackjack win in history, or the most money won in a casino in one night, but Shoeless Joe still goes down in history as one of Las Vegas’s most colorful characters. One can imagine how he’d fare trying his hand at one of our many exclusive live dealer Blackjack tables!
Dana White’s Big Wins
Next up is Dana White, president of UFC, whose current personal net worth stands at around $500 million. A businessman who is used to being in the spotlight, White is known to frequent casinos and play big money on his favorite table game – blackjack. He has even been accused of card counting in the past. In 2012, the Palms Casino refused to pay out White’s winnings and banned him after accusations of card counting came to light.
But White didn’t let that stop him. In 2014, after the Palms Casino CEO reversed the banning and White headed straight for the blackjack table, where he racked up a cool $2 million before the casino capped off his winnings to end his streak.
The King Of Blackjack Strategy
Lucky no. 3 on our list is Ken Uston, who was often referred to as the King of Blackjack Strategy. One of the biggest strategic moves he made was to team up when hitting the blackjack tables. In the 1970s, while the rest of the world was getting groovy, Ken was perfecting his team card counting techniques. He spent time in numerous casinos worldwide, earning millions of dollars from the casinos, with some of the biggest blackjack bets made – sometimes as high as $12,000 on a single hand.
Ken and his team are estimated to have earned about $4.5 million in winnings during their operational period. And his influence on the industry at large can still be seen today, so many years later.
Australian Businessman Kerry Packer
Coming in in the runner-up spot, only a few million behind our biggest blackjack winners, is Kerry Packer, a millionaire whose time spent at the blackjack tables added considerably to his personal wealth.
When Kerry passed away in 2005, the Australian businessman had a personal net worth of AUS $6.5 billion (USD $4.3 billion), and much of that net worth was earned because Kerry lived by a simple premise – the bigger the bet, the bigger the payout. At the MGM Grand blackjack table in 1995, Kerry placed one of the biggest blackjack bets – $250,000 – and raked up nearly $40 million in winnings, which is certainly one of the biggest blackjack wins in history!
MIT Blackjack Team
Last but certainly not least, we have the MIT Blackjack Team, who are estimated to have earned anywhere from $50 to $100 Million in the 80s and 90s, Made even more notorious by the 2008 film, 21, and the book upon which it was based, Bringing Down the House, this team of bright, young MIT students spent many years at the Blackjack tables in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, racking up mega wins as they went. The card counting techniques they employed are not strictly illegal but most casinos frown on them and will ban you from the floor if you’re found trying out the MIT team’s methods, so keep that in mind before you try to emulate them.
These wins, some of the biggest blackjack wins in history, have been inspiring gamblers the world over for many years and hopefully they’ll also inspire you to find a blackjack strategy that works for you, so that you too many join the ranks of blackjack winners.
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See our other blog articles filled with online Blackjack tips and tricks to spruce up your hand when facing the dealer
