Whether you’re a casual casino goer who enjoys a controlled yet entertaining flutter, or a balls-out braggart who walks in with bundles of cash and stacks chips sky high, you will no doubt be looking for that often elusive ‘big win’. A dream run where you enter ‘God mode’ and everything you touch turns to gold. We’ve all had moments of that, but all too often they are fleeting. Some though, get to live this dream, and so what follows are a couple of examples of those who experienced at least a moment in time where they had the midas touch.
Much like people who claim not to like music, I can never quite bring myself to trust a person who hasn’t ever been to a casino. Whether dreaming of that Royal Flush on an online poker site, or hitting up a bricks and mortar establishment to show them how it’s done it’s something everyone should experience at least once. These two no limits individuals opted for the latter option with quite some gusto!
Elmer Sherwin – Lightning Strikes Twice
Sherwin by name, win by nature! This World War II veteran wasted no time in becoming a multi millionaire, by turning up to play slots at the Mirage, Las Vegas just ten hours after it opened to the public. This fortuitous decision resulted in his first jackpot of a life changing $4.6 million.
Thinking there was more luck to come, Sherwin would occasionally travel the world playing slots and hoping to win yet another big jackpot. In proof that lightning apparently does sometimes strike twice, sixteen years later at the ripe old ageof 92, he hit another jackpot, this time to the tune of $21.14 million on a Megabucks slot machine at the Cannery Casino & Hotel, Las Vegas. In a sign that the win went to the right man, Sherwin was generous with his windfall, donating to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund as well as helping support his family and friends.
Archie Karas – Dream Run
Archie Karas went to Las Vegas with just $50 in his pocket before going on to borrow a further $10,000 from a friend. His intention, to win big at Razz, a poker variant, in order to claw back some of the $2 million he had recently lost in a Los Angeles high-stakes poker game. He certainly achieved his goal and then some as the money he was loaned quickly ballooned into millions.
Karas amassed these millions by playing a series of pool games against an unknown individual in the Liberace Plaza on East Tropicana, before then taking him on at Poker. $4 million up, this drew the attention of others. What unfolded was Karas beating a succession of poker greats such as Stu Ungar, Chip Reese, Puggy Pearson, Johnny Moss, the list goes on. To comically top things off he then switched to dice, and won yet again. he was eventually $40 million up.
Of course as you might expect with someone so gung-ho unfortunately just a year later he’d lost it all (over a three week period – including an $11,000,000 dice loss, and $17,000,000 loss at baccarat). he’s had a few mini runs (by his standards) since, including one in which he turned $200 into close to a million but as per usual it typically ends badly. He’s certainly a man with talent, but unfortunately he clearly doesn’t know when to call it a day.