Archie Karas

Anargyros Nicholas Karabourniotis (Greek: Ανάργυρος Καραβουρνιώτης; November 1, 1950 – September 7, 2024), commonly known as Archie Karas, was a Greek-American gambler, high roller, poker player, and pool shark famous for the largest and longest documented winning streak in casino gambling history, simply known as The Run, when he drove to Las Vegas with $50 in December 1992 and then turned a $10,000 loan into more than $40 million by the beginning of 1995, only to lose it all later that year. Karas himself claimed to have gambled with more money in casinos than anyone else in history and has often been compared to Nick the Greek, another high-stakes gambler of Greek origin.

Early life

Karas was born on November 1, 1950, in Antypata on the island of Cephalonia, Kingdom of Greece. He grew up in poverty and had to shoot marbles as a teenager to avoid going hungry. His father, Nickolas, was a construction worker who struggled financially.

With a little over $10,000 in his pocket, Karas went to a bar with a pool table adjacent to the Liberace Plaza on East Tropicana. There he found a wealthy and respected poker and pool player. Karas refused to reveal his name for the sake of his opponent's reputation; he simply referred to him as "Mr. X". They started playing 9-ball pool at $5,000 a game, raising the stakes as time went on. After Karas had won several hundred thousand dollars, they raised the stakes to $40,000 a game. Many gamblers and professional poker players watched Karas play at stakes never seen before. Karas ended up winning $1,200,000. The two decided to play poker at Binion's Horseshoe, where Karas won an additional $3,000,000 from Mr. X. Karas was willing to gamble everything he had won and continued to raise the stakes to a level few dared to play at.

With a bankroll of $4 million, Karas gambled his bankroll up to $7 million after spending only three months in Las Vegas. By now, many poker players had heard of Mr. X's losses to Karas. Only the best players dared to challenge him. Karas sat at the Binion's Horseshoe's poker table with 5 of his 7 million dollars in front of him, waiting for any players willing to play for such stakes.

The first challenger was Stu Ungar, a three-time World Series of Poker champion widely regarded as one of the greatest Texas hold'em and gin rummy players of all time. Ungar was backed by Lyle Berman, another professional poker player and business executive who had co-founded Grand Casinos. Karas first beat Ungar for $500,000 playing heads-up Razz. Karas then played Ungar in 7-card stud, which cost Ungar an additional $700,000.

The poker action for Karas mostly dried up due to his reputation and stakes. He turned to craps for $100,000 per roll. Jack Binion capped Karas' buy bets on the 4 and 10 at $100,000. At one point, Binion raised Karas' 4 and 10 buy bet limit to $200,000. Karas quickly won $920,000 under these conditions; then Binion immediately lowered the limit back to $100,000. By the end of his winning streak, he had won over $40 million.

Downfall

Karas's odds-defying two-and-a-half-year streak came to an end in 1995 when he lost most of his money in a period of three weeks. He lost $11 million playing craps and then lost the $2 million he won from Chip Reese back to him. Following these losses, he switched to baccarat and lost another $17 million, for a total of $30 million. With approximately $12 million left and needing a break from gambling, he returned to Greece. When he came back to Las Vegas, he went back to the Horseshoe, shooting craps and playing baccarat at $300,000 per bet, and in less than a month, lost all but his last million.

With his last million, he went to the Bicycle Club and played Johnny Chan in a $1,000,000 freezeout match. This time, Chan was backed by Lyle Berman, and they took turns playing Karas. He preferred playing both of them, instead of just Chan, as he felt Chan was the tougher opponent. Karas won and doubled his money, only to lose it all at dice and baccarat, betting at the highest limits, in just a few days.

Personal life

Karas resided in Las Vegas. His family lives in Greece. Karas stayed in touch with his family by phone, and tried to travel back to Greece at least once per year. He brought his mother, Mariana, to Las Vegas for six-month visits when he was on his winning streak.

Karas's story was documented in Cigar Aficionado by American author Michael Konik Konik also wrote an article about Karas which was featured in a book about Las Vegas gamblers called The Man With the $100,000 Breasts. Subsequently, he was permanently banned from all Nevada casinos in 2015.