The Richest Gamblers in the World
How’s that card counting coming along, guys? Any massive wins you feel proud of? Well, even if you’re still getting there, no rush. Practice makes perfect. But why are we talking about card counting in an article about the richest gamblers, you may be pondering now. Simple – because it’s what almost all of the biggest and wealthiest gambling legends did at the start of their careers as professional gamblers. We’ve showed you how to do it, we’ve listed the books that can help you and inspire you to get there, and today we’re introducing you to the people who have managed to make millions and even billions after they started off with a few simple card counting methods.
Produced by:
Editorial Team
Published: 7 July 2017
Ready to find out who are the richest gamblers? In our article, we will talk about the 7 gamblers with the highest net worth and how they got there. As you are about to find out, some of them earned their fortune playing online poker. Do you feel inspired? If so, we will gladly recommend our top 10 UK online casinos where your dreams may come true. You could also play poker online with real dealers at the best online casinos with real dealers. Or if slots are your game of choice, why not try your chances with the best slots bonuses in offer. As for the roulette fans, our page about the best online bonus roulette offers in the UK is a great starting point.
You may notice that none of the richest gamblers in the world made their fortune on bingo. Well, even the best bingo sites can’t compare to poker, sports betting and real money games when it comes to gigantic jackpots. But who knows, you may be the first to enter this prestigious list if you are a bingo lover. Meanwhile, stay with us and read the motivational stories of rich gamblers and then you can take a look at the top 10 gambling sites.
| Gambler | Net Worth | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bill Benter | $100 million annually | Blackjack, horse races |
| 2. Edward Thorp | $800 million | Blackjack, baccarat, backgammon |
| 3. Zeljko Ranogajec | $600 million | Blackjack, horse races, keno |
| 4. Billy Walters | $200 million | Sports betting |
| 5. Phil Ivey | $100 million | Poker |
| 6. Alan Woods | $80 million | Blackjack, horse races |
| 7. Patrik Antonius | $32 million | Poker |
Bill Benter – The Richest Professional Gambler
| Net worth: | $100 million annually – a billionaire |
| Games: | Blackjack, horse racing |
| Interesting fact: | Developed the first horse races betting software |
| Other Interests: | Philanthropy, contributing to political campaigns |
Mathematics genius Bill Benter was born in 1957 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After finishing a degree in physics, he decided to use his skill to count cards at blackjack tables in Las Vegas, improving his methods with the help of Edward Thorp’s Beat the Dealer. After seven years of bringing the house down, Benter was banned from most Vegas casinos and after he met Alan Woods, he moved to Hong Kong where the two worked on creating a formula that would help predict the outcome of horse races, thus creating the world’s first software assisted gambling operation which is also considered to be the most successful one to this day. By the way, you can take a look at the possibilities that online gambling in Pennsylvania offers and all the benefits that it has. Or if you are interested in playing casino games for free, why not check out these no deposit casino bonus offers.
Benter developed the mathematics powering the software and using a vast array of variables to get the edge on the average gambler, he re-created and expanded it, so that it looked at prices to determine where the truest advantage was. After the pair had a “spectacular falling out,” Woods started working with Zeljko Ranogajec in Manila and Benter continued to work on his own in Hong Kong, reportedly moving beyond its small number of tracks. It is estimated that Bill Benter makes $100 million annually, often raking in $5-$10 million in a single race day. He’s also a philanthropist and a big contributor to charity and political groups.
Edward E. Thorp – The Father of Card Counting
| Net worth: | $800 million |
| Games: | Blackjack, baccarat, backgammon |
| Interesting fact: | Created card counting and invented the first wearable computer |
| Other Interests: | Teaching mathematics, writing books, managing hedge funds |
Next on our list of rich gamblers is the inventor of card counting Edward E. Thorp. If you have ever considered trying out card counting at live blackjack online casinos, you will be interested in Thorp’s story. He was born in Chicago in 1932. He finished a PhD in mathematics from UCLA and worked as a math professor from 1959 till 1977. Thorp was the first to use computer simulation to develop a blackjack strategy with the help of an IBM 704 and he devised card-counting schemes to improve players’ odds. He put his calculations to the test in casinos in Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Las Vegas and verified his theory. Having piqued other players’ interest, he wrote ‘Beat the Dealer’ which is considered the first and ultimate guide to card counting used by both amateurs and professional players.
In 1961, Ed Thorp developed the first wearable computer together with Claude Shannon and used it at the roulette and blackjack tables until it was banned in 1985. Nowadays, such counters won’t help you much, especially if you’re playing at live casino Canada sites. Ed Thorp is a member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame and has developed the “Thorp count” method for backgammon and formed a baccarat syndicate as well. Still, playing blackjack at the best live casino in India mostly comes down to luck.
In the 1960s, Thorp started using his knowledge on probability and statistics in the stock market, and he also developed and applied effective hedge fund techniques in the financial markets, making a fortune that is estimated at $800 million. We have created an article dedicated to some of the top gambling platforms with slots that are favoured by the richest gamblers at online slots sites in the Philippines.
“Life is like reading a novel or running a marathon. It’s not so much about reaching a goal but rather about the journey itself and the experiences along the way”
Edward E. Thorp
Zeljko Ranogajec – Lifestyle of the Rich and not Famous
| Net Worth: | $600 million, reportedly more |
| Games: | Blackjack, horse racing |
| Interesting fact: | Holds the record for the biggest win in Keno – $7.5 million |
| Other interests: | Extremely private, reportedly residing in Europe |
Born in Australia to Croatian immigrants, Ranogajec dropped out of university to pursue a career in advantage gambling. He started playing blackjack and using sophisticated math and his photographic memory, he was able to turn hundred-dollar bets into 7-figure wins. Ultimately, his methods lead to him being banned from most Australian casinos, so he switched to horse betting and continued to use his math skills to predict the races. Reportedly, this has made him a billionaire. He’s extremely private and has never given interviews or discussed his ventures and the gambler’s net worth is unknown. He is said to account for 6-8% of the turnover of Tabcorp, with his outlays reportedly as much as $1 billion annually. And if this is not among the richest gamblers…
A source close to the family has described him as a multi-billionaire and while these are all speculations, he is known for a record win in Keno of $7.5 million in the 1990s. In 2008, Ranogajec took his bookmaker to court and revealed that his syndicate had won more than $44 million betting on US racing over a three-and-a-half-year period. Other reports suggest he is fighting a $900 million tax battle with the Australian Taxation Office.
Billy Walters – The Biggest and Most Feared Sports Bettor
| Net worth: | $200 million |
| Games: | Sports betting |
| Interesting fact: | makes the biggest sport bet in history – $3.5 million, currently facing prison after found guilty in a $40million inside deal |
A true legend in sports betting, Billy Walters started from humble beginnings in Munfordville, Kentucky where he and his siblings were raised by his grandmother. If someone deserves to be put among the richest gamblers in the world, it is him. With a father professional poker player and an uncle professional gambler, it was no surprise that Billy made his first bet at the age of nine. Almost 30 years later, he was running his own bookmaking service which was then illegal in Kentucky and for which he was fined $1,000. So, he packed his bags and moved to Las Vegas. Not much is known about his operation and whether he has played at the best free spins casino sites. but in his own words, he’s as successful as he is because he’s working with many analysts that help him make decisions.
According to reports, he makes about $15 million a year, and has made as much as $2 million in a day. His net worth is estimated at $200 million. And that’s not hard to believe, considering he makes really, really high bets – as high as $3,5 million. Well, technically not exactly, because for years he’s been using other people to place bets for him since not only is he not welcome in Vegas anymore, but most bookmakers will also refuse to take his bets.And while you may think he’d try to make these “beards” as inconspicuous as possible, he actually has Hollywood celebrities like Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher running his errands. The biggest and most feared sports gambler, however, lost his biggest gamble when he was found guilty of a $40 million insider trading case and could go to prison for years.
Phil Ivey – The Biggest Online Cash Game Winner Ever
| Net worth: | $100 million |
| Games: | Poker |
| Interesting fact: | Started playing poker professionally at the age of 20, won 10 WSOP bracelets, became famous with the edge-sorting litigation casino scandal. |
| Other info: | Richest gambler in the US |
Born in California and raised in New Jersey, Phil Ivey is an American professional poker player. He is known for being the youngest player ever to win ten World Series of Poker bracelets. Ivey won his bracelet in 2000 when he became the first to defeat Amarillo Slim at a WSOP final table. His success, however, comes as no surprise considering that he began playing poker when he was only 8 years old. His grandfather taught him how to play five-card stud poker. Inspired by the game, as a teenager, Phil Ivey created a fake ID to get into the casinos in Atlantic City. Subsequently, he used to play against his colleagues at the telemarketing firm where he used to work. Phil Ivey went pro at age 20. Even though it can be quite intimidating to play high-level poker nowadays, you can still use hefty live casino promotions to your advantage.
Ivey is the fifth most winning poker player in tournaments and has accumulated a net worth over $23,100,000, making him one of the richest professional gamblers. However, in the last few years, his appearances have been rather discreet. Nevertheless, in 2017, Phil Ivey announced that he would soon return to the game. It is an interesting fact that until 2011, Ivey also used to be the biggest online cash game-winner ever. He won $19,242,743 playing online poker. Phil Ivey, however, also became famous with the edge-sorting casino scandal. He won $12,000,000 playing Punto Banco at Mayfair Club, Crockfords Casino in London but he ended up suing the gambling venture as he was refused to be paid. The reason was that according to the casino he and his playing partner Cheung Yin “Kelly” had used a trick called edge-sorting. He then got involved in a number of legal processes trying to defend his position but the UK court eventually ruled in favour of the casino claiming that his actions were considered as cheating.
Alan Woods – Horse Races Betting Pioneer
| Net worth: | $80 million |
| Games: | Blackjack, horse racing |
| Interesting fact: | Pioneer in horse racing, founded the most successful horse racing syndicate. |
The godfather of horse racing software Alan Woods was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia, in 1945. In his early gambling career, he used math to count cards at blackjack tables until moving to Hong Kong in the 1980s. There, he teamed up with Bill Benter forming a syndicate that became the most successful in the history of the horse racing industry. The pair developed a software that took into account factors like the formulaic consideration of track, form, weather and more. After the partners separated in 1987, Woods moved on to Manila to a continuing success, teaming up with Zeljko Ranogajec.
The annual turnover by Woods and his syndicate was estimated at about 2% of the Jockey Club’s annual betting turnover. Woods didn’t found charitable organizations like Benter, but he was known for his generosity towards the Filipino community, also donating portions of his wealth to mental health research and Australian bridge. As a true mathematician, Woods is said to have viewed horse racing as “nothing more than a mathematical equation to be solved”. At the time of his death in 2008, Woods was regarded as one of the biggest and best gamblers in the world and was estimated to have amassed a fortune of AU$670 million. A page that might be interesting for you is the one dedicated to online casinos in Hong Kong and gambling in the special administrative area in general.
Patrik Antonius – A Successful European Poker Player
| Net worth: | $32 million |
| Games: | Poker |
| Interesting fact: | Won over $4 million from live poker tournaments, accumulated over $17 million playing online poker |
| Other facts: | Richest gambler in Europe |
Patrik Antonius is a Finnish poker player, currently residing in Monte Carlo. Originally planning to become a professional tennis player, Antonius had to give up his dream career due to a serious back injury. However, he soon found poker to be a satisfactory substitution to tennis. Antonius found his way to a local casino when he was only 18 and after a long path of losses and he eventually got better became a winner. One day he deposited $200 into his online casino account and just in a matter of months, he was able to turn them into $20,000. The rest, as they say, is history. According to statistics, between 2009 and 2013, he managed to accumulate over $11 million dollars playing online poker and an additional $6 million dollars also playing online poker between 2007 and 2016. Nowadays, you can play poker while betting with cryptocurrencies at the best Bitcoin casinos in Canada.
However, in various interviews, Patrik Antonius has stated that he feels a disadvantage when playing online poker as people may use different software to gain an edge. Furthermore, Antonius also claims to be self-taught and that he has never read a poker book or watched a video tutorial. The player is also known for his live poker tournament results and earning close to $7 million. His biggest win was in 2012 when he finished runner up to Phil Ivey in the $250k Aussie Millions Challenge, earning $1.2 million. He currently has no WSOP bracelets, but this is due to the fact that he has focused mostly on participating in poker cash games at the best casinos in the world. It’s not like playing at the best scratchcards online sites for UK players, but you can still enjoy a lot of fun and plenty of cash prizes when you play online poker.
As we have already mentioned, there are plenty of international operators that you could play at. For example, casino sites in the Philippines, in which you can play safe games for real money.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Richest Gamblers
Our team has done a fair bit of research in search of answers to the frequently asked questions regarding the richest gamblers that have played at the best casinos in the world. Next, we plan to do you justice in the form of sharing the full knowledge we’ve gathered. Without further ado, we present to you the nine questions which seem to arouse the most interest in.
