Any gambler knows the house always wins. That is true for most casual players in the long run. But some particularly skilled individuals have managed to build their bankroll up to the hundreds of millions or even billions, at the expense of gambling operators.
Taking other contestants’ money in high stakes poker. Learning to bleed out small advantages in sports betting or blackjack. Designing complex databases and algorithms to analyze games for slightest edge, or, even, sometimes, bending the rules in ways the casinos haven’t thought of. These are the people who have beaten the house and made fortunes doing it.
Sports Betting Data Analysis Made Billionaires
Of all the types of gambling, it is sports betting that has made the most truly high net worth individuals (on the gambler’s end of things at least).
From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, the emergence of computerized sports data was seized upon by many entrepreneurial people the globe over as a way to find an edge.
Combining their love of sports and data analysis, key figures in the movement turned computer wizardry into mountains of cash through sports betting. Just some of the fortunes made include those of:
- Tony Bloom (estimated net worth $1.3 billion),
- Zeljko Ranogajec ($420 million)
- Bill Benter ($1 billion)
- Billy Walters ($100 million
Since the days of those famous bettors, the sports betting Zambia offers has come a long way. Today you’ll find top international sportsbooks, hosting the best odds on all the global sports, with exciting new player bonuses to boot.
The biggest winners probably aren’t quite USD billionaires yet, but as the market grows – who knows?
Controversial Nigerian entrepreneur and social media star E-Money claims he has won millions through his sports gambling. He has been known to broadcast his high stakes online wagers, flexing his large wins to his millions of social media followers.
Meanwhile, spinning back the years, the pioneer of computerized sports betting analysis was Billy Walters. In the late 1980s the American’s data assisted betting was so successful, US sportsbooks started adapting to his bets. He subsequently managed to game that for maximum profit as well, using decoy bets to shift the odds in his favor.
Many of these early sports betting tech pioneers later turned their money into actual sports. Englishman Tony Bloom – who also made millions playing poker – founded sports data analysis firm Starlizard which made him hundreds of millions. He now owns two successful football clubs, including English Premier League team Brighton & Hove Albion.
Poker Players Putting Down Millions a Hand
A more well known route to gambling riches is poker. While sports betting analysts tend to work behind the scenes, top poker players can become famous in their own right – opening further opportunities to make more money.
Some of the highest (estimated) net worth poker players in the world today are:
- Phil Ivey ($125 million)
- Bryn Kenney ($70 million)
- Phil Hellmuth ($28 million)
- Daniel Negreanu ($40 million)
Phil Ivey is regarded as one of the greatest poker players of all time, and he has made documented tournament winnings of $47 million.
While others may have more in tournaments, Ivey has also been known to play huge high stakes cash games with billionaires – including in 2005 when he won $16 million from businessman Andy Beal.
He has also flirted with controversy outside of poker. In 2012 Ivey and a female associate won $12.1 million playing baccarat at casinos in London and Las Vegas. However, they were later accused – in multiple lawsuits – of exploiting a flaw in the design of a certain playing card manufacturer. This enabled them to read the cards while face down, thereby ensuring they won.
Ivey has also said he sometimes puts down hundreds of thousands on proposition bets with his friends, including over golf games.
Another interesting poker player to note is controversial social media playboy Dan Bilzerian. The American claims to have made his $200 million fortune mostly through poker, but many people believe he got his start from a huge trust fund gifted to him by his father.
The highest earning poker professional from Africa is Maher Nouria of Tunisia, who has cashed for $5.357 million across his poker career including a first place finish at the 2023 European Poker Tour Main Event.
Old School Card Shark Takes Casinos For Millions
Alan Woods, now deceased, will always be included in any list of the greatest gamblers of all time. The Australian learned to card count a decade before the infamous Massachusetts Institute of Technology team hit the headlines by using the technique to make a million dollars in Las Vegas.
However, for many years Woods let the skill go unused. But after a messy divorce in 1979, he decided to try it out properly. Only he wasn’t in Las Vegas, and he was after more than a single million.
Woods took his blackjack skills around regional casinos in the US, where security were less adept at spotting his card counting. By doing this he made himself tens of millions, and then wrote a bestselling book about it.
Card Counting to Horse Racing and The Stock Market
After that, Woods gave up blackjack and moved to Hong Kong. Where he proved he was no one trick pony, by joining the computer data revolution and making hundreds of millions more betting on popular local horse racing.
By the time he passed away in 2008, aged 62, Woods’ net worth was estimated to be around $400 million.
Another gambler who deserves a shout out is the man who invented card counting – college professor turned card shark, Edward Thorp.
Still alive today at 92, he made millions from blackjack in the 1970s before turning his money and math talents to the stock market. Thorp currently has an estimated $800 million fortune.
So, those are just a few examples of the winningest gamblers in the world. Sure, they won’t often talk about their biggest losses – although some of them do – and behind their glamorous lifestyles are a lot of other people who lost.
But, nevertheless, they are living proof that talented and driven people can make fortunes beating the casinos and sportsbooks at their own game.
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