Archie Karas, the man who ran $50 up to $40 million and lost it all, has died. A post on September 29 on AzBilliards Forums revealed the death of one of the most infamous high rollers in history.
Karas was a pool hustler, poker player, and high-stakes gambler who won and lost millions multiple times throughout his career. None were more infamous than “The Run” from December 1992 to 1995.
Sadly, Karas’ Vegas gambling career ended in disgrace as he was added to Nevada’s “Black Book” in 2015. Karas continually risked it all and became the ultimate example of how “the house always wins.”
Key Highlights
- Archie Karas, the infamous high roller who ran $50 to $40 million and lost it all, has died.
- Karas reportedly amassed $40 million in winnings during “The Run” from pool, poker, and high-stakes craps and baccarat.
- Karas was ultimately banned for life from Vegas casinos for cheating.
Was “The Run” Exaggerated?
If you have heard the story of Archie “The Greek” Karas, you know he is infamous for going to Las Vegas in 1992 with $50 and running that to $40 million. Or so that’s how it was portrayed for many years.
Some reports have put the amount as high as $50 million. Last year, Doug Polk chronicled “The Run” and, in his report, broke down how the ultimate figure was $40 million instead of $50 million.
The post from AzBilliards Forums on Sunday from well-known forum member Fatboy claims that Karas’s run was $26 million, not $40 million as claimed in documentaries.
The Polk documentary shows Karas won $17 million from poker and billiards. If what Fatboy says was true, that would mean that only $9 million of Karas’ run was from craps and baccarat.
Regardless of which version of the story is accurate, the outcome is still the same. Karas lost his entire bankroll back to Las Vegas, mostly at craps and baccarat games.
It’s a true “rags to riches to rags” story — at least as far as high-stakes gambling is concerned.
My Experience Covering Archie
I loosely knew Karas through the late Tom Sexton. During the 2008 WSOP, I started pointing out events that Karas was in as I recognized him and thought it would be interesting to follow his exploits.
Sexton introduced me to Karas, and it was evident in our brief interaction that he was more concerned about playing poker than making friends.
Archie has been quoted as saying that money meant nothing to him, and he was the first professional gambler that I met who actually meant it.
Once Sexton explained that I was covering him for PokerNews, he was a little more welcoming, but our limited interactions mostly centered on how he was doing at the table.
What I remember most about Archie was that winning or losing didn’t seem to phase him much in either direction.
While poker players are used to winning or losing large sums, you usually see some form of emotion from them. Archie would bust out of a $10k tournament and not bat an eye.
It was on to the next gamble for him. Archie has been quoted as saying that money meant nothing to him, and he was the first professional gambler I met who actually meant it.
Karas Banned for Life From Vegas Casinos
After “The Run,” Karas had several smaller winning streaks, but none came close to what he achieved in the early 1990s. However, his gambling career did not come without incident.
According to a 2015 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Karas had been arrested five times for cheating.
His first arrest was in 1988 when he was caught marking cards at the Flamingo Reno. In 1992, he was arrested at the River Palms in Laughlin for cheating at cards.
He was arrested in 1996 at the California Club in downtown Las Vegas for cheating at cards again and at the Aquarius in Laughlin in 2007 for the same.
The final arrest came in September 2013 at the Barona Casino in San Diego for cheating at blackjack.
Ultimately, the Nevada Gaming Commission voted in 2015 to place Karas on Nevada’s List of Excluded Persons, also known as the “Black Book.” This placed a lifetime ban on Karas from all Vegas casinos, resulting in potential felony charges if he violated the order.
After his addition to the Black Book, Karas largely disappeared other than to do interviews about his high-roller career. While his story is the ultimate high-roller legend, it is also the ultimate cautionary tale.
The house always wins in Vegas, and Karas gave the world 40 million reasons why that is true.
Sources
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2024/09/poker-playing-gambler-archie-karas-dead-47040.htm
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2015/09/archie-karas-banned-from-nevada-casinos-22834.htm
https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/gambler-karas-known-for-the-run-placed-in-nevadas-black-book/
https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/rip-archie-karas.568895/
