Gambling Stories Wins

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On the evening of Nov. 6, 2001, all of Hong Kong was talking about the biggest jackpot the city had ever seen: at least HK$100 million (then about $13 million) for the winner of a single bet. Ivey sued the casino for his winnings, and it has yet to be determined if Ivey cheated or if his win was one of history's great high roller stories. Terrance Watanabe. Terrance Watanabe was a man who made his fortune as the heir to his father's party-supply import company. He is also the subject of one of our crazy casino stories. The Nebraska millionaire treated his money with the same lack of attention as his customers treated the cheap plastic trinkets he got rich selling.

By Leigh for Earshot

Updated September 04, 2017 16:45:46

I'm a gambling addict. Three years ago, I was convicted of white collar fraud, after I stole over $130,000 from my employer to fuel an insatiable addiction.

My poison of choice was not poker machines, but online gambling.

Racing, the thoroughbreds, the trots, the dogs — I wasn't fussy, so long as I could get a bet on and fuel that addiction.

The bets would range anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000 a day. I would bet until 3:00am, try to sleep for three hours and bet again for another three hours on online racing in the United States.

I always thought the stereotypical gambling addict was a working-class middle-aged man or woman, sitting at their local club, feeding their favourite pokies machine four or five nights a week.

But I rarely ventured into the local TAB.

Betting while the kids were in the bath

At the zenith of my addiction, I was married with two beautiful young children and working as a finance manager at a local council.

When I was with my family, I was physically there — but mentally, I was miles away, thinking about gambling: when I could next bet, where would the money come from, whether I could back a winner.

I thought about gambling 24/7. I placed bets at home, at work, the shops — basically everywhere and anywhere I could get reception on my phone.

I would be walking with the kids and our dog, yet I'd still be trying to place bets. I would even bet and watch the races on the phone while the kids were in the bath.

True Gambling Stories

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A knock at the door

I had been thinking about stealing to solve some of my debt problems for months, but I couldn't do it because I knew the consequences would be dire.

Then one evening, I had a visit from two large men with a baseball bat, strongly suggesting it would be in my best interests to repay a sizable debt that was due that week.

They punched me and threatened to use the baseball bat 'next time'.

I was left bruised and battered from their warning. It was a seriously scary moment; I still occasionally have flashbacks and it sends chills through my body.

That night, I made the decision to steal from work. I felt physically sick and fidgety; my mind wouldn't stop racing. I knew it was wrong, but I did it — knowing I could one day get caught.

The first time is without a doubt the hardest — but once you've done it, stealing becomes easier.

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Earshot meets Leigh, an online gambling addict.

I had nothing to lose. That's how I 'reasoned' it.

However, stealing became another problem to add to my list.

I was constantly worried about being caught. When someone knocked on my office door, when I got a phone call, when my boss called me to a meeting, I was never quite sure.

The fear was slowly killing me, but I couldn't confess, couldn't turn back. I was on a knife-edge with no solution, no way out.

It was a Monday morning when I was finally caught. I was called into the CEO's office and they presented me with the overwhelming evidence.

I was caught red-handed, but I still denied it. I knew my career was over and that jail was not far away.

But at that stage, I had a small sense of relief. No more looking over my back. The lying and deceitfulness could stop.

On the inside

When I was caught and sentenced to jail, the gambling addicts I met in the prison system had similar stories to mine. They were middle-aged, smart, well-educated men from good upbringings, all addicts to racing and not the pokies — certainly not the stereotypical gambling addicts I had imagined.

My addiction cost me everything. I lost my job, all my material possessions including house, car, everything I owned.

But that pales into insignificance to the lost relationships.

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My marriage disintegrated, I lost access to my children, I don't talk to my family and I'm no longer on speaking terms with most of my friends. I don't blame them.

During my year in jail, I had enough time to reflect on all the damage it had caused and when I was to be released I knew I couldn't go back to that lifestyle.

You get far too much time to reflect in jail. I was constantly thinking about the kids, but I didn't decide to quit gambling because of them. The constant stress and 24/7 of thinking about gambling had destroyed me: physically, emotionally, and financially.

I knew if I didn't stop gambling it would kill me.

Get help before it's too late

I write this not because I find it a cathartic experience, but because I hope that it helps others to seek help before it's too late. Or for family and friends of addicts to intervene and offer support.

For people 'on the edge' or thinking about committing fraud, the solution is simple: get help.

Seek support before you hit rock bottom. The help that suited me the most was from my psychologist, one-on-one extended chats — but for others it may be Gamblers Anonymous.

For the family and friends of addicts: please don't give up on them, it's a horrendous disease and they need all the support you can give.

Life in 2017 is certainly not perfect, but it's a damn sight better than it has been.

I've got regular access to my children, I'm rebuilding lost relationships, I've found some temporary work — and I haven't had a bet since 2014.

Topics:gambling, internet-culture, family-and-children, fraud-and-corporate-crime, law-crime-and-justice, australia

First posted September 04, 2017 12:14:41

Although it is certainly true that not everyone walks away from the casino a winner, some people are just luckier than others. That is who these stories are about. Common folk that walked into a brick-and-mortar casino or signed into an online one, played the real money games they love, and left millionaires!

Beginner’s Luck?

Craps is one of the more challenging casino games, a pretty complicated one for new players to get the hang of. But this story is bound to motivate several people to start practising!

Grandmother Patricia Dameuro was a newcomer to the dice game when she got involved in one at Atlantic City’s Borgata. She then entered the record books for winning 154 successive throws!

While her total take was never revealed, it is known that her first bet was US$10 and, even if she implemented the most conservative Craps betting strategy, she would have walked away with at least 50 times that.

The King of Payback

The Don Johnson who is the star of this story is not the famous actor we all know and love, but the latter would no doubt loved to have played him. He did not count cards. Instead, he negotiated to get special treatment from the casinos he patronised to get the edge every gambler’s looking for.

Firstly, he sought out casinos with the most favourable house rules. And the payback precept sees you getting a certain percentage of your wager back when you lose. Certain casinos will give their high-rollers 10%, for example. So Johnson’s next step was to arrange to get a staggering 20% instead.

To put this into real money language, if Johnson bet US$500 000, he would get to keep all the money. But, if he lost, he would still get US$100 000 back. He also reached an agreement with the casinos he played at to wager as much as US$25 000 per hand.

His savvy bargaining skills saw Johnson putting US$15 million into his pocket from just 3 casinos in a mere 6 months.

The Largest Megabucks Jackpot Ever

Cynthia Jay worked as a cocktail waitress at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, which is now the Park MGM. In 2000, Jay was celebrating her mother-in-law’s birthday and decided to try her luck on the Megabucks slot machine.

Gambling Stories Wins Against

The jackpot for this game is a state-wide lottery pool that had been rolling over for some time. On her 9th spin, Jay broke records the world over. Her US$34 959 458 became the largest prize in the game’s history.

Lightning Really Does Strike Twice

As difficult as it is to get hold of a million-dollar win off a Vegas slot once, one man found himself the doing so twice!

Gambling Stories Wins Poker

True gambling stories

Elmer Sherwin was a 76-year old veteran from World War II when he took home a US$4.6 million-dollar Megabucks prize. He was playing at The Mirage in Vegas and got lucky when the venue was just 10 hours old. Sherwin used his money to accomplish his dream of travelling the world.

Gambling Stories Wins Money

Continuing to play just because he loved the games, Sherwin kept spinning the reels a couple of times a week. Then the unthinkable happened, when he became the recipient of another US$21 million in the very same jackpot 16 years after his first win. This time he gave a lot of his winnings to charity, donating much of it to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Needless to say, many of us the world over are trying to steal his style by regularly enjoying the

https://onlinepokiesnz.co.nz/ so easily available online.

The Luckiest Man on Earth?

Archie Karas gave people all over the world a reason to hold onto the dream of rolling into Vegas with just a few pennies in the bank and leaving with a fortune. Karas hit arguably the greatest hotstreak in the history of gambling.

Gambling Stories Wins Games

Karas arrived in Vegas in 1992 with a mere US$50 in his pocket. He was fresh off an enormous loss, nearly US$2 million dollars poorer after a high stakes LA Poker game that went awry. Then he ran into a pal at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino who was able to lend him the US$10 000 he needed to get into a high-stakes game of Razz. This Poker variant sees the lowest hand winning and Kara thought this would go in his favour considering his recent run of bad luck.

And boy was he right.

Just 3 hours later, Kara was able to repay his initial debt along with 50% interest and still have enough money to keep playing. And his run kept going for 3 years, allowing him to amass a total of US$40 million dollars.

Set for Life

At the luxury Las Vegas Excalibur Casino, an unknown 25-year old Los Angelan man was looking for a way to kill some time while he waited for a Basketball game to begin. He left the hotel with one of the largest payouts Vegas has ever seen, over US$39 million! The young man opted to receive his winnings as annual US$1.5 million payouts for the next 25 years.

A Soldier Gets What He Deserves

Jon Heywood was a 26-year old soldier from the United Kingdom who managed to win US$20 062 600 while playing the Mega Moolah Progressive Jackpot online slot by Microgaming. He took the prize home in 2015 and it entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest online casino win ever.

Stick to What You Know

71-year old Hawaiian Amy Nishimura won her US$8.9 million jackpot while on vacation in Vegas. Nishimura always played the same slot, her machine, at the Freemont Hotel, and she is said to have chatted to it every time she played, asking it to give her some good luck.

It worked!

Nishimura played for roughly 3 hours with less than US$100 before she received her massive payout. It just goes to show that niceness never hurt anyone, even when you’re dealing with a machine, and tenacity pays off in the end.