The top 4 legends in Baccarat are John Warne Gates, Kerry Packer, Phil Ivey, and Akio Kashiwagi. They are reputed to stake enormous amounts of money and win or lose high stakes.
The game of Baccarat is related to sophistication, glamor, and wealth. This game is also associated with larger-than-life gamblers known to stake enormous money on some hands of cards. They could risk huge sums of money because they could afford it. However, if you want to play online Baccarat, remember that responsible gambling implies not betting more than is okay to lose.
John Warne Gates
John was a millionaire in Chicago. During his initial days, he used to sell firewood to local railroads and homes. His friends were some railroad workers who taught him to play casino card games. Since then, gambling has become his hobby, and he never looked back. After winning a fortune, he became the host of several high-stake baccarat games at his residence in Chicago and in the course of lengthy train travel between New York and the Windy city. He bet 1 million USD in just one round in one such game. No money was exchanged as he and his opponent won one hand each and tied for a third. But, this game earned him the name ‘Mr. Bet-A-Million.’
Kerry Packer
Kerry was an Australian media mogul. At the time of his death, he was the richest man in Australia. He had enormous wealth, due to which he could bet high stakes. He preferred to play Baccarat. In 1995, he played at a Las Vegas casino for 0.5 million USD per hand and won 26 million USD in a few hours. He was also known for losing large sums of money. In 2000, he lost more than 18.6 million USD in only three days. His photographic memory enabled him to work out Baccarat odds. He was renowned for his generosity.
Phil Ivey
Phil is reputed as the ‘Tiger Woods of Poker.’ He and Kelly Sun, his assistant, made a fortune by playing Baccarat in Atlantic City and London. This duo’s method was to disburse a 1 million USD deposit at a private Baccarat table and make three requests, which made things easy for them. These were that the dealer must speak only Mandarin Chinese, rotate the cards by 180 degrees, and play with a purple Gemaco deck. This strategy facilitated them to earn 20.6 million USD. Unfortunately, the casinos deduced how they made money dishonestly and were not permitted to retain their winnings.
Akio Kashiwagi
Akio was a Tokyo real-estate tycoon renowned as the robust contender for the greatest Baccarat legend of all time. His assets were valued at 1 billion USD, and annual profits were 100 million USD. He is known to play the highest-possible stakes in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. He dared to stake 0.1 million USD on a single hand and also wanted to bet 0.2 million USD on a single hand if the house allowed him. He played his last game in December 1991 at Atlantic City. With a budget of 12 million USD, he vowed to play till he doubled this amount or lost all of it. A month after this game, he was murdered at his residence in Mount Fuji.