Pretty much what happened last night.  I posted this with a bit more a few months ago, but it sure fits last night.  Here:

Belief in Something.  Influenced.  Visual Factors.

Here, let me spell something out.  If you believe something even if not scientific, mathematical or historically discovered, proven and absolutely correct, is it wrong?  What I mean is, can you have something you do that is correct and proper for yourself in your situation or circumstances?  And have that work positive for you and for what purpose you created it or found it?

Reality will supersede in factual results.  Always will, it must.  Does not matter what you are doing, the factual results will cancel, accept or discount whatever you introduce along the way, at the end.  Do we agree?

Problem is, almost all of us do not really think at the table when we are playing baccarat.  We really do not.  We get sucked in and we get sucked in big time.  Sure, you can read this and shrug your shoulders and say, Glen you do, I do not.  But hey, we both know that is wrong.

Just about all of us have two ways to play this game. One is in our heads, on paper, on the computer and everywhere else except the live brick and mortar event itself.  The other, is the brick and mortar event.  Lots of things happen when we get to the casino.  And the sad part of it all, they happen without any of us doing anything.  We are oblivious to them and we chase everything and pursue every avenue except ourselves to control, govern and take charge of ourselves in the proper way at the casino.  Again, shrug your shoulders and say I have no idea what I am talking about, but I do and I do 100 percent for about 98 to 99 percent of everyone.

Most of what really does happen at a casino is the person is influenced from the effects of the visual factors. The visual factors present themselves in varying ways to the different people there.  The influencing manipulates in varying stages and degrees as well.  But the bottom line is, it happens, and it happens repeatedly throughout the session(s) to the people.  Because the people are in a situation, they believe they belong in, are comfortable in and will prevail, their understanding of that same situation is not being addressed or understood.  And that is where the problem lies and develops and preys upon the people that gamble at the game of baccarat.

The Most Dangerous Thing at Baccarat.

What is the most dangerous thing, the most powerful thing and the thing that causes wrongful beliefs, dangerous influences and life changing factors within hours?  It is money.  The same as it does in businesses and families.  Just in those two it takes a much longer time to come to fruition. 
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Now, what happened at the bac table with Me, H-Money, another board member and the a few other players.  Here is how we were thinking the last shoe where we made the cash.  I will use H-Moneys wagering during the last shoe as an example. 

Last shoe buy-in was $1,200.00.  $90.00 win first wager.  $90.00 loss second wager.  $90.00 loss third wager.  And a $90.00 win for his fourth wager.  We took him aside and chastised him pretty good.  He was back to the flat wagering and the scared wagering style very clearly showing once again.  We talked to him and he agreed.  We repeatedly told him, forget the past, forget the earlier shoes even though they were pretty good for us all.  Play this shoe like it is brand new session, the last and tomorrow there is no more Bac to make up or continue, etc., etc. 

The next time he wagers, he throws out there $400.00 and he wins.  We make him stack it up and he wagers $800.00 the next time and he wins that one also.  If I am calculating it correct, he is up $1,200.00 on the shoe win money now and has his entire buy-in as even money. 

His next wager was $500.00 on the Bead Plate line that was forming all Players tot he right and it was the only strong and true entire line so far, 4 going on 5 columns.  It was a tie and it was a natural 9 tie.  H-Money pulls his wager down and we all left ours right where they were at, on the Players side.  When it is strong it is strong.  We DO NOT attempt to change or engage in the cut for sake of second guessing the presentment that are happening.  Huge mistake guys, HUGE!

H-Money throws up $600.00 on the Player side and announces he is following us, LOL--Camaraderie once again.  My style in many ways.  But most of all, when it is working, why fix it?  That is when all the fallacy, voodoo, superstition, etc., etc., comes about.   Anyway, one the Players side, a natural 8 is turned over and wins the hand.  H-Money is the first to parlay the $600.00 win he just got and went for a $1,200.00 hand.  Yes, he won that one also, and now he has his buy-in still even and is up a total of $3,000.00.

The same line on the Bead Plate comes around once again, H-Money puts $1,500.00 up on the wager and it wins with a Players 7 over the Bankers 6.  He stacks it up once again a few hands later, the first row shy of the next Bead Plate for that 5 line down, 5 hands later.  He/We all wins that one also.  Now H-Money is up a total of $7,500.00 and of course his buy-in is back in his pocket and off limits. 

We are all sitting up in profits and this is our final few hands we all agreed on.  Hard as heck to leave and walk away but we all know what will eventually happen when it turns, and it always will.  Always. 

The next upcoming hand we agreed upon H-Money wagers $1,200.00 and the rest us, some greater and a couple less.  We all lose.  H-Money pointed out that he was up a clear total of, $7,500.00 and removed $2,500.00 from that for risk capital as we pointed out.  The 1/3rd I always write about and drummed into his head.  His buy-in away and he is continuing with 1/3rd of the casinos money and 2/3rds locked up, and we would enforce he leaves with that if the $2,500.00 got lost back to the casino. 

We wait out a few hands, get some free hand presentments and we are once again back to that upcoming all Player line on the Bead Plate.  H-Money puts up $1,300.00 on that upcoming line for another continuing Player win.  We all follow of course.  The win comes and H-Money goes with a parlay of it, once again.  He has his $2,000.00 wager up on the next hand for another Player win, not for the reason that one was just produced, but for the reason of equaling out, which the shoe was also doing to a 'T' in reality.  Fallacy not to even be considered, just purely following what the majority of the wins are when nothing else was present.  We are only wagering about 2 or 3 hands out of every 10 anyway.

We all agree, mostly anyway, that the upcoming hand will be our last.  4 out of the 6 of us are profiting 5 to 10 fold our buy-ins and the other 2 of us, are a bit less up, but up none the less.  H-Money is wagering $2,000.00 on the upcoming hand and we are all there as well.  We do pull it off and win it.  H-Money and one other demands to keep playing, the rest of us convince them to leave.  We all head to the cashier.  H-Money is cashing at $10,200.00 and says he will take the $200.00 and go back and wager 8 times, $25.00 a time on the Fortune 7 only.  Which is table min anyway, wagering amount.  We laugh.  We all cash out and we all head back to the Bac room.

H-Money buys back in with the $200.00 and tells the dealer what he wants to do.  The dealer tells him to cover both sides since no one else is playing or just wager a quarter on the B or P and let it fly.  H-Money really wants to play, we can tell.  We convince him not to and he buys in with another hundred for 4 quarters to put one on each side for the cards to be dealt.  He tries to get us all to buy-in, no one wants to, the hype is over with us.  H-Money has a quarter on each the B and the P and one on the F-7 as well.  The first 3 hands he is all set up for the F-7 and the third card is one point off each time from him winning $1,000.00 on it.  All 8 hands go by and he losses the $200.00 side money and his $100.00 is sitting there even.

I pick up his chips and tell him, FINISHED, lets go.  Cash out the $100.00 and buy dinner elsewhere.  H-Money is like, lets get a comp and eat here.  We all say no.  H-Money is getting that look.  I go to the cashier, get the $100.00 and walk out.  DONE.  We get to the restaurant and we have our post comment session and reinforce everything I tried to outline here about money management method and using reality as a guideline, rather than what you think or have experience with, you know that thing called, "what it should be".

Wise up guys, realize when it is there to capitalize on it and hold it.  Revert back to each of our common and well familiar with, 'Levels and Plateaus' that each belong to us individually.  Stop the fantasies and the grand illusions of what you think you can do each and every time. 

Not bad layout, a bit small but quaint.  Waiting for it to open later tonight. Several players getting together for some camaraderie. 

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Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes always for all!  Alrelax.

So classic. Yet few of the newer players would follow anything.  They all always desire the 'Cut' or the Banker only.  Then they all expect it to never stop or come back. Sorry, Bac is not that way and never will be. 

But here is one shoe that did the classic and all familiar equaling out, that few will ever capitalize on.  I love to use the equaling out as a trigger when it begins to work.

There were about 12 more hands in the shoe but all chops and doubles.  Equaled out and stayed there.  Also, NOTE the low ties as I have repeatedly said!

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Stop the 'Cut' thinking every bet!  Why not wager with the shoe instead of against it most of the time?  Why believe all the hype and all the stats from computer models and tests that do not prove what will happen when you sit down with real money at a real casino?

This was a super moneymaking shoe for about 3 people at the table, the rest of them lost all their chips, re-buy ins and everything they brought wager for the Banker with negative progressions, etc. 

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We just got done with a shoe having 48 Bankers and 24 players with 6 Fortune Sevens and Three Pandas 8s and also three 3 card 8/9s anyway for 200 to 1.  Also at least 9 anyway natural8/9s.  Monster shoe, I got the picture of it I'll try to post it tomorrow or the next day we have a few hour drive home.

H money won a ton of money finally!   We all did pretty good!!

IMO, this is one of the greatest in so many ways!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJZ-BHBKyos

Yes, I know there are advantages that lurks there.  Just one of many, of course. 

The one I am making reference to is, what I call the Equaling Out, One More, Cut & Back. 

I have particular noticed this easier between hands 35-55 or so.  When it is equaling out or bouncing back and forth.  I have defined Sections & Turning Points that are defined by hand numbers rather then events.  3 to 5 a shoe as a norm.  But, within those there are the Equaling Out, One More, Cut & Back, that pretty much happens more than it does not.

What I am defining is something along the following.  PP-B-P-BBB-PPP-B-P-BB-PPP-BB-P-B-PPP-BB-PP-BBB-P-B-P-BBBB-P

With the shoe presentment that far, it is pretty much equaling out in both repeating Bs and Ps as well as total numbers.  Then say all of a sudden those last 7 Bankers, the three in a row and the single Banker and the last three in a row repeating were all strong presentments either naturals or the third card increased the Bankers hands to 8 or 9 and the Players hand presentments were all weak or at least much weaker than the Bankers.

I know many of you will discount this as reading into the presentments with fruitless meaning but I found what I am trying to define as a regular and repetitive occurrence more than not happening at all.  And, with that said, at the point I left off with the 37 hands above, the Banker I favor for the 4th repeat and breaking its previous trend of only 3s.  Then immediately back to the Players for the 1st Player win after the 4th banker.  Those 2 wagers I extremely favor and I have found would prevail more than miss.

While I am not one to get off of a streak, a 4th to me is no way indicative of a streak or a run, which to me is 7 or more anyway.

The same for those along the lines of: B-P-B-P-B-PP-B-P-B-P-BBB-P or something along the lines of: BBB-P-BBB-P-BBB-PP-BB-PPP-B-PPPP-B

So, what I am trying to define and bring out is, Equaling Out, 1 More or 1 Extra occurrence and then the Cut for the next upcoming hand. 

The RED Bs or Ps would be the hands I am referring to.

How Baccarat Came To Vegas......

Within a post on an internet site--someone touched upon the game of Baccarat coming to Vegas from Cuba to the Sands Casino and Resort.  Well true and as the say-"Here's the rest of the story"........

I remember reading about that in the book, 'Fly on the Wall' by Dick Odessky.  Great book on history of Vegas and pretty easy reading for most.  Highly recommend it.  (however, there is no game strategy and systems to beat all the games so you might not be interested!)

Credit for the following to the author as cited above.

....."Baccarat and its direct ancestor Chemin de fer were unknown in Las Vegas until 1953, when a Broadway actress made her nightclub debut at the Sands Hotel shortly after it opened.  A world traveler and gambler who'd fallen in love with baccarat in European casinos, Tallulah Bankhead was upset when she couldn't find the game offered anywhere in Las Vegas.

Between and after her shows at the Sands, she'd usually walk next door to Luigi's Restaurant to relax,  There was only problem: Luigi's had no casino.  Tallulah continuously badgered Luigi to open a few tables at which she could play--especially a baccarat table.

When Talullah was angry, the world knew about it.  Her voice could be best described as a loud rusty foghorn.  Luigi and his family determined that it would be easier to bring the game and go into the gambling business than to offend the first lady of Broadway and her many friends, who had also become excellent customers.  Back then, about all it took to get a gambling license was filling out some forms and presenting a couple of people in town who would vouch for your honesty.

Thus, when Talullah returned for her repeat appearance at the Sands later in the year, a baccarat table had been installed in Luigi's lounge area.  True to her word, Talulluh played there, at very high stakes, every night.  Her fans and admires took to the game as well.

One of Bankhead's closest friends was actress Marlene Dietrich, who lived in Beverly Hill's and came to Las Vegas during Bankhead's appearances. (She eventually signed her own contract to headline in the resort showrooms.)  Dietrich, too, was a baccarat player.  Both women were at the height of their fame and Luigi's suddenly became the favorite watering hole for many high rollers, who enjoyed being in the company of the two famous actresses.

The Sands, whose bodies were always alert for an emerging high-roller trend, opened its own baccarat table.  As operators of the first casino to deal the game, the bosses forever patted themselves on the back for "discovering" it.".......................

And that my friends, is the rest of the story!

The 6 things a great baccarat player absolutely must subscribe to!

ABC's/1-2-3s of Skills

A-#1)    Leaving Stuck/Stop Loss. Simply the hardest to do and yet, just about all the magical systems people and other general authors and gaming experts highly recommend it.  And others will swear up and down you do not have to leave stuck or losing money by following a system of one type or another.  Whatever it is, here is what the real and professional baccarat player will enlist as his Number 1 protocol in skill.  Losing a buy-in, if the buy-in was the actual total amount the player brought to risk for his session, if lost-he stops. How much the player buys in with is highly dependent and greatly independent upon his bank roll and financial situation, etc.  But all in all, the baccarat player must risk a certain buy-in.  If it happens, it happens.  If he does not win with that buy-in, it generally will not happen even with continued buy-ins.  A fallacy so many fall victim to is, wager a negative progression until you are even then stop without losing.  That is truly a casinos dream and a players nightmare.  Do not do it.  Do not even read material that suggest to do anything along those lines.  You will hurt yourself and find yourself without any reasonable thought once it happens each time.   Here, let me put it in terms easier to grasp.  Say you lost your longtime girlfriend or wife (and you were madly in love with her--by the way) to some other guy.  You bumped into his girlfriend or wife that just dumped him because she found out he was cheating with yours.  So, you thought what would be good for the goose is great for the gander as well.  A few months later you find out your 'new' girl is diagnosed with full blown AIDS and your blood test proved positive as well.   

B-#2)    Stealing A Situation. When the shoe formations are strong or weak and the timing is spot-on, you are capitalizing on the bet placements you are wagering.  Forget everything else, continue the capitalization and the wagering with the largest, pounce on it type of positive progressions. Remember the limited sections and shoes that any kind of situation can be present, or you will NOT be able to identify such and be able to wager on same.  Steal the situation with every ounce of energy and motivation you can physically present and then revert when it is over.  Do not attempt the furtherance of what just happened to your good fortune in any way, shape or form of wagering as you just did.

C-#3)    Wagering Less/Gearing Yourself Down. Playing at a certain level, especially trying to recoup or force yourself to win is wrong, deadly and a skill not to employ under almost any situation or condition.  Extremely hard but with conscious thought, you should be able to avoid it.  And if you can, you must!  A real good baccarat player recognizes the great shoes and the horrible ones also.  He also knows that so many shoes will be a combination of both of those with an added twist of nothing can really be wagered on and those are the ones you normally lose 8-10 out of every 10 wagers you make.  Understand?   If you want to wait for the great shoes and you have to sit there and learn how to play less and gear yourself down.  Jumping from table to table is most everyone's answer to their dreams in baccarat.  All that normally does is create confusion, clouded thought, incomplete pictures and less than optimal knowledge of the shoe already in play.  And that is exactly why most all casinos, at least the ones I know of, have no problem with you jumping from table to table.

ABC's/1-2-3s of Avoidance

A-#1)    Progressions/Increasing & Marty's to recoup lost wagers. Attempting catch-up will almost certainly always fail.  You are failing for a reason prior to the negative progression and Marty's, etc.  And merely throwing greater amounts out for your wager will not and cannot correct what is actually the problem.  Nearly 100% of the time the problem is with everything you are feeling and doing, rather than your actual bet placement process.  It is two different areas, you have to have the first one clear and spot on, which is the process that involves everything except the actual wagering.  Then the second process the first one will get you to, is the bet placement selection.

B-#2)    Playing After Substantial Wins. Super dangerous, period.  Most will think that all the energy and motivation and financial sources just won, would give themselves the power to win more.  It does not and more often than continued success, failure sets in and sets in real fast.  A certain way to lose all your winnings, as well as your buy in and risk funds you are holding, is to continue to play in the same state of mind your substantial win has moved your brain and heart into.  Winning effects the highest majority of baccarat players in a negative way and clouds their intelligence and their decision-making thought process incredibly.  You must develop a system that will allow you to hold certain amounts of your win funds without the risk of losing them back.  You must develop a multi-stages effort that is tangible and conscious within your thought.  Or, you will give back all your winnings, your buy in and other funds when your regression to the non-substantial win stage sets in.  And coloring up some chips and sticking some purples, yellows, oranges, flags or chocolates in your pocket, is not going to do it either--that does not work.

C-#3)    Forget Everything (Statistical and Personal). You have to learn to sit down and play at the baccarat table with an absolute clear, unaffected mind, no thoughts or concerns of anything outside of the table you are at, along with a refusal to rely and base what is happening, happened or what you want to happen and wager on---from your previous playing experiences and shoes, anywhere at any time.  You have to learn that the shoe you are gambling at, has no dependency or connection to any statistical or other tangible or intangible research or thought, anywhere, anyplace, any way, shape or form.  You have to view the shoe you are playing in relation to the formation and what is being presented in a suspended state, by itself and as virgin and without any history as a new born baby.

Most Bac players on-line and in the forums, have no idea of the power of the B&M and camaraderie.  They are just used to the grind and the small stop loss and the small stop win, attempting the trivial profit that almost always gets ground down to a negative total because they are convinced of the profitability by that proverbial and no where grind method.

Anyway, this photo I took was posted a while back.  The power of POUNCING ON IT is very real and anything and everything happens in Bac. 

Best way to play it is when you have the casinos money and you are wagering with money that does not effect your buy in or bank roll.

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You know, Bac is full of more 'off-the wall', and more 'should not happens', or more 'that was not supposed to happen', etc., etc., trends and patterns than those that are 100% or easily predicable.  And, that is why so many people lose at Bac.

That late streak of 10 Bankers was a GIVE-ME for those players that truly pounce on something.  I recall something along the lines of it starting off like this.  A Natural for the Bankers, then 2 Natural Ties and everyone is saying, how the players side will catch up and equal out or start to dominate, etc. 

Then another Banker.  Most all people are going for the cut, after all the mentality is always 2 or 3 and cut back.  Then back to back Fortune 7s!  Then another tie.  Then 3 natural Bankers back to back and 2 more Banks and yet another Fortune 7. 

You know, I browsed a few other gambling forum message boards early this morning.  Comical, super comical.  The fighting, the insults, the come backs and the few (FEW) intelligent and real members of each that attempt to share and communicate.  Seems like the majority of each are there for drama, insulting, fighting, arguing, and belittling each other.  Why on a gambling board?  The other boards have huge audiences and countless engage like a Civil War all day against each other.

I deduced down why on gambling boards these types continue to exist.  because there is not much resistance or challenge to them on the smaller boards.  They feel as through they have the number spot, limelight, spotlight, etc., etc.  They prop themselves up and feel mighty.  That is the only true reasoning it could be. 

When you explore further into it, you will see those types I mentioned, their postings and threads are next to no value at all, at least in my opinion. 

And then there are the others that split their postings, devotions and time on the boards with a great deal of each.  Something was posted on another board and it is so spot on, so accurate, so brutally honest and pure, I will quote it.

"That is, You can see it in politics and celebrities all the time.
If you cannot produce anything of value on your own because you are not capable of doing it -
your other option is to attack the leader for attention. One way is through praise and another
is through attacks. These people just decide to attack in order to get attention.
A better way to become relevant is to actually post and help others - but when the best you can
pull from your purse is....." and then those types go on to post something about gambling which
would be along the lines of confusion and obscurity at best.

"You cared enough to post it originally - and you cared enough to reply to it.
And it was you who started it with your nonsense insult towards me.
Strange how that works right? I'm minding my own business, you attack me, I reply -
and now I'm a jerk. It's almost.... typical."

I still say and I have written it many many times.  Which is: You would not go into a Barnes & Noble, pick up a book, browse through it, find conflict, personal notes and passages by the author which you find conflicting to your own beliefs, theories or experiences and then proceed to the counter and chastise, belittle and humiliate the store personnel.  And certainly you would not get the authors contact information or the publishing house info, and go onto a rampage of writing emails and letters to them for the content and the authors beliefs as published.  You would not and do not.  But gambling boards, Oh heck, let us engage and go into drama, arguing and humiliation.  For those that do, your real side is exposed and whatever you claim is usually just the opposite in reality.  Reality is harsh to those and reality is never going away. 

Patriots-Giants Week 6 point spread is historic on multiple levels
By Darren Hartwell October 09, 2019 10:42 AM

"The New England Patriots will face stiff competition one day. But that day is not Thursday.

The Patriots opened at SuperBook USA as whopping 16.5-point favorites over the Giants in Week 6, which makes sense considering New York is on the road facing the best defense in the NFL and could be without Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman, Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram.

That's the fourth time this season New England has opened as a double-digit favorite. But this spread is particularly notable, for two reasons.

First, it's the biggest point spread of any NFL game played on a Thursday, according to Pro Football Reference. Ironically, the previous record also was held by the Giants, who were 15-point underdogs to the Dallas Cowboys in 1992.

As only one team favored by 14 points or more in a Thursday game failed to cover. Patriots-Giants match up features a hilarious prop bet
Here's part two: The Giants will be the biggest underdogs in franchise history Thursday night against the Patriots, as they've never been more than 15.5-point underdogs, per Pro Football Reference.

New York has covered its massive spread six times in 10 instances when it's a 13-point underdog or greater.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots will tell you they're not taking the Giants lightly. But considering New England has won four of its five games by at least 16 points, there's a good chance we see another blowout at Gillette Stadium."

Okay, with the above article read and digested, please read.  First of all, I HAD NO MONEY on the game.  I gave up wagering on college football back around 2001 and Pro football in the mid to later 2000's.  I track a few games of the teams I like, Jets, Eagles and Vikings as well as those I despise, such as the Patriots and Packers and a few others. 

But my friend, who has a family member that helps me tremendously at my restaurant, was all hyped and convinced his payday was the Giants and the Patriots game the other night.  In fact, I do not like The Giants because The Jets are my New York team and I absolutely despise The Patriots.  Although, year after year after year, the Patriots pull off amazing stuff!  Beyond comprehension most times.  I was very tempted to put a large sum on The Patriots, but to me that would have been like wagering on the 10th or the 11th repeating hand of a Banker streak at Baccarat and the Player returns a natural 8 to the Bankers 7 or the Players returned a natural 9 to the Bankers natural 8.  Anyway, the guy mentioned comes in my restaurant all hyped and telling me and another he put down $20K on The Giants and his reasoning. 

Some of that had to do with the historic research and rationalization mostly about the part:  "New York has covered its massive spread six times in 10 instances when it's a 13-point underdog or greater."

But you know what and what sticks in mind with me.  1)  "The New England Patriots will face stiff competition one day. But that day is not Thursday".  And 2) New York was on the road and simply facing the absolute best defense in the NFL.  Done deal.  Finished.

But the guy is saying for hours in my place, "New York has always covered and New York is really a decent team".  On and on and on and on.  Say it all and convince yourself, go right ahead, just like at the Baccarat table.  Convince yourself this or that has to happen or should or has to come out because of such and such.  Happens every single night, every night!  Just like when there is a 9 or 13 or 15 hand Player Streak.  How most all people will verbally say, cannot continue, Banker has to come back or Banker will start equaling out, etc., etc., etc. 

GIANTS 2-4 and PATRIOTS 6-0.  With the points, some betters even got up to 18 points.  All the stats and all the history means nothing, ZIP! 

You know, I am remembering back to January 2018, when the Vikings went to the Eagles for the Do or Die game.  Vikings win, go to Superbowl, Eagles win, go to Superbowl.  And do not forget, Minnesota built the brand new arena and the Superbowl was scheduled to be there.  Home team, Home stadium at the Superbowl.  WOW, Boy O Boy, what a field day for the Vegas Books and other Books regarding that.  There was no way and virtually impossible for a team like the Vikings to beat the Eagles in a Do or Die Game on the road.  And then the Books make out the Vikings to be the favorite.  LOL, ROMAFL, huge!  All the talk and all the reasoning's how the Vikings will win.  Same of course with the Eagles.  I love both teams, but in my heart,  I knew the Vikings on the road to Phila would never ever survive.  Never.  The Vikings are submissive and girls on the road, especially in an outdoor stadium and in the Winter.  Period. 

You know that game was even more of a hype than the Pats and the Giants the other night.  But the Las Vegas books manipulated the public betting people at large and they cleaned house with all capitals letters, CLEANED HOUSE.  The books pulled a shrewd one, O Boy O Boy did they.  Here is a quote,"The Philadelphia Eagles' success as rare home playoff underdogs last weekend hardly impressed Las Vegas bookmakers, who promptly made the Minnesota Vikings 3-point favorites over the Eagles in the NFC championship game Sunday in Philadelphia."   And the wind up was, "The Eagles then went on to win the Super Bowl in Minnesota's brand new stadium and they had to deal with partying Eagles fans all over again".

On the way into the Baccarat Room the person I was with wanted to try a few hundred in the machine with roulette.  As in Bac, when it comes it is there for a short period of time.  I took a quick snap shot of the previous 15 spin results or so on the left side of the screen. 

5 Blacks
1 Red
4 Blacks
1 Red
5 Blacks
1 Red

Then it did the same thing.  Another 5 Blacks came out.  My buddy was betting $50.00 to $200.00 on Black every time.  When the Red came out he switched to Red.  I told him, stick on Black, ride it.  He stuck on Red each time and lost like 2 more wagering for the Red each time, then switches back to Black.  He could have won 15 with the 1 Red loss each time.  But he won like 5 instead!!!  That was it!

Man O Man!  He was completely convinced that it had to switch back to Red as there were too many Blacks with only single Reds appearing.

Okay, whatever.  Same at the Bac table, too many players or bankers so lets all wager for the cut, etc.! 

Again I say, wager with whatever it is doing, STOP trying to change the pattern or trend.  When it is there, it is there, PERIOD!

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Love all you people!

No matter if you post, if you don't post, if you if you stalk, if you watch, if you read out of curiosity, whatever you do, I love you guys deep down inside!

You guys are the best no matter what!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WVhbgoe854

Here are 3 shoes from around midnight and into the early AM hours.  Shoes were full table and long, very long, at least 2.5 hours each.  Myself, H-Money and another friend Laping, playing together.  We started some overpowering the shoe tactics, but was not quite where I wanted the action to be.  But so many faces in awe, again--the majority of the people play for CUT these days as well as what they desire, not what the shoe is producing.  But some PLAYER-SIDE heavy action. 

[attachimg=1]

3 F-7s came out.  Love that first one in Hands 1-10!  LOVE IT!  Players dominant at the end, huge!  Most every hand was a Bad Beat Bonus win or where the Players side drew a 3rd card for the stop and win or additional points up to 8 or 9.  So obvious, had to jump on it!  I have been talking about this and bringing out, follow it, it works just fine!

You are what you are, the same as myself. 

The only mistake I made on any board was the 'Saturday Night Live' type of skits converted into the written words/posts I had made regarding systems, other members and such.

The rest of just about everything I ever posted, deleted and re-posted, has been my experiences, downright real, justified if needed and absolutely the truth or what I believed to the last word.  Not, words of hate and spite and words that attempted to demolish or put someone's light's out, so to say. But others that are drama driven and pretty much full-time internet types, certainly roll with it all and use what I have said or said in pun to boast themselves and pass themselves off as multi interracial and savior to any and all people.   

Problem is, so many are exclusively inhibited and as well--introverted on here.  They picture just about everyone else the same or just below themselves with little to no imagination, experience or optimism.  All of course, IMO.

I thought for a while--we were about on the same level, play--experience wise that is.  But you did (again IMO) go a tad bit too far with the medical, personal and professional valuations regarding myself.  Why?  I can't really say.  Maybe I was just there. 

I seriously have been through some pretty tumultuous times and experiences in my life from being affiliated through marriage with NYC Asian Triads to all out criminal activity regarding adult businesses and financially related activity and businesses, to non-gambling and non-criminal professions that were just nasty-dirty and extremely difficult years with the history of them, etc. 

I generally (unless pun is intended or some other form of humor) tell the truth with explicit and redundant tenacity on here.  Yes, I have been on other boards and self-banned myself or been banned for generally not caring one bit about what they stand for and got in some two bit 'back alley' fight with some internet troll.  Like I did on the other forum I last told the Admin to ban myself.  I just got that NYC 'don't give a F*** attitude when I take a stand for something', etc., etc. 

As far as accepting or not accepting an apology of the type you made, I honestly see no reason to have even brought up what you did.  You have nothing to prove here the same as myself, although I have tried at times, why---I could not answer except to say, I write the honest and unforgiving truth. 

There is a way to gamble and there certainly are many ways not to gamble.  The same as writing on the board here or anywhere else.

Just because someone gambles differently than myself does not make him or her inferior or superior to myself or anyone else for that matter.  Likewise, the way others write and what they write about or belief in, the exact same would have to hold true as well.  If we were all the same, this world would really suck a heck of a lot more than it already does.  And, you and your few buddies that ganged up together, certainly write and dictate one-sided non verifiable experiences and dialog a heck of a lot more than I have or ever have done.  So be it.  Truth like that is hard to defend and show, it just lies there and is interpreted by those that read. 

The bottom line?  And many will not like it, some will take it and twist and turn it and use it against me, others might realize something from it and begin their own journey into finally realizing how to win and stop.  But here it is.  You cannot race bicycles without knowing how to ride one in the first place.  You cannot swim in competition without knowing how to swim in the first place.  You cannot race a car without knowing how to drive one in the first place.  You cannot be a novelist without having basic skills in writing, reading, organizational and researching skills in the first place.  You cannot be successful in gambling without having experienced losses and wins in the first place.

It is the realization and the comprehension of the proper skills and protocols that will allow you to take advantage of what casino games present.  Meaning, how to actually recognize risk, manage it and at the same time, the ability to cash out and be comfortable at your levels and plateaus that govern your casino time and play. 

Wishing you the best as I always have.  Although at your own admission your previous apology to myself was a lie and a piece of made up drama, mine is not.

Maybe one day you will realize...Alrelax/Glen.

Atlantic City.  I remember it well.  A good basic story.  Enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0EQk5Inz2c

Dedicated to "The Gambler".   Mr. Terrance Watanabe

Like NIKE says, "Just Do IT!".

Terrance Watanabe (born 1962) is an American born Japanese businessman who inherited Oriental Trading Company, a direct merchant of value-priced party supplies, arts and crafts, toys and novelties and school supplies founded by his father Harry Watanabe. Terrance was known for the large amounts of money he wagered at Las Vegas casinos.

Business background

In 1977, Terry Watanabe became president and part owner of Oriental Trading Company shifting the focus from carnivals to supplying party goods for churches, schools, retailers, and individuals.  In 2000, Watanabe sold his entire stake in the company to Los Angeles-based private equity firm Brentwood Associates, and resigned as CEO and President. He became a philanthropist, but subsequently lost most of his fortune gambling in Las Vegas.

Gambling habits

After selling his company, Watanabe became known for his lavish gambling habits. In 2007, he was reported to have lost $127 million at Caesar's Palace and The Rio in Las Vegas after having gambled a total of $825 million. He was banned from Wynn Las Vegas for compulsive gambling. Watanabe is estimated to have lost approximately $204 million.

Caesars Entertainment Corporation was fined $225,000 by the New Jersey Gaming Commission for allowing Watanabe to continue gambling in a highly intoxicated state, though Watanabe's losses occurred in Las Vegas. Caesars alleges that Watanabe "was using marijuana and/or cocaine and made sexual advances toward employees". Caesars Rewards created a special tier for him known as "Chairman" which ranks above "Seven Stars". Watanabe received "tickets to the Rolling Stones, $12,500 a month for airfare and $500,000 in credit at the gift stores. Harrah's also offered 15% cash back on table losses greater than $500,000, special high-limit games and other incentives".

People like Terrance make the world go around and around!  Like the song says by Steelers Wheel, 'Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right'.  This is Terrance, the whale at the tables!

GREED.......GREED>>>>>GREED.......GREED>>>>>>GREED!


Poker's Greatest All-Time Whales: Terrance Watanabe:
https://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-s-all-time-greatest-whales-terrance-watanabe

Card Player Magazine Article New Jersey CCC fines Caesar?s Entertainment:
https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/15243-caesars-fined-225k-over-not-kicking-out-belligerent-high-roller-on-historic-losing-streak

The Wall Street Journal Article:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125996714714577317

Winning, losing and pushing.  That is the only 3 things a player can do at the casino table.  There are no other outcomes.

The results that you experience at the table will not and cannot follow any sort of governed or stable distribution of presentments or results from the shoe.  Because the possibilities as we already established are far too great to narrow down to a certain section of 80 hands or a cumulative total of 160 or 320 or 640 or 5,000 hands, and so on, that will produce what we all are seeking, winning hands.  So many people will combat just that with their defense of Martingale or their application of any one of the numerous theorems or systems that they read about or believe in.

Seriously people, the only way to profit is to smack the casino real hard and outweigh your losses in the attempt to get to that point, each time or at least every 2, 3 or 4 times you attempt playing.  IMO, there is no other way.  Unlike paper, the computer, trials, running tests, etc., you have finite capital, period.  No two ways about it.  The casino does not.  (Here, let me give you copy & paste people something to post elsewhere.  You sit down at a computer to practice, no matter if that practice is with modeling and running theories or playing for no money in an on-line game like on the WoV website or something like 21Aces posted about with squeeze type practice, etc., etc.  You have unlimited capital and unlimited hands that will make you feel confident and great with huge advantages, but carry those moves over to a real casino and see how it goes and what happens to your finite capital.  No matter if that capital is $5,000.00 or $50,000.00 or $500,000.00.  Does not matter, you have finite capital, PERIOD!  On the internet with practice, modeling, running possible hands and all that stuff all the tutors, scholars and theorem people do to make their points, in the casino you DO NOT!) So, what you are doing is, you are accepting what you believe to be the truth and you convince yourself the best chance is following such and such.  However, the reality turns out to be the casino shoe presentments will be different and you cannot transpose what you learned or believe in, to the bac table at the casino. The fastest race car driver will not always win.  The best field goal kicker can not prevail doing the same thing in every game.  The best extreme mountain climber cannot apply the same protocols to every mountain he climbs.  Bac is no different, yet the scholars, the theorem experts and the computer wizards stick to their guns and put so much hogwash out there, they dilute what it really takes to realize what the bac shoe can really present and how to be on the right side of it.

Let's look at that, for just one paragraph here.  You have a certain amount of money to risk losing in order to win some.  Period.  So you have a very short period of time in order to accomplish that during each session.  No matter how much that figure is, it is limited.  The casino does not.  The casino has massive amounts of capital in chips and the cash within the premises by state law, ready to pay every chip displayed on the floor.  FYI, every chip on every table no matter if open or closed, the casino has the green cash within their vaults or the chips would not be on the tables.  So, you cannot out play them by repeated buy ins with additional money, thinking you will turn things around in your favor and turn their lights out.  As well, stamina, energy, focus, motivation, vision, and everything else along those lines are also working against you.  The casino rotates its dealers every 20 mins or so, not just to avoid collusion with players, but also for exactly the same reasons I just mentioned.  Sitting in either one or two spots for a period of several hours is hard both physically and mentality in so many ways, especially with the focusing and thought process.  Then when things go bad for a player, he believes taking a break is great, but his mind is convinced he will miss that section of presentments yet to come with his winning hands, etc.  That starts a mean cycle and a cycle that is not very good for the player, great for the casino though.

Then we have the fact what we have discussed in detail so many times.  A negative game with a negative expectation.  IMO and my proven experience, if you have the proper risk capital and mind-frame along with a governed buy in that is a partial amount of your bank roll, coupled with the knowledge and the experience to manage your winnings into numerous chances that benefit yourself rather than the casino, then you have a chance to play numerous sessions and win money. 

But, IMO you have to master a way to hold wins, perform positive progressions and parlays, yet be able to risk without emotion or distress while walking away losing your buy in which has to be a partial amount of your bank roll, without it effecting you to the point that you regret it and dwell upon the loss.

The myths and the fallacies that exist on the internet regarding baccarat as well as casino gambling are astronomical!  People become delusion to their own thoughts.  They provide themselves no advantage to make themselves a sequence of wagering selections which they really believe they have.  They actually afford themselves no advantage and they limit their options by doing just that.  That is the sad part, all that learning and researching only convinced themselves of numerous ways to beat the casino, when none actually exist.  Especially in mathematical and statistical adherence.  Period.

At this point so many will still believe and attempt to count the cards, keep track of the banker, the player, ties and other events the shoe produces.  Simply, if it worked like that, the casino would not offer cards, pens and the newer electronic scoreboards.  It does not, at least for the extreme upper 90% of the time you are there, if you employ it as a protocol for wagering or not wagering.  Will there be sections where the equaling out, or certain events happen because there was a deficiency of them prior to that?  Sure.  However, just as important and what becomes devastating, are the times and the sections that those very things were supposed to, or yet believed would come out and did not.  And, that my friend will happen a greater amount of times in the casino's favor, rather than the players advantage.  That is the reason why and the only reason why the casino provides you the equipment and the permission to track, score, calculate and take notes all you desire at the baccarat table.

So what is one to do?  You have to develop a unique boldness or an advantage in select wagering when the presentments of the shoe offer the chance to win hands that will allow yourself to outweigh your losses in the attempt to win money.  There is really a chance for the player, once you figure that out and forget about the wager for such and such, because so and so just happened, or did not happen, type of play.

No matter what creative or Holy Grail angle you think you found, you will not bring it to the baccarat table and repeatedly beat the casino at the game. No matter how perfect your counting is, no matter how perfect your data modeling and tracking methods become, no matter how perfect you can sense something, etc.  If you continue to wager on any one or several types of wagers because of your expectation, that the presentment will match any type of theorem or system schedule, you are dead wrong and will be on a continuous basis.  Simply because the numbers of possible outcomes have too many possibilities for anything stable or predictable to happen on a consistent basis, whether that is in one shoe or multiple shoes of baccarat.  That is, if you continue playing past your first time anyway.

You don't have to change yourself.  Or stop believing, or stop gambling, or stop questioning or stop applying yourself.  The whole trick to what will help you, is being totally conscious and putting yourself into a neutral state of playing, a natural state of focus, vision and mind frame.  Not even in the belief that a certain Bet Selection process will prevail over another.

It is about progressions, parlays and accumulating that amount each time or during a cumulative amount of times, that outweighs the variance, the house edge, your own default rate, etc., that you engage yourself in.  You have to figure out how each $100 you play with, will allow you to win after you lose a certain amount.  And IMO, experience and everything else combined, I found a certain way to be able to win at baccarat.  And that is to realize time, money, emotional, psychological and frame of mind all combined will determine how your decision making process allows you to accumulate and allocated your wins and how you manage the losses that will happen.  Those that think and believe everything I just mentioned does not apply to them, are just wasting their time being here anyway.

First Shoe up to where we stopped:

[attachimg=1]

Second shoe up to where we stopped:


[attachimg=2]

Third shoe up to where we stopped:

[attachimg=3]

And here is how we played them and sectioned them as the hands progressed.  Once again.  Sectioning is not a pre-thought and pre-scheduled procedure, you do it as the hands are presented and section off the events to eliminate the strong from the weak, seldom will the entire shoe (or at least the highest majority of time) stay the same.  Argue if you desire but it is true. 

I and those around me the majority of the time desire to play with the presentments rather than hoping for the cut on every hand wagered.  Do not misunderstand, if it is chopping or doubles, playing the opposite side is not a cut, it is playing with the shoe.  We win far greater amounts of wagers by following small sections and then waiting for the shoe to change and follow once again. 

[attachimg=4]

[attachimg=5]

[attachimg=6]

Please, when dealing with other members regarding funding, investments and gambling capital approaches:

0:54 to 3:25 (with a dedication about previous con scam artists that used to be on this board but still in forum land!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLm5Sn1cMyQ

As well, we cannot forget the original one, loved by the scammers themselves, but reality, PLEASE:...........................


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pIkkzDagsY

This was in my incoming Email this morning.

"XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
to: Betselectionboard.Admin

This was posted many times on another forum and I was just wondering if you can shed any light on this statement,  The member posts the same thing all the time.  I would appreciate it and thanks,  XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

"(He has confessed to engaging in criminal and dubious financial activity, kinda of hypocrisy, ironic, but hey that's glenda for ya.

Defo the head has fallen off the Triad enforcer and former hitman, obviously even he doesn't like himself) "

FYI, this is not the first time I received this type of Email relating to the below subject.  It seems as though a couple/few X-Members of this board are so infatuated with myself, they follow me, read everything I write and even complained to the Jewish Defense League about what they interpret is reality and not satire and Saturday Night Live type of entertainment.  "ADL is local, national and global. Our work encompasses schools to government agencies, small communities to the State of Israel, anti-terrorist to cyberhate task forces, local government to the halls of Congress."

Well I will address both. 

First of all, there is something called Freedom of Speech here in the USA along with satire, entertainment and as well, expression.  Here the Jews describe it perfectly on their website I looked at this morning.  There is nothing wrong with satire of all types and what you are addressing on any website you blame me for is exactly that.  Even on the ADL's website, it says exactly that, in regards to satire and entertainment.  Nothing more, you can claim whatever you want, big F***ing deal bro!  Where are the victims of hatred that were violently attacked with money I raised, where are the victims of discrimination that lost their jobs or never hired, where are the victims of murder I committed according to you, where are the people I extorted?  Etc., etc., etc., and so on and so forth.  Big F***ing lies, nothing less.  I publicly state, you give the largest and most gorgeous hand job ever to the internet community!

By the way, I guess you never studied history?  Research it and learn that the Jews were certainly a primary funding source of money that enabled the slave ships to operate in the first place, dickhead!  Without the Jews, slavery probably would not have been as bad as it was in the USA as well as Europe and other parts of the world!!  Jews were not only persecuted, but so many Jews enabled a whole lot of torture and torment of other people but that's another discussion, so stop thinking the Jews are your savior for somebody that simply ban you from an Internet site because of the way that you f****** act.!!   And if you don't like what I just said, please give them a copy of this and ask them to come after me.

Another thing, Jews including Rabbis and members of their families were some of the best customers (AKA: Tricks & Johns) that paid repeated and valued patronage to NYC brothels, ROMAFL!  At least while I was engaged in the business.  And without a doubt, I am sure they still do up to this very day.  I have nothing against the Jews, in fact, some are within my family on my dad's side, LOL. 

If you only knew what the hell you were talking about and had your facts straight, you might realized you stepped on you tail a bit there big guy.  You are nothing but a pee-on in no man's land.  Period, end of story.  File all the complaints you want, I have a free pass, I proffered and I was on the side of law enforcement in each and every thing I ever did.  Look up proffer and then you might realize a tad bit more there! 

By the way big boy, Al Goldstein, a JEW was a very good business friend of mine.  I did buy, control and resell the back page, which was the premier and most sought after ad positioning 2 spots, on the weekly issue of SCREW Newspaper for the NYC brothel, sex, adult business market for many years.  It is very well documented and very well known within the realm of all law enforcement members (detectives. Federal agents, prosecutors and U.S. Attorney's),that were  all part of numerous task forces for years to tackle the MOB, the Triads and numerous other influential criminal organizations that at the time (no longer existing now as all the commercialism of the NYC/NJ adult business went individual or to human traffickers (mostly Chinese), whom I was never involved with.  And yes, I did certain favors for the law enforcement community and I was allowed to exist with their blessing, approval and cooperation within the realm of the proffer sessions and agreements we did have at the time.

About Al Goldstein a JEW from Brooklyn and owner of SCREW Magazine that I controlled the back cover for Asian brothels for years.  So what is the problem?  What did I do wrong or illegal outside of my proffer agreements?  What?  That connection alone allowed me to operate with immunity within the adult community as long as I did not commit murder or violent crimes.  LOL, I proffered to it all with the law enforcement agencies involved.  In fact, they would use our places when they wanted to and staff them with their own hired females in order to gather the necessary evidence that they needed back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. 

About Al Goldstein:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Goldstein

About SCREW Magazine:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw_(magazine)

As far as murder and extortion and what you claim, you are so far off track it is ludicrous.  But yes, the Born The Kill, The Ghost Shadows and their Flying Dragons were involved with countless Asian women (business owners, house wifes and brothel owners) to launder their money obtained in their Triad ventures, etc.  That is where Atlantic City came into play dickhead! 

David Thai and the aftermath of David Thai was all over the NYC and New Jersey Asian adult business market.  The aftermath and followers of Thai that was really the brains and the balls behind the BTK Triad was huge.  It was eventually brought under control and just about eliminated or at least secluded and confined to minor fractions within Chinatown and numerous other Asian only sections of the northeast and other states metro areas only effecting the illegal business communities.  Which the latter will never be stopped, Asian or otherwise. 

Like you know more than the OCCB of the NYPD and the OCCB of the New Jersey State Police as well as the FBI, the Secret Service, the ATF and the numerous US Attorneys Offices, as well as numerous other agencies that tackled the five structures of the NYC area Asian Triads and had a round up and indictment of a number much larger than 350 top officials, officers and members of the Triads back in the middle 1990s. 

Grow the F*** up and learn something and do something worthwhile.  LOL.

And if you really want, I can google and post some links for the real black hatred websites that do exist and are really racist and operating, but allowed to post what they want because of freedom of speech.  There are tons of them and not offering satire, they are serious to the best of my knowledge.  Again not illegal.  Hey big guy, you can have a F***king field day by reporting them, here is one I just googled.  What are you waiting for, call the Jews to shut it down?!!!! http://niggermania.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?28-Nigger-Crime

Satire and entertainment is allowed, is not illegal and is no different than TV, comedians on stage and numerous other people in reality saying what they want about blacks, Asian, Latinos or any other nationality.  Again, grow the F**k up and do your online nonsense that means zip with your 7 columns of pure stuff that overflows like a chocolate milkshake in a blender that is about to blow up.  Seriously.

Archie Karas

Archie Karas
Nickname(s)   The Greek
Residence   Las Vegas, Nevada
Born   Anargyros Nicholas Karabourniotis
November 1, 1950 (age 68)[1]
Antypata, Greece
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)   None
Money finish(es)   7
Highest ITM
Main Event finish   None
World Poker Tour
Title(s)   None
Final table(s)   None
Money finish(es)   None

Anargyros Nicholas Karabourniotis (Ανάργυρος Καραβουρνιώτης, born November 1, 1950), commonly known as Archie Karas, is a Greek American gambler, high roller, poker player, and pool shark famous for the largest and longest documented winning streak in casino gambling history, simply known as The Run, when he drove to Las Vegas with $50 in December 1992 and then turned a $10,000 loan into more than $40 million by the beginning of 1995, only to lose it all later that year. Karas himself claims to have gambled with more money in casinos than anyone else in history and has often been compared to Nick the Greek, another high-stakes gambler of Greek origin.

Early life

Karas was born on November 1, 1950 in Antypata on the island of Cephalonia, Greece. He grew up in poverty and had to shoot marbles as a teenager to avoid going hungry. His father, Nickolas, was a construction worker who struggled financially.

Karas ran away from home at the age of 15 after, in a rage, his father threw a shovel at him, barely missing his head. He never saw his father again. Nickolas died four years later.

Karas worked as a waiter on a ship, making $60 a month until the ship arrived at Portland, Oregon. He would later move to Los Angeles, where he would gamble his bankroll up to $2,000,000 before losing it playing high-stakes poker.

Gambling Career

He worked at a Los Angeles restaurant, which was next to a bowling alley and a pool hall. There he honed his pool skills and eventually made more money playing pool than he did as a waiter. When his victims from the pool hall thinned out, he went to Los Angeles card rooms to play poker. Karas claims to have gone from broke to millionaire and back several times. Later, he became an astute poker player, building his bankroll to over $2,000,000. Professional poker players such as Chip Reese and Doyle Brunson, had played and considered Karas a weaker poker player often giving Karas handicaps to play. In December 1992, Karas had lost all but $50 playing high-stakes poker. Instead of reevaluating his situation and slowing down, he decided to go to Las Vegas in search of bigger games. The next three years would go down in legend as the greatest run in casino gambling history.

You've got to understand something. Money means nothing to me. I don't value it. I've had all the material things I could ever want. Everything. The things I want, money can't buy: health, freedom, love, happiness. I don't care about money, so I have no fear. I don't care if I lose it.

The Run

Karas' initial run lasted for six months when he drove to Las Vegas with $50 and turned a $10,000 loan into approximately $17 million playing poker and pool. It started in December 1992 when, after losing his entire bankroll, Karas drove to Vegas with his car and $50 in his wallet. After arriving at The Mirage, Karas recognized a fellow poker player from the Los Angeles scene and convinced him for a $10,000 loan. Karas quickly turned the loan into $30,000 playing $200/$400 limit Razz. Karas returned $20,000 to his backer, who was more than content.

With a little over $10,000 in his pocket, Karas went to a bar with a pool table adjacent from the Liberace Plaza on East Tropicana. There he found a wealthy and respected poker and pool player. Karas refused to reveal his name for the sake of his opponent's reputation; he simply referred to him as "Mr. X". They started playing 9-ball pool at $5,000 a game raising the stakes as games progressed. After Karas won several hundred thousand dollars, they raised the stakes to $40,000 a game. Many gamblers and professional poker players watched Archie play with stakes never seen before. Karas ended up winning $1,200,000. The two decided to play poker at Binion's Horseshoe where Karas won an additional $3,000,000 from Mr. X. Karas was willing to gamble everything he made and continued to raise the stakes to a level few dared to play at.

With a bankroll of $4 million, Karas gambled his bankroll up to $7 million after spending only three months in Vegas. By now, many poker players had heard of Mr. X's losses to Archie. Only the best players dared to challenge him. Karas sat at the Binion's Horseshoe's poker table with 5 of his 7 million dollars in front of him, waiting for any players willing to play for such stakes.

The first challenger was Stu Ungar, a three-time World Series of Poker champion widely regarded as one of the greatest Texas hold'em and gin rummy player of all time. Stu was backed by Lyle Berman, another professional poker player and business executive who co-founded Grand Casinos. Karas first beat Stu for $500,000 playing heads-up Razz. Karas then played Ungar in 7-card stud, which cost Ungar an additional $700,000. The next player was Chip Reese, widely regarded as the greatest cash game player. Reese claims that Karas beat him for more money than anyone else he ever played. After 25 games, Reese was down $2,022,000 playing $8,000/$16,000 limit.

Karas continued to beat many top players, from Puggy Pearson to Johnny Moss. Many top players would not play him simply because his stakes were too high. The only player to beat Karas in the first round during his run was Johnny Chan, who beat him for $900,000, though Chan did lose to Karas frequently, before and after the streak. By the end of his six-month-long winning streak, Karas had amassed more than $17 million. Karas said that Doyle Brunson was the only player able to win playing Razz during his winning streak.

The poker action for Karas mostly dried up due to his reputation and stakes. He turned to dice, for $100,000 per roll. Karas was allowed to make pass line and come bets of up to $300,000, but with no odds.[9] Jack Binion capped Karas' buy bets on the 4 and 10 at $100,000. At one point, Binion raised Karas' 4 and 10 buy bet limit to $200,000. Karas quickly won $920,000 under these conditions; then Binion immediately lowered the limit back to $100,000. Karas said that he could quickly win $3 million on dice, while it would take days to weeks with poker. Karas stated, "with each play I was making million-dollar decisions, I would have played even higher if they'd let me."

Transporting money became a hassle for Karas, as he had several million dollars in his car every day. He carried a gun with him at all times and would often have his brother and casino security guards escort him. At one point, Karas had won all of the Binion's casino's $5000 chips, the highest denomination at the time. By the end of his winning streak, he had won over $40 million.

Downfall

Karas's odds-defying two-and-a-half-year streak came to an end in 1995 when he lost most of his money in a period of three weeks. He lost $11 million playing dice and then lost the $2 million he won from Chip Reese back to him. Following these losses, he switched to baccarat and lost another $17 million, for a total of $30 million. With approximately $12 million left and needing a break from gambling, he returned to Greece. When he came back to Las Vegas, he went back to the Horseshoe, shooting dice and playing baccarat at $300,000 per bet, and in less than a month, lost all but his last million.

With his last million, he went to the Bicycle Club and played Johnny Chan in a $1,000,000 freezeout match. This time, Chan was backed by Lyle Berman, and they took turns playing Karas. He preferred playing both of them, instead of just Chan, as he felt Chan was the tougher opponent. Karas won and doubled his money, only to lose it all at dice and baccarat, betting at the highest limits, in just a few days.

Mini-streaks

Since he lost his $40 million, he has gone on a few smaller streaks. Less than a year later, he turned $40,000 into $1,000,000 at the Desert Inn. He then went back to the Horseshoe and won an additional $4 million before losing it all the next day.

A few years later, Karas went on another streak at the Gold Strike Casino, 32 miles outside Las Vegas. He went with $1,800 and lost $1,600 until he was down to just $200. Then after getting something to eat, he decided to gamble the rest of it. He shot dice and ran his $200 into $9,700 and then headed to Las Vegas. He stopped at Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel and won another $36,000, betting $1,000 with $2,000 odds. He went back to Binion's and won another $300,000 at the Horseshoe and by the third day, had won a total of $980,000 from a low of $200.

Personal life

Karas currently resides in Las Vegas. His family lives in Greece. Karas stays in touch with his family by phone, and tries to travel back to Greece at least once per year. He brought his mother, Mariana, to Las Vegas for six-month visits when he was on his winning streak.

Karas's story was documented in Cigar Aficionado by American author Michael Konik and also was featured, along with Stu Ungar, in an E! documentary special called THS Investigates: Vegas Winners & Losers. Konik also wrote an article about Karas which was featured in a book about Las Vegas gamblers called The Man With the $100,000 Breasts.

He was interviewed, along with poker player Tony G, by Tiffany Michelle during the 2008 World Series of Poker.[16] He was also a featured player on ESPN's coverage of the 2008 WSOP.

Cheating

Karas was arrested on September 24, 2013 after being caught marking cards at a San Diego casino's blackjack table by the Barona Gaming Commission. He was arrested at his Las Vegas home and extradited to San Diego to face charges of burglary, winning by fraudulent means and cheating. He was found guilty and sentenced to three years probation.