Legendary Gambler, Poker Player Archie Karas Passes Away

PokerNews has learned that famed gambler and avid poker player Archie Karas has passed away at age 73.

Anargyros Karabourniotis, his birth name, famously went on a heater simply referred to as “The Run” in December 1992 when he drove to Las Vegas with just $50 in his pocket and would later turn that, along with a $10,000 loan, into $50 million before giving it all back a few years later. He claims to have gambled more money in casinos than anyone in history.

Remembering Archie Karas

Karas was born Nov. 1, 1950 in Greece. He’d later take on the moniker “The Greek,” and has been compared to another high-stakes legendary gambler, Nick the Greek, who passed away over 60 years ago.

Karas, a Nevada resident who also lived in Los Angeles and Portland in his early adult days, grew up in poverty but would eventually gamble his way to a more lucrative lifestyle. He started off his professional career waiting tables in restaurants before taking up pool as a side hustle.

The pool hustle paid more than he’d make waiting tables. But eventually the willing opposition to face him at the pool table dried out. That is when he took up poker and claimed to have built up a bankroll of $2 million in the early 1990s. But poker legends at the time such as Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese weren’t overly impressed with his game. They would even give Karas a handicap just get him in the game.

Karas would lose his bankroll by December 1992, except for $50, which took with him to Las Vegas where he convinced a poker player to give him a $10,000 loan. He spun that money up to $30,000 playing high-stakes razz, and then paid back his backer.

Using that money to continue gambling, he won hundreds of thousands of dollars in pool halls around town. He then took on a high-stakes player known as “Mr. X” at Binion’s Horseshoe, the original home of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Karas won a few million against Mr. X, and had reportedly built a bankroll over $7 million within a few months.

Taking on the Poker Legends

Karas was a gambler by nature, so he didn’t just take those winnings and invest in stocks or bonds, or put it away in a high interest-bearing savings account, or buy some real estate. “The Greek” had greater ambitions, most notably challenging the top poker players in the world.

He started with two-time WSOP Main Event champion — later a three-time winner — Stu Ungar. Karas won big, and then won even more from Reese, considered the best cash game player in the world at the time. Brunson, Puggy Pearson, Johnny Chan, and Johnny Moss, all Poker Hall of Famers, would take on the famed gambler, all of whom Karas reportedly defeated except for Brunson.

The poker action, due to his consistent winning, would eventually dry up. He could no longer find a challenger, so he turned to craps. But the casino, Binion’s, would limit his maximum bets. By the end of the winning streak, referred to as “The Run,” he’d accumulated more than $40 million over less than three years. Poker pro Doug Polk chronicled “The Run” in a YouTube video last year.

Came Crashing Down

The Run is one of the most legendary gambling and poker stories ever, but all good things do come to an end. And they came crashing down hard for the deceased gambler.

Karas put his money at risk — all of it — in 1995, and he’d lost all but $12 million of his bankroll within a three month period. Most went to the craps and baccarat tables, but Reese claimed about $2 million of the fortune in some poker games.

The iconic gambler would head out to Parkwest Bicycle Casino (formerly Bicycle Casino, aka “The Bike”) in Los Angeles to face Chan and Lyle Berman in some $1 million freezeout heads-up poker matches. Things went his way as he is said to have doubled his money, but then lost it all again in the pit.

Karas had a few other small heaters of a few million later in life, always giving it all back to the casino. He was sentenced to probation and a fine in 2014 after getting caught cheating at the blackjack table in a San Diego casino.

The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC), one year later, made Karas the 33rd addition to Nevada casino’s “Black Book,” which effectively banned the legendary gambler from all gambling establishments in the state.

Karas, known more as a cash game player, cashed in six World Series of Poker events, including four final table appearances, all of which occurred this century. His most recent WSOP score took place in 2013, a 26th place finish for $4,759 in the $2,500 Razz event.