Famed gambler Archie Karas dies at 73

Archie Karas, famous for once turning $50 into $40 million during a legendary Las Vegas hot streak in the 1990s, has died at age 73, according to reporting from Poker News.

Karas became famous for “The Run,” which has been referred to as the biggest gambling winning streak in recorded history.

It started with just $50 and a $10,000 loan. From 1992 to 1994, he played competitive games of poker and pool, beating some of Las Vegas’ most famous gamblers — including the late Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, the late Puggy Pearson, the late Chip Reese and the late Johnny Moss — during the hot streak.

Karas is said to have lost the entire $40 million between 1995 and 1996 as he continued gambling.

In a 2021 interview with Soft White Underbelly, Karas said if he were to do it again, he still would have gone all out.

“That’s what makes a gambler,” he said. “He’s not afraid to win and he’s not afraid to lose”

Known as “The Greek,” Karas was born in Greece in 1950 as Anargyros Karabourniotis.

In addition to his fame, Karas also got into a fair amount of trouble for accusations of cheating.

In 2017, he was placed on Nevada’s List of Excluded Persons, or Black Book, which makes it a crime to enter a casino in Nevada, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal article.

That came after several arrests.

In 2014, he had been placed on probation for three years for cheating at cards at the Barona Resort & Casino in Lakeside, California.

Prior to that, Nevada gaming agents had arrested Karas four times since 1988 for allegedly cheating at blackjack in Reno, Las Vegas and Laughlin casinos.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.