Casinos are a cruel business that makes some people incredibly rich through huge losses. Hope springs eternal and many people believe that they will get their money’s worth next time. But only a few are lucky. The most dramatic losses in casinos over the history of casinos are recounted below.
- American businessman Terrance Watanabe was called a loser. In just one year, he lost $205 million. The famous gambler tried to save the situation and sued the casino, accusing the staff of illegal actions that encouraged him to continue playing. However, as of now, he himself has a real chance of going to jail for cheque fraud, which he decided to resort to when he failed to pay back the $15 million debt. Prison time could be up to 30 years.
2: Those who are interested in gambling are familiar with the name of Kerry Packer, the Australian media mogul who set the record for losses in the UK in the late 20th century. It took him just 3 weeks to lose almost $30 million. It happened at the Crockford Casino in London. It has to be said, Packer wasn’t always unlucky. Two years earlier, he’d won $20 million from a gambling establishment. But gambling is insidious and can play a cruel trick. Today, Kerry continues to scam money at top casinos around the world. - The Japanese are said to be very reserved, but despite this gambling is very popular among them. In 1992, the title of the most gambler in Japan belonged to Ako Kashiwagi. He broke the record for losses in baccarat. In just one session, he lost $10 million at the Trump Casino. This story probably has the most tragic ending of all the stories told today. Because Ako was murdered outside his home. This is believed to have been caused by the fact that he couldn’t pay off the casino.
- The biggest loss that happened to a Syrian, Faroud Al Zayat, at the Aspinall Casino in London, cost the player £500,000, which he lost in just 15 minutes. However, Al Zayat didn’t stop there, and again bought chips for a large sum. As a result, he lost almost $3.5 million in just one night. It would seem that what happened should have stopped him. But it didn’t. Over the years he remained a regular visitor to the Aspinall Casino, continuing to lose. The outcome of such persistence proved sad for the player, with all his assets being frozen by the court for accumulated debts to the casino.
- Roulette proved fatal for another avid gambler, Greek car tycoon Frank Sarakakis. He lost $13 million at Crockford’s Casino in London. It happened in 1994.
- The Austrian Joseph Rayner deserves special attention, not being one of the players who lost large sums at the casino. After losing only a few thousand, he punished himself harshly for what he had done. He beat himself with an iron bar, broke his arm and presented it as a robbery. He did all this because he was too worried about how his wife would react when she found out about the loss. However, the plan failed as he had to confess everything to the police when they arrived.