Players / Personalities

Australian greatest gambler Harry Kakavas was a real-estate salesman. Prior known as ‘Harry Hedges’, the man was well known successful property seller. He has earned multi-million wealth through this profession.

Kakavas in the casino industry

Kakavas is a renowned gambler. He had a history of gambling counterfoil of $1.5 billion and losses of $20.5 million by Melbourne’s Crown Casino. The casino charmed him with enthusiastic inspiration. He achieved a multi-million destiny selling abodes on the Gold Coast, Northeastern Australia. But He lost almost everything and more wealth at the casino. Kakavas spoiled a huge amount of dollars in less than half an hour.

Kakavas impression for Crown Casino

As Kakavs faced a huge loss in the casino, many peevish concepts on casino were developed in his mind. Kakavas insists that Crown invigorated him with the benefit of a private jet. He also said the casino knowingly took the chance of his pathological condition and exploited him. Albeit the Supreme Court proved that Kakavas showed himself as he had control over addiction.

Kakavas has appealed a petition against the Crown Casino

Kakavas lost $35 million cases against Melbourne’s Crown Casino. So he appealed against the casino at the High Court of Australia. The reason is associated to obtain that the casino had held the biased and unfair benefit of the opportunity built by the saviour’s special disadvantage which is a gambling problem. Kakavas jurists dispute that he was imbibed by Crown Casino. The casino also offered him residence and so-called lucky money which had made him feel an urgency to gamble. Conversely, the casino brings forth several arguments like Kakavas didn’t hold himself as a problem gambler. Kakavas demanded a refund of $20.5 million as consolation for his compensation. Eventually, the high court verified the notice by the initial judge that there is no responsibility of the casino to save gamblers from themselves.

Kakavas reverses back toward real estate

When the largest beachfront sale appeared in Mermaid Beach, the famous real estate marketer Harry Kakavas collaborated with another biggest person in a real estate sale, Luke Henderson. At that time Kakavas preached about his return to the real estate market. Both Kakavas and Henderson together sold the beach block to an investor who was a Victorian and willing to make the block as a super penthouse apartment tower. Henderson told this was the largest sale of that time. However, Kakavas continued his work for Prestige Property sales.

Amarillo Slim was highly reputed for his gambling knack and promising bets. His actual name was Thomas Austin Preston Jr. He was born on 31^st December 1928 and died on 29^th April 2012.

Preston’s personal life

After Preston’s birth in Johnson, Arkansas, his parents transited to Texas. They were divorced when Preston was a child. Preston had an accent on his father arrival at Amarillo. He quoted that ‘Amarillo Slim’ tingled a lot better than ‘Turkey Tom’ or something weird. Priston had a family with three children but he was divorced later.

Preston was accused on charges of incivility with his grandchild and conveyed a $4000 fine. He was also captured by robbers and stabbed three bullets although Preston wasn’t injured more.

Thomas Austin Preston was an author

Preston along with another writer named Bill G. Cox scribed ‘Play Poker’, a very well-known book of his time. The publisher of the manuscript was Grosset and Dunlap. Amarillo Slim’s ‘Play Poker to Win’ was a revised version of ‘Play Poker’. ‘Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People’ was his memoir holding his stories with other players.

Preston’s Poker career life

This American renowned poker player Amarillo Slim aliased Thomas Preston hadn’t played tournaments primarily. He was ceaseless and travelling the United States for tracing Roulette’s actions. He was searching with Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts and efficaciously found out Texas Hold’em. This is still the most reputed poker type nowadays. In 1970, with some world’s famous gambler, he participated in the first World Series of Poker. He was the winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event which was conducted in 1972. Very soon he became a talk showman on Tonight Show. Preston has also achieved four WSOP bracelets later subsequently. His final prevalence tournament of WSOP was held in 1990.

Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker

Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker, the tournament series of the then society was introduced by Amarillo Slim. He took a plan for funding this series after winning the first WSOP main event. Preston was the anchor of the Second Annual Poker Classic. That event was the second-most exalted poker tournament of his time. The most interesting accent is the Second Tournament Poker Classic event, in the long run, appeared to be entitled the Super Bowl of Poker. This tournament continued till 1991. The first victor of the tournament was Gabe Kaplan. Stu Ungar won the championship thrice later.

American mathematics professor Edward Thorp was born on 14th August 1932. His full name is Edward Oakley Thorp. New applications of probability theory like affixing very short correlation for financial gain are promoted by him. He is a very famous gambler too.

Persuasion of Edward’s gambling concept

The undesirable onset storey of Edward’s towards the gambling industry might be interesting for the fans. Edward and his wife once were on their trip to Las Vegas in 1950. They had played a match of blackjack there. While playing Blackjack, Edward found some things he noticed very promptly. He found something tricky that wasn’t falling in line as it was thought to be true. Very quickly he subjugated the way of attacking the game for profit.

Edward Thorp, as a compositor

Edward Thorp along with his father first discovered the wearable computer. He was not only an inventor and promoter of newer applications of probability theory. Moreover, he is the author of the book ‘Beat the Dealer’ which was the first book of the New York Times. Beat The Market, The mathematics of Gambling and The Kelly Capital Growth Investment Criterion are some of his famous publications. His articles are mainly based on mathematics, finance, functional analysis, probability and statistics, gambling.

Game theory and Gambling ideas by Edward Thorp

The gambling folk must have read Edward’s gambling based articles. The articles undoubtedly contain some great ideas and concepts. Detailed explanations of the concepts are also described in these articles. Article Backgammon contains the most favourable strategies for the pure running game. He’s one of the famous manuscripts is the Blackjack- Beating the Klondikes free ride. The Blackjack System has some practical winning strategy related formula. Isn’t it a fabulous thing like Alladin’s Wonder Lamp for casino blackjack player! Optimal Gambling Systems for Favorable Games, Solution of Poker Variant, Cheating at Blackjack, End Positions in Backgammon (i-iii), The Horse Hedge Method etc. are some of the engaging articles for his fan circle.

Edward’s contribution in progressing casino games

There is a fascinating impact of Edward Thorp on the casino industry. He is the first known person who introduces to the players the way of beating the dealers. His discoveries have made the casinos very fussy and keen. The casinos found their games vincible for skilled players as most of them go through the rules of ‘Beat the Dealers’. However, the casino improved the rules and the customers were against this step. So the casino industries brought back their original rules of Blackjack.

Stuart Errol Ungar, popularly known as Stu Ungar was a professional Rummy, poker, and blackjack player. He was known as one of the youngest rummy players in the entire history. He was excellent in his game due to his expert bluff timings and aggressive playing style.

The early life of Stu Ungar

Stu Ungar was the only son of his Jewish parents who was born in September 1953 in Manhattan, New york. During his schooling days, he used to go to his father’s social club where he acquired the skills of card games. His father was against it but he managed to start playing Gin rummy without his knowledge. He was such a bright student that he directly got a promotion to 8 standards in school.

Unfortunately, when he was in 10 standards, he lost his father, and his mother got a heart attack and became almost disabled which forced him to drop out of his schooling.

Stu Ungar as a Rummy player

During his childhood days, he had achieved the first position in the Gin rummy tournament. After his father’s demise, he started playing Gin rummy to support his family. He won many such tournaments and collected above $10,000 at that time. 

Later on, he decided to move to Miami to play more rummy games. His tactics and skills made his opponents so afraid of him that they denied playing with him.

Then he moved to Las Vegas in the hope to get more games. After beating one of the famous gin Rummy players of his time, he became an excellent rummy player. Unfortunately, casinos did not let him enter their place as other opponents use to run away after seeing him. These incidents lowered down his opportunities to play professional games so he was forced to take up poker instead.

Stu Ungar as a poker player

As soon as he started playing poker he defeated one of the professional Gamblers of his time, Billy Baxter for $40000. Then in 1980, he took part in the World Series of Poker where he won that event and became the youngest player in the history of poker games. He was one of the two players in the entire history to win the World Series of Poker title 3 times.

The Comeback Kid: Stu Ungar

In the later years, he got a divorce and get addicted to drugs because he was fully bankrupted. But one of his opponent friends, Billy Baxter lends him $10,000 so that he can play the World Series of Poker again in 1997. Undoubtedly, he became the winner of that series and the media announced him “The Comeback Kid” as he got his title after a gap of 16 years in between.