5 Most Successful Casino Players that Edge the House

Every casino house is designed with an edge to profit from every game. However, there are a few gamblers who have surpassed the norm. These people have mastered their act and beaten land-based casino games through high intelligence and determination, which wouldn’t be possible when playing Roulette or Blackjack online. In this piece, we will reveal the five most successful casino players of all time.

1. Edward Thorp

During his time, Edward Thorp was a mathematics professor and an enthusiast of blackjack. After a series of game time, he realized that there is a mathematical method to beat the game. Thorp simulated a billion hands of blackjack to understand the game better.

He discovered that smaller cards are more beneficial to the dealers. However, when they are placed on the deck, the advantage edge would shift to the players. Hence, the best move is to bet more. With his method, he figured that it is possible to earn 5% advantage over the house. For years, he won severally from Vegas casinos with his accomplices. However, once he started winning an outrageous amount from the casinos, many casinos owner banned him from their house. Thorp went on to develop the “ten count system,” and eventually, he was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

2. Richard Marcus

In history, Marcus is one of the most successful gamblers in the world. He developed the popular roulette strategy known as “The Savannah.” This method works by betting a low denomination of chips to avoid attention from casino owners. Anytime that he won, he would be excited just like any average gambler.

However, while the dealers are wondering why he was so happy for such a regular win, he would then hit them hard. Marcus would reveal a brown $500 chip beneath the three $5 chips to the dealer; a chip which has been placed there right from the start by him. But if Marcus failed to win, he would take out the $00 chip secretly.

Over time, Marcus and his groups started placing $5,000 chips beneath the $100 ones. However, Marcus was caught eventually after raking in more than $5 million in profits.

3. MIT Blackjack Team

This team consists of a few students from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who came together to develop a statistics-based system. The system is designed to beat Blackjack – and it was successful. These students asked colleagues to join them in a bid to learn the system of card counting, which gave them an edge over the house.

The team was able to lower their chances of getting caught, and after several hours of perfecting their system, they visited a real live casino.

With backing from several investors, they were able to beat many Vegas casinos with more than $400,000 winnings in one weekend. Before long, some casinos noticed their game and they were forced to stop after a legal battle. Nevertheless, the team went away with over $5 million in profit.

4. Louis “The Coin” Colavcchio

Colavcchio was an expert in duplicating precious metals and stones. However, he used the duplicate to win as a professional gambler. After FBI raided his house, several hundreds of duplicated slot tokens from different casinos were found. Colavcchio, also known as The Coin, was able to beat several casinos in North America before he was caught by the law.

Casino owners began to notice the activities of Colavcchio when a massive amount of coins were showing up on the inventory of casinos located in other parts of the continents. While the exact amount won by Colavcchio wasn’t known, it is believed that it will worth up to $500,000.

5. Ida Summers

During the ’60s and ’70s, Ida successfully raked in several thousands of dollars from casinos with guile and shiftiness. While using the famous “hand-mucking” on the blackjack tables, she would conceal a card, which had been removed from the game. Afterward, she will then reintroduce the card with sleight of hand to benefit herself.

With her amazing look and figure, Ida was able to switch cards without drawing attention to the game. She successfully used her cunning ways to enter Las Vegas, where she introduced cold decks and coolers to her game. For a long time, Ida was invincible, until FBI caught up with her.

And there you have the five most successful casino players to have edged past the house. With their trickery, smartness, and intelligence, they were able to win a massive amount from the casinos.