A trip to the casino or local betting shop can be a fun experience. I’m a huge football fan and will often place a bet on who will be the first to score in a game. Similarly, a trip to the casino can be exhilarating. Watching a ball spin around a roulette wheel with sweet anticipation or telling the blackjack dealer to hit me, hoping that the card he turns will make me a fortune. Gambling, when practiced responsibly, can be a lot of fun. I have been known to sometimes go too far with my bets, often betting huge sums that can leave me aghast if I do not win. The highest amount I have bet in one go is five whole dollars!
And I hated it when I lost those $5, while the feeling of winning is fantastic I definitely lose more than I win and that feeling is no fun at all. So to those who are able to bet more than that, I tip my cap to you. It begs the question, what is the highest amount of money anyone has ever gambled?
There are many stories of large bets taking place in casinos. While most resorts have a limit on how much can be bet they will often alter these limitations if push comes to shove. There is one story of an Australian media mogul who gambled $26 million dollars in one night while playing blackjack, he was bettering $500,000 on each hand. The same man certainly tried to make the biggest bet ever recorded. While at his table he managed to annoy one wealthy Texan. The Texan complained (perhaps he was not getting the same treatment as the Aussie) and boasted that he too was a millionaire having a fortune of $100 million dollars. Without batting an eyelid, Kerry Packer, the Australian business guru said he would flip him for it. In front of many witnesses, he asked the Texan to bet his worth on the flip of a coin. Of course, the Texan declined but Packer was in no way kidding. If the bet had gone through it would still have been a paltry sum compared to the billions of dollars he possesses.
This highlights a key point. While Packer may have bet $26 million in a single night, that is still likely a smaller amount to him than $5 is to me. The biggest bet is really when you bet He sold all of his possession, including all of his clothes, rented a tuxedo, and gambled it everything you have, no matter how much that is. That is exactly what Ashely Revell once did. all. The sum came close to $80,000 and he decided to bet it all on a roulette wheel, a game of pure chance. He bet it all on red and it worked. He doubled his money and walked away as a happy man.
While Revell admits that his decision was crazy and says that he would never do it again, it worked out well for him. He took his winnings and toured Europe on a motorcycle. It was there that he found his future wife. Today he is married with kids and is incredibly grateful that he had the courage to place that bet. While he bet everything he had, he never dreamed that he would win the girl of his dreams.
Gambling is clearly a dangerous game. Despite these incredible stories, the odds are always stacked in the casino’s favor. If you ever decide to gamble do so with the knowledge that you are likely going to leave with nothing. The money you lose in gambling should be looked at as paying for an experience. If you are playing to win, you have already lost.
