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For the most part, poker players and successful gamblers in general tend to hog the glory. While some players rise to titanic levels of popularity, others tend to fade into the background, of no fault of their own. Simply put, there is only so much attention the public can give to professional gamblers.
As a result, we have gathered here today not to give even more attention to the likes of Daniel Negreanu, but to talk about the unsung heroes of the industry that deserve more attention than they are currently enjoying. Of course, our article will feature some famous names, too – there is no way around that.
The first professional poker player/gambler that we would like to feature here is Phil Ivey. One of the most respected players of his generation, Phil Ivey is one of those players that had a natural knack for the game from a young age. The New Jersey native has had tons of positive results, placing in the top 25 four times between the 2002 World Series of Poker and 2009 Series of Poker. Despite of his successes, Phil Ivey is still one of the most underrated poker players. On top of that, Phil Ivey is in danger of losing more than 10.1 million dollars following his ongoing legal battle with the Borgata Casino.
Poker is not the only game capable of producing great players – we are talking, of course, about live roulette. One of the biggest roulette winnings in recorded history took place in 2008, when Mike Ashley won 820,000 British Pounds. However, it is worth mentioning that Mike Ashley is not just your average Joe – he is a billionaire entrepreneur who owns many successful businesses, including the English Football club Newcastle United (okay, that one is not that successful).
The reason why Mike Ashley’s play is featured here is because he bet 480,000 on every inside bet that included the number 17. This betting style is known as a ‘’complete bet’’ because it includes everything from splits, streets, corners and six-line bets. Even though Mike Ashley did not have much to lose in the first place, it is still an impressive win nonetheless.
Ending this small write-up is Patricia Demauro, an American grandmother who decided to try her luck at a game of craps at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Craps is one of the most intimidating games for people who are not familiarized with gambling due to its speed and high number of betting options. If you do not know what you are doing, you can lose a lot of money very fast.
This makes Patricia Demauro’s winning even more impressive. After her friend played briefly, Demauro took the dice from her hands and won a whopping 154 consecutive throws. She never revealed how much she won, but considering the fact that she bought in for $10 and the number of consecutive throws, we can safely assume that she won a staggering amount of money.
In the world of gambling, you either achieve monstrous levels of popularity or fade away after getting your 15 minutes of fame. Even though the people featured in this article come from vastly different backgrounds and the specificities of their situations vary, they all have one crucial thing in common: their achievements vis a vis gambling deserves more attention than they get.
