Baccarat is a game that the gambling’s big whales adore. To win millions when the cards are dealt, you’ll need to be a very high roller with a huge bankroll! So it’s no surprise that so many people have won huge jackpots in Las Vegas or Macau casinos.
It’s true that baccarat hasn’t gotten quite the same amount of attention as poker or blackjack, despite the fact that baccarat is far older than Texas Hold’em. These days it is common for online casino fans to look through a list of the best baccarat online casinos for real money, although baccarat has a long history of enormous wins dating back to the 19th century.
John Wayne Gates
Baccarat used to have a lot to offer the keen gambler back in the day. John Warne Gates was one of the most famous baccarat players, and he used to sell firewood to locals and railways. Because his job was tedious, John began playing card games with his coworkers. Soon after, I became a dedicated gambler, always on the lookout for a better gaming experience.
According to one story, he wagered $1 million on a single game with an unknown individual, earning him the moniker “Mr-Bet-a-Million!”
Akio Kashiwagi
Kashiwagi was a billionaire who lost a lot of money on the baccarat tables. One of the most famous of the great baccarat ‘whales’ he would spend hours playing the game and consistently bet $100K and $200K hands. He lost a lot of money, but he also won a lot of money. His greatest known victory was $6,000,000 – and that was back in the 1990s, so it would be even more in today’s money. Known as ‘The Warrior’ he even inspired the character K.K. Ichikawa from the film Casino.
Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey, a true poker legend, is famed for his unbroken winning runs in card games. He has ten World Series of Poker bracelets and has won $26 million in live events. Phil also enjoys playing online casino games, and he has made a whopping $20 million from them! He is not only a brilliant poker player, but his huge portfolio is also brimming with baccarat victories!
Together with his partner “Kelly” Sun, this excellent gambler won more than $20.6 million at the Borgata and Crockfords casinos. This smart duo used the edge-sorting mechanism to locate the faulty decks and predict which card values would be revealed next. Card counters effectively make use of the fact that manufacturers often produce cards with flaws. Ivey and Sun did exactly that, although their wins went on to be the subject of a high-profile court case when the casinos took exception to Ivey’s methods.
Mystery Players
The next big baccarat win happened in the late 1990s. Because it is surrounded in mystery, this is a somewhat mysterious story. What we do know is that Crown Casino in Melbourne lost $55 million in baccarat games over a period of months. The games were played by a number of high-rolling Asian gamblers who have remained anonymous (at least according to the casino). The greatest single victory was $12 million, and this winning streak nearly bankrupted the Crown Casino, according to reports.
Lin Haisan
For baccarat winners, $12 million appears to be an oddly important amount. The most significant victory to date was in Macao in 2015. Lin Haisan won the HKD100 million ($12.9 million) jackpot in the World Series Baccarat Championship (WSBC), Macao, breaking records for the biggest ever baccarat win, narrowly beating out the previous Melbourne winner. The World Series Baccarat Championship could be an indication that the game of baccarat is making a comeback. It has the potential to become as glamorized as poker. Indeed, the WCBC 2015 set a new record for the largest baccarat tournament pot, at $15 million, indicating that we could be seeing many more giant baccarat wins in future.