Can you say "Archie the Greek"
jcrack_corn said:
First, I would NEVER even think to question any of your pool gambling, that will speak for itself for all of time.
And I'm not doubting your winnings in the casino, What i'm saying is that I'm dumbfounded that you BELIEVE in yourself with regards to beating the casino. It is confounding that such an accomplished gambler would truly beleive in their system. Humans are way to short lived to get good statistical distribution on casino games, you may be in a statistical RUN of wins (lets for arguments sake say that you've won the last 1000 hands of craps you have played). Well, each table at each casion may deal 1000 craps hands in single day, even if a casino only deals 1 million hands in the life of the casino (obviously they will deal many more), a single person can only play a FEW THOUSAND hands in their life. Its not JUST that they have a 1.5% advantage (or whatever/odds, etc). Its that they can actually experience that advantage because of the sheer number of hands. You probably have won 10's of thousands, and you MAY continue to, but the odds are NOT (and never were) in your favor. Because of our short life spans and limited #of hands you could easily NEVER win another hand of craps again. It would seem "impossible" to the lay-man, but is actually expected by a statistician (not because you are "due" to loose, but because outcomes, over infinite time, are always grouped, and very very very rarely actually alternate.....ie, theres really no WLWLWLWLWLWLWLW, when looked at a whole it is WWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLWLLLWLLLWLLLLLLLLLWWWWWWWWWLLLLLWLWLWLWLWLWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLWWWWWWWWWLWLWLWLWWWWL
etc....you are in a string of W's.....dont think that it has anything to do with YOU at all, because it doesnt.
Archie confounded all system players and several casinos too, when he proceeded to relieve them of a number North of 30 million in the span of two months in the Summer of '94.
He had ALL the $5,000 chips from the Horseshoe. Approx. 10 million worth, locked in one of their own boxes. Teddie Binion had to come and buy 2 million back from Archie, so the Horseshoe would have some.
He had 4 or 5 million in boxes at the Mirage, Caesars and Bellagio, and lesser amounts elsewhere. NO bank account by the way. And walked around with several hundred K in his pockets. I went out to dinner with him once, after bumping into him at the Cue Club. I offered to pay the tab, and he said never mind. I swear he pulled a 50K wad out of one pocket. It was a melon!
He told me he had settled up with the IRS to the tune of 4 mil, and now all the money was his free and clear. He was still sitting on 25M plus change (his pocket money). Now how did he win all this? The first Million or so came from beating the President of the Mirage at Pool and Poker. Then he beat several other top poker players out of a bunch playing heads up. He made them play four and eight thousand, the highest limits ever back then.
But the bulk of it came from the Dice Tables. He robbed them day after day, making them raise the limits for him. He wanted to bet 50K a number and take five times odds. The Horseshoe gave it to him, until he won everything but the casino. The major strip casinos would let him bet the 50, but only gave him double odds. Lucky for them.
I advised Archie at the time to invest some of his millions with legit investment firms, and referred him to the one my father had used for years in Beverly Hills. I told him that if he put in 10 million, he may make 50 to 60K a month on his investments. Forever! But Archie trusted no one and eventually gave most of his millions back.
To this day, he is the only person I know who was barred from playing Dice in Vegas at the major casinos. He did have some "techniques" that had nothing to do with Pass or Don't Pass. It had everything to do with how he threw the dice. And he understood the Dice Layout as good or better than any Stickman. He knew exactly what the payouts were when he hit a number, and if a dealer tried to shortchange him, Archie was all over them.
He could keep track of several numbers with odds at one time, both Placing the bets and from Come Out rolls. When he hit, he always knew exactly how much he had coming. I saw him win nearly four million at Binions in less than two hours. He lost back a million, and quit. He said that was enough for today.
Archie is still around today, one of the most dangerous gamblers alive. he frequently runs up a few hundred G's and even a million or more. But he can't quit and always ends up on short money. He will play pool too, but he wants to start at 500 to 1,000 a game. And you have to give up long weight.
Probably the single greatest gambler I've known in my lifetime. Fearless and double sharp is how I'd describe him.
