What Was the Biggest Blackjack Bet Ever Made?

What was the biggest blackjack bet ever made?

There's an urban myth floating around that the late Aussie media and casino mogul Kerry Packer, who was probably the largest casino whale in history, made a $20 million blackjack bet in the London VIP room at the Aladdin, now Planet Hollywood.

We highly doubt it's true. Casinos don't like to book bets of that size, which basically turn into a coin flip. They especially don't relish fading that kind of action at blackjack, at which the house has long been known to be vulnerable to a number of advantage techniques.

Rather, almost all deals with high rollers and whales involve maximum bets of x over a minimum playing time of y to equal z, the comps, from suites and meals to shopping trips and rebates on losses. In this way, the house advantage takes its percentage out of every bet and the longer a high roller plays at a disadvantage, the more the casino can grind his or her bankroll into dust.

The highest bets taken by casinos, typically, are $200,000-$250,000 at baccarat, which is just a guessing game with no (known) advantage plays available. At blackjack, some whales can negotiate those sky-high wagers, but in general, neither the whale nor the casino wants a lot of publicity about such super-sized bets.

Which brings us back to Kerry Packer, who didn't seem to mind publicity, at least most of the time. On occasion, he didn't want it known that he was in Las Vegas and made it clear to everyone involved, so he reacted badly when that news leaked out, which it usually did. But we do know of the following episode from published reports.

In 1995, Packer negotiated terms with the MGM Grand that allowed him to place eight $250,000 bets at a blackjack table in the Grand's high-limit room. So though it was spread over eight different hands, it was $2 million in aggregate betting per round.

In less than an hour, Packer had won $40 million and CEO Terry Lanni and majority owner Kirk Kerkorian had had enough. Packer, as well known for his gargantuan tips as for his whale-size bets, left $1 million for the dealers. His winnings in that session worked out to roughly $1 million per minute, not including the toke.

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Comments

Jackie Mar-21-2021

Typical

Exaggeration, a $2M bet gets blown into a $20M bet.  How else could he have won $40M?  Certainly not with 8 quarter million bets. No one is that lucky at BJ.  See how it all happens?

AyeCarambaPoker Mar-21-2021

Pinch of salt

I think all stories regarding the late Packer should be taken with a pinch of salt

But a highly corroborated tale involves him being bothered by another player at a high stakes table who purportedly asked “Do you know who I am?”

Packer gave him a look of disdain whilst saying no and the response was “I’m so and so. I’m worth $100m”. 

Another look of disdain was given before Packer’s response “I’ll flip you for it”.

KennyA Mar-21-2021

closer reading

I see that the 8 bets were only part of rounds of 8 bets. Therefore enabling $40 million to be won since it wasn't only 8 bets but 8 per round. Except we don't know how many rounds only that it took only an hour.  Certainly only 8 bets wouldn't take an hour to be played.

Brent Peterson Mar-21-2021

Jackie

In the answer, it clearly states that "In less than an hour" playing 8 hands at $250,000, "Packer had won $40 million." 

Later the answer states he won "roughly $1 million per minute," so he played for 40 minutes, presumably.

You wrongly state that he won "with 8 quarter million bets." Not sure what you were reading, but see what "all happens" when you don't read carefully? Your reply is the "exaggeration."

Typical.

Booker Mar-21-2021

Packer stories galore

I have an Australian relative by marriage who was part of the late Mr. Packer's entourage. After Packer's heart attack, he took good care of his former close employees. I'm sure that some of the stories are apocryphal, but some, while seeming incredulous, are true. One that come to mind that I can share is that he paid off the mortgage of a favorite waitress – a single mother experiencing hard times.

Jackie Mar-21-2021

Dear Brent

Obviously you can't recognize sarcasm.  But let's put this in your perspective. A BJ table seats 7, each position (seat) is allowed to place two bets before the deal.  The table limit is a quarter million meaning each of the 14 bets is either $250,000 or $1,700 to $1,800 and with no splitting of doubles as that would exceed the table limit.  Table limit in such a case for whales could be per player or by hand. Either way this means it would take approximately 5 minutes per quarter million round of play to complete since anything won over $1,199 has to be documented.  Most likely script was issued as dealer trays hold only so much.  If he indeed won $40M then the table limit had to be per hand and he would have been betting $3.5M per round and allowed to split doubles.  Even then he would have had to win more than twice as many hands as those that lost.  So I doubt the $40M win.

Derbycity123 Mar-21-2021

Just need unlucky Dealer

So he has 8 hands at 250,000 the dealer has a 6 up. Four hands he doubles down and the other are 20's or they stay with 12- 16. The dealer busts. There is 3 million. If the dealer is cold you could win 20 million in 20 or 25 rounds easy.

Question of the Day - 21 March 2021

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