We all know Baccarat is largely a luck-based game relying on chance rather than skill. However, this does not mean that there are no prominent baccarat players throughout history. All the names listed below have in some way or another displayed extravagant feats when playing baccarat for real money that are memorable around the globe.

Whether by being the game’s pioneers, having crazy baccarat betting strategies, or analytical skills, here are some of the world’s top baccarat players.

Tommy Renzoni

We begin our list with both a top baccarat player and a visionary. We all know the game originated in Europe, but one of the few who was responsible for its US debut was Tommy Renzoni. Once the Punto Y Banco version came to Cuba, Tommy’s native country, he saw its potential.

Tommy Renzoni was a manager at Havana’s Capril Hotel at the time and he expertly predicted that baccarat was going to become huge in Las Vegas casinos. Therefore, he moved to the US and worked to integrate it into the Sands casino where the game became an elegant affair. Private baccarat areas, dress codes, experienced dealers, it was all coming together thanks to Tommy Renzoni.

Both his player career and the promotional one turned into an exciting and interesting writing career in the form of his baccarat books. His playstyle largely revolved around trend betting focused on wagering on the continually winning side and not against the winning trend. From his career biography to his baccarat guide, Tommy Renzoni sure is one of the great baccarat players and enthusiasts.

Kerry Packer

One of Australia’s richest men with a $6.5 net worth, Packer was both an infamous media personality and a top baccarat player. He is best known as a huge better and by his multimillion-dollar wins and losses. Even when you take into account his wealth, it’s still crazy to imagine such astounding swings.

Some of the examples include his three-day baccarat session in Vegas. This is where he lost over £13.6 million, which was noted to be his largest game-night loss in Vegas history. Furthermore, there is the Crockford baccarat streak where he lost another £11 million. There are some reports of him losing £27.4 over a 10-month gaming span.

On the other hand, while his losses are impressive there are his winning streaks too. He won £13 million playing baccarat at the MGM Resorts International Gaming Arena. This was during one of his trips that proved his losses can sometimes be equaled through victories. A lot of his strategies included his photographic memory allowing him to memorize odd charts. Furthermore, he was one of the top baccarat players when it came to judging odds.

Archie Karas

Commonly known as “The Run”, Archie Karas is one of the greatest gamblers in top baccarat player history. Karas is famous for taking a loan from his poker friend that amounted to $10000 and turning it into $40 million.

This began when he was just an everyday Las Vegas gambler with chump change in his pocket and ambition. He used his expert pool and poker skills to turn this change and loan into a multimillionaire career. Some say that baccarat was Karas’ downfall as his pension for high-stakes betting lost him $11 million at baccarat tables before he returned to his previous hobbies.

However, he always came back to baccarat after a while as the game had an irresistible lure to him. He has since gone on multiple runs, but none have equaled his original $40 million winning run.

John W. Gates

A blast from the past, it’s John W. Gates, our favorite old-school top baccarat player. From his farm in West Chicago, Illinois to the grand casinos of the US, Gates has earned himself the nickname “Bet-A-Million”.

John W. Gates had an early knack for business and management. He started out selling firewood to local homes and railroads and soon enough started playing cards with his clients. He was winning a fortune both in salesmanship and playing cards all throughout his early adult life. He fell in love with card games like baccarat where he enjoyed the high-risk high-reward nature of this card game of chance.

His baccarat career had him move up to Chicago where his skills flourished. On one of his famous game nights, he was acting as a banker in a baccarat game and decided to bet $1 million (which was the equivalent of $27 million at the time). What his ambitious move meant was that other players at the table had to match his amount.

His reckless betting style introduced the three-hand rule to the game. One of the hands was for Gates while the other players could choose whether to play against him and use the two remaining hands. The opponent tied Gates after winning one of the hands and losing the other. Still, his daredevil betting style marked him as one of our beloved great baccarat players.

Akio Kashiwagi

Finally, we have one of the most dramatic baccarat careers to date in the form of Akio “The Warrior” Kashiwagi’s gambling life. Reports tell us he earned a whopping $100 million in profits per year playing baccarat.

Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos were his usual haunts where his gambling drive had him betting high-stake bets all the time. In a now-defunct Trump Taj Mahal Casino, Kashiwagi allegedly played baccarat for 80 hours straight. He would play for almost two days, then go back o bed and continue playing again tomorrow. This is already impressive enough, but did you know that he would bet $100,000 per hand?

What’s more, this was just a casual Friday to him as some casinos reported him betting up to $200,000 in a single round. His winning streaks would earn him as much as $10 million in wins causing the casinos to implement distractions to sway him. These distractions had varying success but it is noteworthy to say that Akio had oscillating streaks of both winning and losing huge amounts of money.

As one of the top baccarat players of all time, he died as he lived, dramatically and surrounded by mystery.