This guy, Soft White Underbelly, usually takes troubled individuals from skid row and interviews them, letting them share their story. Released today was an interview with Archie Karas and it’s friggin interesting. Enjoy community

https://youtu.be/UpiVPJkGZ5k

Was a great interview. Thank for sharing

In 2007 my friend was a pool hustler and would hang at one of the Las Vegas pool halls(Can't remember the name) and I would swing by there after playing poker.

Archie was always there. My friend was trying to get him to play $100 1 pocket but Archie would never play. He wouldn't even play me $20 1 pocket. He thought I was trying to hustle him. We probably would have been a fair game tho.

Legendary Gambler Archie Karas Sentenced as Blackjack Cheat

https://www.casino.org/news/legendar...ackjack-cheat/

Hi Everyone:

One of our authors, the late Ray Michael B, knew Archie well. And the three of us once had a conversation, the only time I ever spoke to Archie, where he told me that he couldn't beat baccarat and that's where most of the money he had won went.

Best wishes,
Mason

The first 5 minutes is boring af.

i enjoyed this. very interesting perspective coming from an actual gambler.

When this article came out it hurt me to see. I didnt want to believe it. In the interview Archie says the claims are bogus and I believe him

hi Archie

Comes across as a fairly smart guy. But for someone claiming health is the most important, he could shed some weight. Streetwise, tough, likeable fellow.

What hideous replies putting Archie down for self-validation. Maybe a lifetime of gambling alone and no human relationships have left many of us self-absorbed and undeveloped

Archie has invited us into his suffering and given great advice despite his (universal for all) hypocrisy. Thank you

Was a good interview! I was very interested

lotta wisdom in there from a true legend. thanks for sharing.

What a treat. Thank you.

the rest of this guys content is incredible

The legend was that he turned $50 dollars into 40 million. That's not exactly true according to Archie. He said he borrowed 10,000 and turned that into 30,000 and then won much more than $18 million. So it turns out he didn't start the gambling run with just $50 but rather the 10,000 he borrowed. Still a remarkable feat to win at least 18 million from 10,000.

Some of the comments in this thread leave me speechless. Somehow these 16 comments are a perfect microcosm of our world today.

What the hell is the point of typing **** like this out? The dude is a legend who's had a more interesting life than any of us ever will. Bunch of mouth breathers in nvg

Well yeah, if you leave out the relevant part of the quote you get to call other people mouth breathers.

To me this comment is far more telling than any of the rest, The idea that there is no path in your mind to living a more interesting life than cheating at some card games to run up a roll and then giving it back in the same pits is beyond sad. I guess it's the big number that really gets the degenerate gamblers juices going and they can't look at how hollow it is beyond that. When you know he cheated it truly erases the only slightly interesting element of the story, that he gave it all back, completely meaningless if his massive ego and marking system lead him to believe he could literally print money forever then why is it even worth caring that he punted it all at whatever game he couldn't rig?

You make a bunch of assumptions and conflate interesting with successful. You would probably be less sad if you spent less time doing that. Interest is not tied to a duration, while the qualities required for long term success can often be diametrically opposed to a subject being interesting.

i played 300/600 razz with him a bunch of times. that was his favorite game. he played it okay shorthanded but full game not so good. i was around when he did all his things.know how and who he beat at pool to get his running start. and the things he did to win the money.
was there at the horseshoe cashing out when he came over from the crap table to his box next to me. it was full to the brim with 5000 dollar chips. that was at his top. he had almost all of their big chips and they had to print more. 45 was the number the inside told me at his top.
he wouldnt have been able to win that much except teddy was on late on night and archie complained he wouldnt play because the limit was too low. teddy told him to bet what you want and first bet is your limit. thats what his dad benny used to do. off to the races.
i cant believe that they let him win so much knowing about what he does.

What does he do?

he was just okay at Razz shorthanded? I thought he [easily] beat Chip Reese, Stu Ungar, etc at Razz? Not something who is "okay" at the game would do.


I wonder how many of Archie's stories are true. Ya gotta imagine there is SOME embellishment there, somewhere.

He claims he was innocent, yet there was surveillance camera film of him marking the cards, and he pled guilty in three of the four previous times he was accused of cheating.

Shorthanded razz/stud games sound ideal if you have the ability to identify a few important cards while they happen to be face down. Full ring gotta see all the way across the table your "reads" get a little hazy.