Anargyros Nicholas Karabourniotis[2] (Greek: Ανάργυρος Καραβουρνιώτης; November 1, 1950 – September 7, 2024), commonly known as Archie Karas, was a Greek-American gambler, high roller, poker player, and pool shark famous for the largest and longest documented winning streak in casino gambling history, simply known as The Run, when he drove to Las Vegas with $50 in December 1992 and then turned a $10,000 loan into more than $40 million by the beginning of 1995, only to lose it all later that year.
[2] Karas ran away from home at the age of 15 after, in a rage, his father threw a shovel at him, barely missing his head.
When his victims from the pool hall thinned out, he switched to playing poker in Los Angeles card rooms.
Instead of reevaluating his situation and slowing down, he decided to go to Las Vegas in search of bigger games.
[3]In December 1992, after losing his entire bankroll, Karas drove to Vegas with his car and $50 in his wallet.
After arriving at The Mirage, Karas recognized a fellow poker player from Los Angeles and convinced him to lend him $10,000.
[5] With a little over $10,000 in his pocket, Karas went to a bar with a pool table adjacent from[clarification needed] the Liberace Plaza on East Tropicana.
Karas sat at the Binion's Horseshoe's poker table with 5 of his 7 million dollars in front of him, waiting for any players willing to play for such stakes.
[7] The first challenger was Stu Ungar, a three-time World Series of Poker champion widely regarded as one of the greatest Texas hold'em and gin rummy players of all time.
Ungar was backed by Lyle Berman, another professional poker player and business executive who had co-founded Grand Casinos.
[7] Karas continued to beat many top players, from Puggy Pearson to Johnny Moss.
At one point, Karas won all of the Binion's casino's $5000 chips, the highest denomination at the time.
Karas won and doubled his money, only to lose it all at dice and baccarat, betting at the highest limits, in just a few days.
A few years later, Karas went on another streak at the Gold Strike Casino, 32 miles from Las Vegas.
He brought his mother, Mariana, to Las Vegas for six-month visits when he was on his winning streak.
Karas's story was documented in Cigar Aficionado by American author Michael Konik[3] and also was featured, along with Stu Ungar, in an E!
[15] Konik also wrote an article about Karas which was featured in a book about Las Vegas gamblers called The Man With the $100,000 Breasts.
[citation needed] Karas was arrested on September 24, 2013, after being caught marking cards at a San Diego casino's blackjack table by the Barona Gaming Commission.
He was arrested at his Las Vegas home and extradited to San Diego to face charges of burglary, winning by fraudulent means and cheating.