Breaking the bank

In gambling, breaking the bank refers to a player winning a sum of money from a casino.

The literal, extremely rare, situation of breaking the bank, is winning more than the house has on hand.

In blackjack, card counting can facilitate a winning streak that eventually breaks the bank.

[2] In 2005, British investor Paul Newey nearly broke the bank at Birmingham's Genting Casino Star City, where he won £3 million and forced owner Stanley Leisure to issue a profit warning and caused the casino value to decline by 12%.

In contrast, parimutuel betting by its very nature does impose such a cap, and hence the bank cannot be broken.