Life Of A Professional Gambler
| Born | Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos 27 April 1883 |
|---|---|
| Died | 25 December 1966 (aged 83) Gardena, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professional gambler |
Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos (Greek: Νικόλαος Ανδρέας Δάνδολος; April 27, 1883 – December 25, 1966), commonly known as Nick the Greek, was a Greek professional gambler and high roller.
Early life[edit]
Many of our leaders in business, industry and professional life have attained great success without knowing one card from another or which way the horses run around the track. In the area of social relationships, the newcomer will soon find a keen appreciation of the many pleasant and stimulating activities available - far removed from anything. The professional career of a gambler is a high-risk business. Trends suggest that by 2020, the U.S. Gambling industry was worth about $ 50 billion, making it a very profitable business for everyone involved, especially for those who win. Once gambling was just a hobby to attract money, this is no. Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels. Professional gambler Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos ( Greek: Νικόλαος Ανδρέας Δάνδολος; April 27, 1883 – December 25, 1966), commonly known as Nick the Greek, was a Greek professional gambler and high roller.
Dandolos was the son of wealthy parents. He attended the Greek Evangelical College and earned a degree in philosophy. When he was 18 years old, his grandfather sent him to the U.S.A. with an allowance of $150 per week. Although Dandolos settled down in Chicago he eventually moved to Montreal where he began gambling on horse races.
Dandolos was known throughout his life for winning and losing large sums of money. After winning over $500,000 on horse racing, he moved back to Chicago where he lost it all on card and dice games. He quickly became a master of these games, however, and became a prime attraction at casinos when he would play in them.
Poker and gambling[edit]
From January 1949 to May 1949, Dandolos played a two-person 'heads up' poker match against poker legend Johnny Moss where the two played virtually every variation of the game that existed at the time. The game, set up by Benny Binion as a tourist attraction, is widely credited as being the inspiration for the modern day World Series of Poker.
At the end of this five-month poker marathon, down an estimated $2–4 million, Dandolos uttered what has become one of the most famous poker quotes ever: 'Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.'[1]
One urban legend claims that Dandolos once had the opportunity to escort Albert Einstein around Las Vegas. Thinking that his gambling friends may not be familiar with him, Dandolos allegedly introduced Einstein as 'Little Al from Princeton' and stated that he 'controlled a lot of the numbers action around Jersey.'[citation needed] According to Dandolos's own testimony in Gambling Secrets of Nick the Greek, just before the end of World War II, he got a call from a friend at the United States State Department. The caller said that there was someone who was looking for a poker game on a weekend in Manhattan. Dandolos reminded his friend that gambling is illegal in New York, but his friend said that he would see to it that no law enforcement would get involved. At the game, according to Dandolos, he introduced Albert Einstein as 'little Al from Jersey.'
Another urban legend has him winning one million dollars against a Texan. In the early hours of the morning, Nick felt tired and called an end to the game. The Texan accused him of chickening out while the going was good. Nick the Greek then called for a new deck of cards, shuffled them and asked the Texan if he wanted to cut the cards (high card wins) one time, for double or quit. The Texan declined and they went home.[citation needed]
Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman also met Nick the Greek, according to the autobiographical Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!. Nick explains how he wins big not by playing the tables, but by knowing the odds at the tables and betting against others who have superstitious beliefs about the outcome. He then relies on his reputation to bet against others.
In Eliot Asinof's Eight Men Out, the author attributes this gambling wisdom to Nick the Greek: 'Never bet on anything that can talk.' [1][permanent dead link]
Later life[edit]
Near the end of his life, Dandolos was near-broke and playing $5 limit draw poker games in Gardena, California. When asked by a fellow player how he could once play for millions and now be playing for such small stakes, Dandolos supposedly replied, 'Hey, it's action, isn't it?'
Death[edit]
He died on Christmas Day in 1966 and was a charter inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.
Legacy[edit]
It's estimated[by whom?] that he won and lost over $500 million in his lifetime. He himself claimed that he went from rags to riches over 73 times. He donated over $20 million to education and charity.[2]
A book by Ted Thackrey was published in 1968 titled Gambling Secrets of Nick the Greek.
A novel about Nick's life was written by Harry Mark Petrakis in 1978 titled Nick the Greek.
In popular culture[edit]
In the Damon Runyon short story, 'Romance in the Roaring Forties,' Nick the Greek is mentioned by name, as a guest at the Prohibition-era New York wedding of Miss Billy Perry. Other guests are Waldo Winchester (a thinly-disguised Walter Winchell), Skeets Boliver, Feet Samuels, and Good Time Charley Bernstein, showing Nick as part of the louche guys-and-dolls culture of Broadway in the Roaring Twenties.
He also appears in Runyon’s short story “Blood Pressure,' playing at Nathan Detroit’s floating crap game in New York. The unnamed narrator has been dragged into the game by a gangster, and notes that it is more than somewhat full of very tough guys indeed, there with some of the towns highest rollers:“...there they are wedged up against the table with Nick the Greek, Big Nig, Grey John, Okay Okun, and many other high shots, and they all have big coarse G notes [thousand dollar bills] in their hands which they are tossing around back and forth as if these G notes are nothing but pieces of waste paper.'
A brief appearance is made by Nick at a party in Runyon’s short story “Madame La Gimp,' where he impersonates Heywood Broun.
See also[edit]
- Nick the Greek named as unindicted co-conspirator in Ray Ryan’s attempted kidnapping/extortion[3]
References[edit]
- ^Moe, Albert Woods.: Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling, Puget Sound Books, 2001, ISBN0-9715019-0-4
- ^Jon Bradshaw, Fast Company p219
- ^https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/270558/john-marshall-and-charles-del-monico-v-united-states/
27 Feb
Frank Nagy’s Royal Flush netted him more than $1.1million this month, and the Atlantic City casino regular made sure the dealers got in on the new-found riches, tipping them $50,000 of his jackpot win!
It was the biggest win of the Tropicana Casino regular’s life, and it was also one of the biggest progressive jackpot in the history of the casino’s parent company, Caesars Entertainment.
Building up since it was last won in August 2019, Nagy’s chosen casino game of Four Card Poker was one of six that make up the Tropicana’s progressive jackpot.
The Monmouth County man’s $5 sidebet joined those from games such as Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud Poker, Texas Hold’em Poker, Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold’em to build up the $1million+ pot.
When the Royal Flush was dealt to him, Nagy was a newly-minted millionaire, and made sure the dealers at his favourite casino didn’t miss out on the celebration – handing over $50k to be shared among them.
“We are thrilled to celebrate this huge win with one of our long-time customers at Tropicana,” said Steve Callender, regional president for Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City.
There have been numerous big jackpot wins at casino poker games over the years, one Texas Hold’em Poker player’s strike at the Crown Perth Casino in 2019 worth AUD$3.6million (US$2.5million) breaking the Australian record.
That same year saw a lucky Pai Gow player pocket more than $2.3million in Las Vegas when he hit the Face Up Progressive Jackpot with a 7-card straight flush in diamonds.
Life Of A Professional Gambler Movie
The huge win came at another Caesars Entertainment-owned property, the Paris Las Vegas, where an anonymous player scooped the massive $2,330,133.44 jackpot, which had built up across 48 linked Pai Gow tables in 13 Caesars statewide venues.
Life Of A Professional Gambler Season
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