---
title: 'Why This Blackjack Player Only Won His Games…'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=8wqKf-YLVrQ'
video_id: '8wqKf-YLVrQ'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 487
---

# Why This Blackjack Player Only Won His Games…

> Source: [Why This Blackjack Player Only Won His Games…](https://youtube.com/watch?v=8wqKf-YLVrQ)

## Summary

This video recounts the legendary gambling exploits of Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, detailing his high-stakes sessions in Las Vegas and London, his unique approach to betting, and the impact he had on casinos. It highlights both his massive wins and losses, and reflects on his legacy as a player who altered the dynamics of casino gambling.

### Key Points

- **Origin of the Packer fortune** [00:01] — Kerry Packer's grandfather found 10 shillings at a racetrack, bet on a 10-to-1 outsider, and won, using the winnings to enter the newspaper business.
- **Early gambling debts** [00:28] — As a young man, Kerry ran up $10,000 in gambling debts; his father made him sell his car to pay it off, but the lesson didn't stick.
- **Taking control and seeking higher limits** [00:41] — By 1974, Kerry controlled Consolidated Press Holdings and was among Australia's richest, but Australian casinos had limits too low for him, so he'd fly over Darwin and only land if the casino had enough cash.
- **Vegas as the answer** [01:23] — Vegas had the limits and financial capacity to absorb his play. He started at $500 bets and accelerated to $300,000 per hand at baccarat when winning.
- **Hit-and-run player** [02:32] — Packer was a hit-and-run player, leaving when ahead, which kept casino executives alert to the possibility he'd walk out with millions.
- **The Mirage incident** [02:59] — At the Mirage in 1989, a pit boss couldn't find the key to the baccarat setup, so he broke the lock; Packer appreciated the nerve and later made a $100,000 bet for the dealers.
- **Generous tips and gestures** [03:25] — On a New Year's Eve at the Las Vegas Hilton, he won $9 million, tipped $1.3 million to dealers, gave $100,000 to a lounge singer, and once placed $20,000 on every spot for a dealer.
- **Legendary winning trip** [04:19] — In one trip, he won $20 million across four casinos and $13 million at a fifth, totaling $33 million, which gaming companies reported to analysts.
- **Massive losses** [05:01] — He lost $28.2 million playing blackjack in London in 2000 (largest loss in British history at the time), $33.3 million at the Bellagio, and $7 million at Crockfords on the first day of new ownership.
- **September 11th loss** [05:47] — On 9/11, he was ahead by millions in Vegas but couldn't leave due to airport closures; his wins evaporated and he left with a loss of over $6 million.
- **Net loss over 15 years** [06:01] — Casino veterans estimated his net loss on the strip over 15 years was around $20 million, reflecting how close his overall record was despite eight-figure wins.
- **Death and legacy** [06:40] — Kerry Packer died on December 26, 2005, at 68. Casinos noticed because he was a player who genuinely altered the dynamic, making them feel their certainty slip.
- **No edge, just nerve** [07:10] — He never counted cards or used a system; his edge was an extraordinary tolerance for risk, financial resources to sustain swings, and the nerve to walk away when ahead.

### Conclusion

Kerry Packer's gambling career was a study in extremes, with massive wins and losses, but over 15 years the house edged him by about $20 million on the strip alone—a cost he considered less than what he gave away.

## Transcript

gambling table by accident. His family's fortune began with a bet. His grandfather, Robert Clyde Packer, found 10 shillings on the ground at a racetrack in the Tasmanian city of Hobart, placed it on a 10 to 1 outsider,
and the horse won. He took the winnings to Sydney, bought into the newspaper business, and built the foundation of what would eventually empires. Kerry Packer inherited both the empire
>> [music] >> When he was a young man, he ran up $10,000 in gambling debts. His father, a multimillionaire, made him sell his car multimillionaire, made him sell his car to pay it off. The lesson did not take.
By 1974, Kerry had taken control of Consolidated Press Holdings, the family's print and broadcast media company, and was already one of the richest men in Australia. The problem, from a gambling
perspective, was that Australian casinos in the 1970s and 1980s operated at limits far below what interested him. So, he developed a different approach. While flying over Darwin, he would radio ahead to the local casino and ask how
much money they had in the cage. If the answer was $300,000, he would keep flying. If it was $800,000 or more, he would land. enough cash on hand before you bother touching down, you are operating at a
different level. Vegas was the answer. Vegas had the limits, the tables, and crucially, the financial capacity to absorb what Kerry Packer wanted to do on any given night. How he played, Packer did not arrive at the table already
betting at maximum. He would typically start in the $500 range, almost modest given who he was, and then accelerate. If he was winning, bets at the baccarat table could climb to $300,000 per hand. At blackjack, where casino executives
felt slightly more confident managing the risk, they tried to hold him to $50,000 per spot. He played basic strategy well enough that at least one casino executive later admitted there was a [music] genuine
fear he was getting better over time. His requests were minimal for someone of his standing. Good rooms for his entourage, which typically included golf coach Butch Harmon, the actor Anthony Perkins, and
an assortment of polo players and cricketers, an on-call masseuse, and two non-negotiables: the highest limits the casino could offer, and a vacant table Casinos that could provide those things got his business. Casinos that made him
He was described consistently by casino veterans as a hit-and-run player. When he was ahead and had decided the session was done, he left. This was the quality that kept casino
executives most alert. The possibility that he would walk out with eight done about it. The sessions. In the fall of 1989, Packer arrived at the newly opened Mirage in Las Vegas and
made his way to the baccarat area, which had been reserved for him. The pit boss on duty could not find the key to unlock the setup. Rather than call ahead for a replacement and keep Kerry Packer waiting, he picked up a
open. Packer, who respected nerve, appreciated After getting ahead by a couple of million dollars that session, he made a $100,000 bet on behalf of the dealers.
That kind of gesture was not unusual. On a New Year's Eve in the mid-1990s at the Las Vegas Hilton, Packer was betting $150,000 per hand. He won $9 million across the session.
Before leaving, he tipped $1.3 million to be split among the dealers and handed the lounge singer performing nearby $100,000. On a separate occasion, he noticed that a blackjack dealer he liked had been
pit. He walked over, placed $20,000 on every available betting spot at that table, and told the dealer he could keep every dollar he won from that hand. Casino management watched in silence.
>> Another time, a cocktail waitress mentioned that she was struggling with her mortgage. Packer wrote a check on the spot. Staff calling in sick when he was in town. The possibility of being in the room when
Kerry Packer was on a winning run was worth rearranging a schedule for. One trip in particular has passed into Vegas legend. Over the course of a single visit, he won $20 million across four casino properties and $13
million at a fifth. Five separate casinos, one trip, $33 million. Following sessions like that, the gaming company responsible for those properties would report the numbers to analysts,
>> [music] >> This was the scale at which he operated. Not a player the casino was watching, a player the stock market was watching. The losses. The Kerry Packer story is not only about
wins. He lost at the same scale that he won, and he did not pretend otherwise. In 2000, across a stretch of sessions at London casinos, he lost [music] $28.2 million playing blackjack. Reported at the time as the largest gambling loss in
British history. The Bellagio in Las Vegas absorbed $33.3 million of his money over the course of his visits there. In 1994, on the very first day that a new owner took control of Crockfords
Casino in London, Packer sat down and lost $7 He had not known there was a change of ownership. He simply arrived to play, and the session went badly. On September 11th, 2001, he was in Las
Vegas, ahead by several million dollars, and ready to leave. Then the airports closed. He stayed in the city for the days that followed, the wins evaporated, and he left with a loss of over $6 million instead.
Over approximately 15 years of regular Las Vegas play, casino veterans estimated his net position on the strip was a loss of around $20 million. For a man who had won eight-figure amounts on individual trips, a $20
million net loss across 15 years reflects not just the scale of the wins, but how close the overall record actually was. He was not a man the casinos routinely crushed. They managed to come out
slightly ahead over a decade and a half of some of the largest private gambling sessions in the city's history, and considered it a difficult result. considered it a difficult result. Kerry Packer died on December 26th, 2005
at 68 years old in Australia. The casino industry noticed. Not because he had been a good customer in the ordinary sense, but because he had been something rarer, a player who genuinely altered the dynamic. Casinos
are designed around certainty. The mathematics favor the house, the environment favors the house, the entire physical and psychological architecture of a casino is built to ensure that the money flows in one direction over time.
number of people in the history of Las Vegas who made casino executives feel that certainty slip. He never counted cards. He never used the system. He had no particular edge other than an extraordinary tolerance for risk, the
financial resources to sustain swings that would have ended any other player's session, and the nerve to walk away when he was ahead, regardless of what the table wanted him to do next. He played the game the casinos offered
at the limits the casinos set, and still made them build protocols specifically around managing his presence. In the [music] end, over 15 years, the house edged him by about $20 million on the strip alone.
For a casino, that is the expected outcome. For any other player in history, it would be a catastrophe. For Kerry Packer, it was the cost of the entertainment, and rather less, he was quick to point out, than what he gave
quick to point out, than what he gave away.