---
title: '7 Pro Gamblers Who Beat Casinos for Millions'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=zlnhcALPzlo'
video_id: 'zlnhcALPzlo'
date: 2026-09-09
duration_sec: 518
channel: 'Caan Berry Pro Trader'
---

# 7 Pro Gamblers Who Beat Casinos for Millions

> Source: [7 Pro Gamblers Who Beat Casinos for Millions](https://youtube.com/watch?v=zlnhcALPzlo)

## Summary

This video profiles seven professional gamblers who used unconventional strategies to win millions from casinos, including exploiting wheel biases, wearable computers, negotiated terms, card counting, edge sorting, and betting pool arbitrage.

### Key Points

- **Gonzalo García-Paleo exploits roulette wheel biases** [00:12] — Gonzalo García-Paleo recorded thousands of spins to identify biased roulette wheels, betting only on those wheels. He won about $1.5 million in the early 1990s before casinos started replacing wheels.
- **Physicists use wearable computer for roulette** [01:39] — Trained physicists developed a concealed wearable computer to measure wheel speed and ball trajectory, giving them a calculated betting advantage. Casinos responded by requiring bets before the wheel spins.
- **Don Johnson negotiates favorable terms** [02:30] — During an economic downturn, Don Johnson negotiated rebates and free bets with three casinos as a high roller. He won over $15 million between 2010 and 2011, despite the house retaining a 0.263% advantage.
- **Mickey Mace wins $11.5 million in one session** [03:45] — Mickey Mace, known for baccarat and poker, won $11,526,000 in a single session. His strategy is mysterious, but he uses a combination of card counting, state management, and psychology.
- **Battle Purpose uses card counting shoes** [04:55] — Battle Purpose, a member of the Ken Uston Blackjack team, used shoes with a miniature computer to track the running count, signaling via a buzzer. He won consistently across six continents before quitting.
- **Phil Ivey uses edge sorting in baccarat** [05:54] — Phil Ivey won $19.6 million from casinos using edge sorting, identifying subtle card back patterns. He made four special requests (rotation, shuffle machine, specific deck) that the casinos agreed to, but his winnings were later confiscated in court.
- **The Joker exploits betting pools** [07:18] — Known as the Joker, this gambler targeted keno lotteries and betting pools, buying combinations others ignored to ensure payouts. He reportedly bet over $64 million in one year and employed a team of 300 experts.

### Conclusion

The video demonstrates that beating casinos often requires exploiting subtle biases, negotiating terms, or using technology, rather than relying on luck alone.

## Transcript

These are seven pro gamblers who actually beat the casinos for millions of dollars. Their secretive strategies are fascinating to understand because nearly all of them were stone broke before they started.
From roulette wheels to blackjack tables, they all did something unique to beat the casinos at their own game. Starting with the humble musicians that made more than a million playing roulette. Because this Spanish gambler transformed roulette and had the casino scratching their head when he repeatedly beat the wheel at the casino Gran Madrid.
Because Gonzalo García-Paleo discovered a fixed advantage relative to individual roulette wheels. You see, roulette wheels inside a casino are not perfectly balanced. Over time, the wear and tear of a wheel, where it's placed and the table it's on can all lead to marginal biases.
These biases were then causing certain numbers to come up more frequently than others. Now, Pereira's strategy involved recording thousands and thousands of roulette spins to identify the biases in the wheel.
Then he and his family would visit the casino and only bet the most buyers' wheels. Eventually the casino threw him out for winning which led to a frustrating game of cat and mouse as they couldn't work out exactly what he was doing.
It was only after the casinos started replacing their roulette wheels that they understood what was going on. After travelling around the world to casinos, he banked around 1.5 million. Not bad, considering that was back in the early 90s.
Now, casinos take extra care in balancing, moving and replacing roulette wheels to avoid it happening in the modern era. But Gonzalo wasn't the only one to use science to beat roulette in the casino.
These guys were a lot smarter with their strategy. As training physicists, they approached roulette with scientific precision. They figured that if you could measure the speed of the wheel's rotation and the ball's trajectory,
then you could make a calculated decision as to where the ball would likely land. To do this, they developed a wearable computer that could be concealed under their clothing. They figure where the ball was and the speed the wheel was moving at by tapping the computer input mechanism so that before the ball landed it would give them an area of the wheel to bet on Their method wasn perfect but it gave them a significant
advantage over roulette at the time. But as usual the casino responded by changing the game, forcing players to bet before the roulette wheel is spun up and the ball is dropped. It's an inspirational story that there's not that much to use for gamblers today, unlike
the next on our list who exploited Casino Grease for $15 million in an extremely short space of time. He first made headlines for his incredible $15 million winning streak in Atlantic City. Don Johnson used a major economic downturn in Casino Grease to negotiate
additional terms with the casinos as a high-staking player. Now, desperate for his custom as a high-rolling loser, three of the biggest casinos agreed. Based on his previous play, they didn't
to be a threat. They also gave him generous rebates and free bets. Think match betting on a massive scale. Johnson's strategy focused on these rules and playing a flawless game.
Between 2010 and 2011 he took more than $4 million from Caesars, $5.8 million from the Tropicana and a further $5 million from the Bogata spread over two different nights. It's estimated that the house still had a 0.263% advantage although it was so small and over
as such a short sample he was able to come out on top. Don also used a mixture of tactics to distract the viewers such as having female adult actresses accompanying him at the table. A crazy story and some find it hard to believe, although not as difficult as this next high
stakes gambler. Mickey Mace has been all over the internet in recent years. Many have queried just how legitimate his women are, although in fairness several casinos have banned him and various
independent sources have confirmed his winnings. He's won more than $11 million in a single session. My biggest win in one session was $11,526,000. And it's not the only time he's
won big either Baccarat and Pocah are in speciality although his exact strategy is mysterious and perhaps for good reason The details to these things often come out further down the line after all It would seem like he uses a combination of card counting state management and psychology There has to
be some strategy. It can't just be sheer nerve and aggressive play to beat the casinos by that much and so many times. Given his appearance people always jump to conclusions and assume the worst or get jealous but he's obviously quite
intelligent underneath that facade. What do you think? Our next gambler found an extreme but unique way to beat the house. The best part? They did it without ever sitting at a table. Card counting is old news for many players but this guy took
things one step further, quite literally, because Battle Purpose was a member of the Ken Euston Blackjack team who early on developed a pair of card counting shoes. The shoes were specifically designed to keep the running count for
For those who might not understand that, it means that he could actively track the probability of future play by tapping a miniature toast rich inside his shoe whilst at the casino's table.
They would then signal back to him via a small buzzer on his inset. Although some might question the legitimacy of using a computer, it was a seriously innovative approach. The shoes helped him win consistently at hundreds of casinos across six different continents.
However, unlike many others, he wasn't greedy. He made millions from the casinos, but he eventually stopped using the shoes and took up a career in music. Next, a big name that rocked the gambling world when they took $19.6 million from several casinos in the UK and US.
It even ended up in court. Phil Ivey is one of the greatest poker players of all time. But instead of beating other players, he hit two high-end casinos for big money in 2012. He did it playing baccarat.
His strategy was developed behind closed doors with an accomplice where they built on a previous advantage play strategy known as edge sorting where they used favourable terms from the casinos that were already being offered to him.
Although a lot more savvy, there's parallels to Don Johnson's story here. Being a high roller that could win or lose millions in a night the casinos allowed him to make four special requests these requests were designed by ivy and his accomplice to help his edge shorting strategy
and the casinos didn't notice edge shorting involves identifying subtle differences on the pattern of the back of playing cards so ivy asked that the casino's dealer rotate the cards in a certain way use a specific shuffle machine and use a specific deck of gamco cards the result
they were able to win over 19.6 million from the casino but despite the success the casino took legal action and ivy's winnings were eventually confiscated it's a highly controversial
outcome because ivy wasn't actually cheating he was just playing an advantage under the terms that the casinos had pre-agreed and he still could have lost and finally the biggest player of all
on our list. Over time he's developed successful betting strategies for multiple mediums. Known as the Joker on his official casino file, his first taste of success was through counting cards, although he quickly moved on to other games. In particular, the Kino Lotteries run in Australian
casinos and tag betting pubs. In one year they reportedly bet more than 64 million dollars in cash at one pub. He and his friends would routinely target Kino games where the overall betting pools
reward exceeded the chance of playing those lesser bought combinations. He found out that by buying combinations that everybody else left, it was possible to ensure a bumper payout when they did come in. The only obstacle was buying various combinations on a massive scale.
This logic was then later applied to other betting pools and sports bettors. It's now believed that he employed a team of more than 300 experts to help him analyse betting data across the casinos, betting pools and exchanges around the globe. His net worth isn't public,
although given his known betting turnover, material possessions and extravagant lifestyle, Ranjoic is certainly amongst the very top of the world's gambling elite. Although he's not likely to be the only betting billionaire, as you can see from the people and strategy shared
in this next video, please go and check it out.