Biggest Roulette Wins in the History of the Game - Stories of Unbelievable Triumphs

With a long history and French roots, roulette is one of the most popular casino games even today. The main aim of the game is for you to guess the colour or number of the sector the ball will end up in after the wheel has stopped spinning. To do this, you may choose from a variety of betting options grouped under Inside, Outside and Racetrack betting options. While the listed betting options cover multiple numbers on the wheel, you also have a straight bet available, which is a bet on a single number. Being the riskiest one, it can bring you a rather large payout of 35 to 1. 

So, as you can see, roulette is a game of chance that is capable of quite large prize payouts. And throughout the long history of the game, gambling establishments have paid out large cash prizes to lucky people who managed to guess correctly where the ball ended up on the roulette wheel. So, we are here to tell you about a select few roulette players who have achieved monumental payouts in this exciting game. 

The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

At the end of the 19th century, when land-based casinos were already in huge demand in Europe, there was a man named Charles Wells who, according to historians, was a petty crook. Although Charles was a person of dubious character, he had access to land-based gambling houses where he spent a lot of time playing various games of chance, including roulette. His finest hour came in 1891 when he visited the Monte Carlo Casino Resort one evening. He allegedly made 30 attempts and won 23 spins on the roulette wheel leading to a huge payout of around one million francs. In fact, the lucky cheater ruined that roulette table and it couldn't be played anymore. 

Not content to rest on his laurels, Charles Wells returned to the same casino soon after to try his luck again. As legend has it, he was once again very lucky and walked away with a profit of about 1 million francs. Since the casino owners were aware of Charles' fraudulent activities, they took a serious interest in his identity to try to figure out how he had managed to win such a large sum. However, it turned out that Charles relied only on luck and his behaviour did not reveal anything contrary to the rules of the gambling establishment. Surprisingly, Charles continued his fraudulent schemes and eventually ended up in prison, where he died in 1922. 

All Savings on Roulette Betting

While Charles acted more than a century ago, the following story of a major roulette win occurred relatively recently. In 2004, a man named Ashley Revell decided to try his luck at a land-based casino and place a big bet on spinning the roulette wheel. Ashley withdrew his life savings as well as selling everything he owned including his personal car and even his house. What happened next is a truly gripping story that deserves to hit TV screens in a TV show based on it. 

One night, Ashley visited a land-based casino and walked up to a roulette table with $135,000, and that was all he had. He bet on red and watched the spinning wheel with bated breath. When the wheel stopped spinning, the ball ended up in a pocket of red, resulting in a $270,000 prize payout. Although this amount is not as impressive as Charles' winnings, Ashley used it more wisely. 

The lucky man spent part of his winnings to start the Poker UTD website. Later, he also launched a web project to help people find work in gambling venues. Apparently, that roulette win really changed Ashley Revell's life, and today he's doing quite well. 

Actor, Director and Gambling Enthusiast

Best known as the actor who played the British secret agent named James Bond in the movies, Sean Connery was also partial to gambling. He was a frequent guest at various casinos even before his iconic acting career began. Originally from Edinburgh, Sean was exposed to working-class circles. His childhood and adolescence were very challenging, and he had to do various manual labour to feed his family. 

Sean's first notable casino success came in 1963 when he - staying at the Casino Saint Vincent room - bet on the lucky number 17 several times. As a result of a long gambling session, he walked away with a profit of $27,000. Although this sum cannot be called a colossal one, it was the result of an incredible streak of luck. 

Once in front of the roulette wheel, Connery bet on the number 17 and lost. Determined not to give up, he bet on that number again, but the result was the same. Deciding to bet on 17 for the third time, Sean won. However, instead of taking his winnings, he bet all of it again on the number 17. Surprisingly, the ball ended up in the pocket with the number 17 again, earning Sean an even bigger prize. 

Although Sean had already won a pretty good amount of money thanks to his two consecutive successes, he decided to bet on 17 again, and it resulted in a payout of $27,000. According to probability theory, the odds of the ball ending up in the pocket with the number 17 three times in a row are 1 in 50653, and it really was a case of incredible luck that added to the future actor's confidence. 

The Analytical Approach to the Roulette Game

In the late 19th century, a man named Joseph Jagger, who worked in the mechanical engineering industry, decided to use his experience and knowledge to beat the roulette wheel. Visiting a casino in Monte Carlo, Joseph asked the clerks to record the spinning of the roulette wheels. Receiving an undue monetary reward for doing so, the clerks diligently performed the task given to them by Jagger for several weeks. 

After a while, Joseph took back the sheets of paper scrawled with numbers. After studying them in detail, the man noticed that on some wheels certain numbers fell much more often than others. Since roulette is completely random, this seemed quite surprising. According to Joseph's assumption, some of the roulette wheels were defective and therefore the results of their spins could be predicted with a certain degree of accuracy. 

Taking his newly acquired knowledge with him, Joseph Jaeger went to a casino to play roulette. Choosing a roulette wheel that had an offset to the axis of rotation - as evidenced by the figures provided by the clerks - Joseph began placing rather large bets. At the end of the gambling session, the man found that his total winnings amounted to around $400,000. After a while, casino workers identified defects in the roulette wheels and fixed them. However, the money won was enough for Joseph to quit his job, start his own business and forget about gambling forever. 

Lucky Number 32

While previous stories of lucrative roulette winnings have taken place in land-based casinos, this time it's all online. In addition, this story is about a Brazilian shoe business owner who led a life of wealth. In 2017, a man named Pedro Grendene Bartelle decided to play online roulette and placed a rather large wager of $35,000. After placing the money as a straight bet on number 32, Pedro became the lucky winner with a prize of $3.5 million. 

Billionaire Who Won a Million

Like Pedro, Mike Ashley is a powerful businessman with a fortune estimated at over £1 billion. He owns many companies and businesses including the famous English football club Newcastle United. Determined to try his luck at roulette, Mike visited a private casino in 2008. 

Apparently being a professional roulette player, Mike made an elaborate combination bet involving a straight bet on 17 as well as all inside bets. These bets are made by professional players wishing to minimize their losses in case of failure. Mike allocated £480,000 to this bet, which is colossal money. Remarkably, the ball ended up in the pocket with the number 17, resulting in a payout of £1,300,000. 

Somehow Mike magically got the ball exactly where he wanted it. Because he made a combined bet, he lost some money on the losing bets. However, his net profit was £820,000, which is still a whopping sum. 

Winning Big at Online Roulette

Because brick-and-mortar casinos are more public, most of the stories of big roulette winnings would appear to be from land-based rooms. However, there are plenty of instances of online roulette players winning big sums. Such stories are rarely made public due to the more private nature of online gambling. For instance, there is a legend of Fatima, a woman who managed to win over a million dollars playing online roulette. 

As for the nature of these big winnings, there is a heated debate about the factors behind them. While some argue that success at roulette is determined purely by chance, others argue that betting systems and strategies play an important role. In any case, whether you play at land-based or online casinos like VipArabClub, you should handle your gambling responsibly and follow sensible bankroll management rules to make sure your pursuit of a big win does not result in an even bigger loss.