The Richest Gamblers in The World | 2022

Gambling is a double-edged sword and most gamblers get the wrong end of it. However, just like swordsmen, gamblers also need extensive practice to hone their skills in order to attain perfection. Check out the perfect examples of bettors that have perfected the risk managing craft to become the richest gamblers in the world.

Tony Bloom – Net Worth: $1.7 Billion

Tony Bloom is a professional gambler who started honing his betting skills at the early age of 8. As the man admits himself, he would often spend his pocket money on fruit machines when he was young.

The successful Premier League chairman is known by numerous nicknames and is perhaps the world’s richest gambler. Famously dubbed the UK’s godfather of gambling, he is considered by many to be the world’s most successful gambler.

During his poker glory days, Tony Bloom was known as a cold-blooded bettor with a stone-cold expression. Gambling prowess, final table appearances on the World Poker Tour 2018, and more than £1 million in poker winnings earned him the nickname “Lizard.”. The gambling veteran has since used all his knowledge to turn his betting skills into a fledged business.

The math graduate started numerous online poker sites in the UK gambling scene but has now developed his best project yet, Starlizard. Named after his poker nickname, Starlizard is a secretive consultancy firm that specializes in statistical sports betting. An extremely high-end and sophisticated organization that only accepts customers who commit at least £2 million.

Bloom has even taken measures to hide his sacred sports betting strategy and manages the organization in a way that most of the employees don’t actually know how it works. It is because of these cunning methods that people call him the UK’s godfather of gambling.

Bill Benter – Net Worth: $1 Billion

Although maybe not the richest gambler, Bill Benter is most definitely the most successful pure gambler. Many people on this list made their fortune through a mix of entrepreneurship and risk management skills but the math genius Bill Benter has made his wealth solely through gambling.

Benter initially started his gambling journey through traditional casino games and most specifically blackjack. Being a student of physics and a math nerd, he would use these sophisticated skills to efficiently count cards. Although he was inducted in the Blackjack Hall of Fame, as far as his professional blackjack career goes, it was profitable but short. 

Las Vegas casinos are not very fond of card counting so after a short run, he was swiftly banned from every casino in Vegas. This was just the start of Benter’s brilliance though, as he switched his focus on horse betting. 

Similar to Tony Bloom, he used amazing systematic analytics to create the perfect horse betting formula. Benter’s strategy was so accurate he made close to a billion dollars from horse racing alone.

Dana White – Net Worth: $500 Million

Dana White is probably the only man on earth professional cage fighters are actually scared of. The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is no stranger to good action or adrenaline rush, which is why he is also a massive gambling fan. Being a Las Vegas resident not only does he love the gambling culture, but also thrives in it.

Fighting events are a big tradition in the entertainment capital of the world. So after a rough day of dealing with certified tough guys, Dana White goes down from the office straight to the casino floor. He is known to be a notorious gambler and a good one at that. His favorite game by far is the table game blackjack. 

A simple card game where he won as much as $7 million in one night. While $7 million is no match for his famous $4 billion business deal, Dana White even called gambling his part-time job in an interview and boasted his legendary 5-month winning streak.

His gambling prowess is so sharp that a number of casinos had to ban him from entry due to his insane betting strategy. In some instances, he was banned multiple times from the same casino when the house changed ownership. 

The Palms Casino, one of the most reputable places in Vegas, banned the UFC president at least 3 times over the years, and even awarded him with his own UFC-styled championship belt titled “Undisputed blackjack champion, 24-0”.

Dan Bilzerian – Net Worth: $200 Million

Dan Bilzerian is one of the richest professional gamblers and one-of-a-kind social media icons with over 33 million Instagram followers. The internet playboy is worth over $200 million thanks to his controversial amateur poker earnings and smart Bitcoin investments. However, instead of playing in big poker tournaments facing other seasoned pros, Bilzerian took a different approach and targeted wealthy whales.

As in the movie Molly’s Game, he would use his charisma and connections to get himself in high-stakes private rooms to play poker against amateur but wealthy players. Playing against rich businessmen and actors is of course a great low-risk and high-reward strategy for someone of Bilzerian’s skill level. The successful entrepreneur has since branched out, starting numerous businesses but has recently returned to his roots as the brand ambassador of GGPoker.

While the playboy made most of his fortune through poker, that is not what he’s most known for. Bilzerian is extremely vocal with his lifestyle and isn’t scared to show his money. His lifestyle is exactly what you would imagine of someone of his status – full of spontaneous adventures around the world, beautiful companions, exotic cars, and breathtaking mansions. That is the lifestyle of one of the richest gamblers in the world.

Phil Ivey – Net Worth: $125 Million

The poker icon often referred to as “the Tiger Woods of poker” is a definite must on such a list. Ivey is referred to by many as the best poker player in the world as he was the youngest champion to ever win the 10 World Series of Poker bracelets (WSOP). His recorded earnings from Full Tilt Poker alone are more than $20 million and he was even elected to the Poker Hall of Fame at the age of 40.

While almost everyone is familiar with the poker star’s Texas Hold’em accomplishments, many are unaware that Phil Ivey is a skilled and well-rounded gambler. To quote Jim Hartley, a gambling security expert in a documentary about the prodigy “I wouldn’t let Phil Ivey play slots at a place I was working at.” 

The gambling superstar is simply just that much of a betting veteran that won’t let even the house edge stop him. While his poker winnings make a significant portion of his $125 million net worth, a lot of his fortune also comes from the table game baccarat. 

When Ivey isn’t staking money in a competitive poker pot he enjoys playing the national game of Macau in his spare time. His baccarat winnings exceed $20 million thanks to his experience and extensive research of a gambling strategy. Ivey uses all sorts of methods including advantage gambling, which are unorthodox but legal methods to gain an advantage when playing casino games.