![]() In 2004, Business Review Weekly magazine estimated his fortune at A$6.5bn (£2.75bn), and financial markets were always keenly interested in his state of health. On all counts Kerry was no exception, and was aware he was living on borrowed time. His biographer Paul Barry said males in the Packer dynasty loved a bet, hated paying tax, were excessively secretive and tended to die young with heart trouble. Yet Packer's one weakness was his health. Tales of tips to hostesses and waitresses of £50,000 also abounded. He reportedly lost £8m playing blackjack in London in 1987, then won £10m at the same game in Las Vegas eight years later. He also liked to win, especially at gaming tables around the world, where tales of his successes, losses and extraordinary tips are legendary. "Come gentlemen," he said, "there is a little bit of the whore in all of us name your price." In 1976, before he pulled off perhaps his greatest coup in establishing World Series Cricket, he was stuck in talks with the Australian Cricket Board about television rights to Test matches. Packer believed that people could be bought. While in office, Hawke signed off a testimonial video for his mate with the words "Good on yer, Kerry, you've been true blue. With wealth came power, and Pack- er's close connections with politicians, especially the former Labour prime minister Bob Hawke, ensured that the Canberra government's media policy often went his way. But his burning desire was to make even more money his fortune grew more than five times after he supposedly gave up business in 1987, and a ferocious sense of privacy set him well apart from most of his readers and viewers. No-one ever beats the house of course, and it is said that Packer lost more than $25million to casinos in the last decade of his life, but along the way he scared the hell out of most of them.In some ways the magnate's "ocker" tastes were the secret of his success, with a populist magazine empire and television network that frequently outperformed their rivals. ![]() Often accompanied by the likes of golf coach Butch Harmon and actor Anthony Perkins, the Aussie could easily go from $500 bets to 1000 times that per hand if the mood took him. However, Packer would also lose big – and big for Packer was upwards of $5million in a session, Crockfords taking him for $7million one evening! That’s what made the casinos hope for, and fearful of, whenever Packer was in town. Ivey’s double $10million wins from Atlantic City’s Borgata and London’s Crockfords across many sessions again look limited when faced with Packer’s single session $13million win. For Packer, a many-times self-made millionaire, it was just another day at his ‘other’ office.īaccarat, that favourite of Phil Ivey and the battleground for his recent edge-sorting legal cases, was also a favourite of the Australian businessman/gambler. “I’ll flip you for it,” was Packer’s brutal offer, the Texan suddenly lost for words at the idea of his fortune resting on the toss of a coin. Packer’s legendary willingness to gamble led to some of the most incredible casino stories ever heard, and include an epic put down of a multi-millionaire Texan oil baron.īored by the Texas man’s boorish behaviour at the blackjack tables, Packer called the braggart out over his claimed $100million worth. Other stories of paying off six-figure mortgages of dealers and staff for good service even saw him ask for a dealer to be fired – simply so he could persuade her to take an $80,000 tip – after which he made the pit boss rehire her! That particular story came from his 1997 visit to the MGM Grand that saw Packer winning $20million playing 8 hands at a time for $250k a pop. While Ivey once offered a masseuse a $5k tip - on behalf of a momentarily cashless Nick Schulman’s surprise behalf it should be said! – even that pales into insignificance compared to tales of Packer dishing out a $1million tip to the casino’s Blackjack dealers. ![]() Some players are well-known for their gambling beyond the green felt of the poker table, some with disastrous results and some with great success, but not even Phil Ivey can compete with the biggest gambler the world has ever seen – Australian business magnate Kerry Packer.
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