The Casino de Monte-Carlo has always been a masterpiece of grandeur with its glamorous interiors, gilded ceilings, and marble columns.

The visitors who rushed into its opulent interior on July 28, 1891, didn’t notice its dazzling surroundings. Their attention was instead drawn to a quiet, unremarkable-looking man, who had arrived at noon and played roulette with astounding success in the hours that followed.

Having arrived in Monte Carlo with £4,000 (about £400,000 today), the British-born inventor Charles Deville Wells was 50 years old at the time.

Onlookers jostled eight-deep around him as they attempted to replicate his winning streak, staying at the same table and never pausing, even for food or drinks. During the next five days, he followed this routine. When he returned to his hotel room with his winnings and slept with them under his pillow, he would return to the casino floor by lunchtime to play a mix of roulette and cards each day with a recklessness that one observer described as ‘an attempt by a mad millionaire to lose his capital’.

His winning streak was 23 out of 30 consecutive spins of the roulette wheel during one session.

Because of his short stature, he had a hard time seeing above the piles of coins and notes before gambling chips were introduced.

A fortune worth £4 million would have been amassed by the end of the week, enabling him to break the bank. To do this, it was necessary to empty a certain gaming table of all its reserves of money. As such, the play was suspended while more money was fetched from the hotel safe.

The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo, a popular Victorian music-hall ditty, celebrates Wells’ claim that he accomplished this feat ten times. In those days, almost no one hadn’t heard that tune and whenever names such as ‘Monte Carlo Wells’ were mentioned, people wondered just how he had made it so famous.

The biggest gambler in history – Australian businessman Kerry Packer – is well known for his gambling beyond the green felt of the poker table. Some players have had disastrous results while others have had great success, but no player can compete with him.

The last time Ivey gave a tip to a masseuse was on Nick Schulman’s behalf when he was temporarily cashless but the tale of Packer giving a $1 million tip to the blackjack dealers at the casino takes the cake though.

He won $20 million playing eight hands at a time for $250k each during a 1997 visit to the MGM Grand. Some stories even describe him asking for a dealer to be fired so he could give her an $80,000 tip, and then making the pit boss hire her back after he had paid off their mortgages. Players at the best australian online casino sites would certainly love to experience this level of luck!

In addition to an epic putdown of a wealthy Texan oil baron, he called the Texas man out about his claimed $100,000 million worth after becoming bored of his behaviour at blackjack tables. Packer made the brutal offer of a coin toss for the win, the Texan became speechless at the thought of his fortune riding on a coin flip. For Packer, a millionaire, it was just another day at the office.

Among the Australian businessman/gambler’s favourite games was also baccarat, which was the battleground for Phil Ivey’s recent edge-sorting court proceedings. Compared to Packer’s $13million win in one session, Ivey’s double $ 10 million wins from Borgata in Atlantic City and Crockford’s in London appear limited.

Despite winning big, he would also lose big – in one session, Packer lost upwards of $5 million, and Crockfords took him for $ 7 million! Due to this, the casinos feared Packer whenever he visited, but hoped for him at the same time. The Aussie could easily wager $500 all the way up to $1,000 per hand based on his mood.

A multi-billion dollar legacy was left behind by Packer when he passed away in 2005.