Some records in the gambling world are hallowed and revered.  Many players still recall the record-breaking streak of the infamous “Blackjack Team” from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and how they used their card-counting skills to take down millions from casinos around the world.  Others bring up the record of eleven World Series of Poker championship bracelets held by poker legend Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. One of the newest records in poker belongs to future Hall of Famer Phil Ivey, with over US$11 million in career tournament earnings.

While some records are cherished, others are considered unusual, crazy, or simply odd.  If a record could exist for “biggest comeback” in poker, two greats of the game could claim that spot.  For the biggest comeback in a single tournament, you can look to the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event.  Poker pro Jack “Treetop” Strauss was down to his last $500 chip before storming back to win the tournament to earn more than half a million dollars. 

A major career comeback occurred in 1997.  Stu Ungar, the man who had won both the 1980 and 1981 WSOP Main Events, had fallen on hard times due to drug addiction, sports gambling and deep debts.  A friend paid his buy-in into the 1997 Main Event.  After sixteen years between titles, Ungar won his third Main Event bracelet.  Currently, he is the only player in WSOP history to win three Main Event tournaments in his career.

While poker is considered a game of skill, it takes a lot of luck to win at other casino games, especially considering the high house edge in most games.  That fact did not stop a New Jersey retiree from going on the longest extended craps run in casino history.  Patricia Demauro, a casino neophyte who favored slots over craps, rolled the dice one hundred and fifty-four times before finally rolling a seven, going for four hours and eighteen minutes.  Mathematicians counted the odds of such a feat at 1,560,000,000,000 (1.56 trillion) to 1.