Kerry Packer Stories
Kerry Packer Stories 3,0/5 1249 reviews
Watch Australian Story's A Complicated Life: Kerry Packer on ABC1 at 8:00pm. Posted 6 Apr April 2014 Sun Sunday 6 Apr April 2014 at 9:16pm, updated 6 Apr April 2014 Sun Sunday 6 Apr April 2014 at. The late Kerry Packer is the founder of World Series Cricket, his son James is also the owner of several casinos. Perhaps the best Kerry Packer story involves him playing poker against a Texas oil tycoon at the Stratosphere casino in Vegas. During a heated argument, the tycoon yelled, “I'm worth 60 million!”. Meanwhile, back in Australia, Packer’s estranged first cousin Francis, the only son of Kerry Packer’s older brother Clyde — who left him nothing — continues to work on an autobiography. Attempting to separate fact from fiction when it comes to tales of Kerry Packer's gambling is hardly worth the trouble. Because you can safely assume that those stories that are true are as. Australian Story is an acclaimed documentary series - 8pm Mondays on ABC.
When Kerry Packer was not chasing deals, playing polo or racing around in go-karts, he often dashed off to the races or the casino to gamble. In London, he made regular forays from his Savoy suite to play the tables, winning or losing in one session more than most people earn in a lifetime.As one of his executives put it, he gambled when he was bored, and he gambled often because he was often bored. In March, 1987, two months after selling Nine, he reportedly lost £8 million ($19 million) in one night playing blackjackat the Ritz.
Huge stakes
He bet bigger than arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, bigger than the Sultan of Brunei, and bigger than any of the oil sheiks or Asian high-rollers. What's more, he remained on the scene for a great deal longer. In his $19 million tangle with the Ritz in 1987, Packer lost the money playing blackjack in a private room on the casino's ground floor.According to an eyewitness, he played two tables at a time and moved from one to the other to place his bets, playing all seven hands at each table and staking £10,000 ($24,000) per hand. As he lost, he repeatedly signed the casino's house cheques for more chips, at £200,000 ($473,000) a time, but the chips didn't come fast enough.
Eventually, he tired of signing his name and handed over a £1 million cheque instead. In London, only three or four casinos could handle him, such were the amounts that he demanded to bet in. And even for them it could be a terrifying or thrilling experience. If Packer had a bad night at the tables, he could transform a dull year for the casino into a brilliant one. If he had a good night, he could win enough to hijack the year's profit and maybe even to break the bank.
When London's most exclusive casino, Aspinalls Club, ran out of money in May, 1990 and was forced to shut down, there were reports that Packer was responsible. One London gossip column claimed he had gambled there the previous week and won £300,000 ($709,000), which had forced them to close their doors.
This may well have been urban myth, for neither the casino management nor Packer would confirm the story, yet the principle of him being richer than the casino was absolutely accurate. 'You're winning too much, sir'. On another occasion, he was barred from the London casino Crockfords for winning too much. According to his right-hand man and partner in fun, Trevor Kennedy, he had won 'about 10 million quid' in the previous few weeks and the casino had tired of it.
The manager took Packer aside, offered him a free dinner, and then politely requested he gamble elsewhere. According to Kennedy, Packer came back 'with a big grin from ear to ear', saying it was the thing he had always wanted: to be banned from a casino for winning too much. Clearly, Packer had the firepower to bankrupt even the richest London casino if he got lucky. If he was planning a foray to the tables they liked to have at least half an hour's notice that he was on his way.
Packer's aides would call in advance to say he was coming and to make sure that he received good service. Once he was through the front door, the key staff would be alerted through personal bleepers and told: 'He's in, he's in.' Often he came mob-handed, in a party of seven or eight, but almost always he gambled alone. He was as likely to arrive in mid afternoon and stay till 10pm as he was to come in late in the evening and stay till the small hours.
He was rarely ecstatic when he won, but he was always extremely cranky when he lost, because he hated losing. This was a particular problem if he was back in Australia (and had lost, say, a couple of million dollars at the racetrack). According to Kennedy, he would arrive at the office in a foul temper and set about trying to sack people, on the pretext that he had seen too many standing around doing nothing.
Red carpet service
The fact that the top casinos rolled out the red carpet for him proved they were more than happy to see him. Those who gambled with him said he chased his losses and hated to give in. In Las Vegas, Packer was as much a figure on the gambling scene as he was in London. When he won, he tipped the croupiers handsomely, which he was not allowed to do in Australia or Britain, and when he lost the casinos cleaned up. In November, 1991, he gave the Las Vegas Hilton a hammering while he and his polo team were on their way to Argentina.Stopping off for a few days of fun at the hotel, he won $7 million one night playing blackjack in the public area of the casino at a table roped off from regular punters. Next year, the Hilton won it all back again, taking $US10 million off Packer in a two-day session in a special room built for him to gamble in.
In May, 1995, he was back on the right side again, winning $US20 million at the MGM Grand. Witnesses said he then went from table to table, playing eight hands at once at $US250,000 apiece. Within 40 minutes he was $US25 million ahead, having apparently won 20 hands on the trot. After this, he left a $US1 million tip to be split among the dealers.
But even when losing, he could be remarkably free with his chips. Sometimes he would pay cocktail waitresses $US50,000 to sit with him while he gambled. Other times, he would pay girls similar amounts of money to dance with him all night. In one of the most frequently told stories, he bought a Mercedes-Benz during a visit to Las Vegas and gave it to a valet parker.