The Most Unlucky Casino Player Ever
It's hard to know who the most unlucky casino player ever is, since many casino players with the potential to be extremely unlucky grow broke long before they can reach the lowest lows of unluckiness. Therefore, those who are looking for the most unlucky casino players must turn to the "whales," ultra-rich risk-takers with money to burn.
Most Unlucky Casino Player Candidate Fouad al-Zayat
Fouad al-Zayat of Syria is an excellent candidate for the title. In March of 2000, al-Zayat had decided to try his luck at Aspinalls, a private gambling club in London. Blackjack was al-Zayat's game, and he signed for 500,000 pounds to try his luck. He promptly lost the entire lot of it. Undaunted, al-Zayat asked for 500,000 pounds more, and got it. And lost it. After losing a million pounds, most casino players would probably recognize that it wasn't their day. Not al-Zayat. He got a million pounds more worth of markers and promptly lost that as well. He eventually switched from blackjack to no avail, and left owing the casino over two and a quarter million pounds.
While that may have been al-Zayat's worst single loss at Aspinalls, his poor luck has continued for years, and in the seven years since the March visit al-Zayat has lost nearly 13 million pounds. His total loss at Aspinalls is estimated to be over 23 million pounds.
Unlucky at Casino Play, Lucky (or Skilled) at Life
While Fouad al-Zayat may be one of the most unlucky casino players ever, his bad luck does not transfer to other areas in life, as he has managed to earn enough to pay these gambling debts (albeit sometimes reluctantly) through highly successful investments in oil, aviation and construction.