Bergstrom
heard that Benny Binion's latest gimmick was that
the sky's the limit" when it came to maximum
betting amounts at the Horseshoe. Bergstrom called
to ask Binion if he would really accept a bet
of a million dollars. Binion assured Bergstrom
he would book a million dollar wager, so long
as it was his first bet.
So
one day in comes Bergstrom with $777,000 stuffed
into a suitcase, plopped it down on the crap table
(they never bothered to convert the money into
chips) and told the dealer to put the entire amount
on the Don't Pass line. On her third roll, cinco
dos, adios, an elderly woman sevened out. Bergstrom
was handed an additional $777,000, then walked
straight out the casino front door escorted by
Benny's son Ted.
Naturally,
no fevered gambler can forget and forgo that kind
of action for long, so Bergstrom returns and wins
another $590,000 all-or-nothing bet; then he comes
back and wins a similar $190,000 wager, then beats
Binion's again for an additional $90,000.
In
November of 1984, Bergstrom finally had his one
million dollar war chest to wager. He calls Binion's
to ask if he could once again bet the whole shebang,
and Binion, already down over $600,000 to Bergstrom,
backed up his often quoted phrase: "Your
biggest bet is your first. After that, let it
roll" and said yes.
Bergstrom
returns with one million buckaroos and tells a
dealer to once again to put the whole million
dollars on the Don't Pass line. It was the come
out roll, meaning, no point had been established,
so on the initial roll, Bergstrom had only four
ways to win (by a 2, 3 12 rolling) and eight ways
to lose (if a 7 or 11 rolled). The lady roller
tosses a six-one: a front line winner, back line
skinner. He was done. Bergstrom's $1,000,000 was
gone.
Three
months later at a Strip hotel Bergstrom committed
suicide, although one version of the incident
that I have read had him playing Russian roulette
with his six-shooter and he drew the short bullet.
Either way, he wagered his own life, and lost.
True,
plenty of players with a million-dollar loss would
pull the plug, but do the math; Bergstrom was
$647,000 to the plus, at least against Benny Binion.
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