The Gambler

Kerkor "Kirk" Kerkorian was much more than a rags-to-riches billionaire.

Kirk Kerkorian was an Armenian-American eighth-grade dropout, welterweight boxing champion, intrepid World War II aviator, MGM Studios owner, nationally ranked senior doubles tennis player, hotel-casino developer and owner, dealmaker and rags-to-riches billionaire. Throughout his long, eventful life, he remained an obsessive gambler.

A Las Vegas impresario, Kerkorian wagered at the world’s most famous casinos, some of which he owned. He loved to play craps. He once wagered $1 million on a single roll of the dice at the Loews Hotel Casino in La Napoule on France’s luxurious Côte d’Azur – and won. Kerkorian loved one-dollar slot machines. He paid a caddy to tote a bag filled with silver dollars and follow him in casinos as he scouted out the sizzling slots. Kerkorian enjoyed red-hot lucky streaks. The management at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas asked him to move to another casino because of his unbroken string of victories at its craps tables.

Kerkorian was almost always thoughtful and kind. On his way to La Guardia Airport after a New York City business trip, Kerkorian told...