Kerry Packer Stories

While most famous blackjack players accumulate their wealth on the tables and through books, Kerry Packer is an exception to the norm. Packer built a media empire over his lifetime, and became the richest man in Australia ($A6.5 billion) before his death in 2005. Beyond his extravagant wealth and media empire, the Aussie was known for his high stakes gambling ventures into blackjack, poker, baccarat and other games. Of course, what we’re most interested in here is the blackjack, and how Packer became a legend for his play.

Jan 31, 2021 Let rumour and speculation about the impact on major shareholder James Packer. Board included serving as Kerry Packer. To the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Having beaten polio as a boy, the pugnacious Packer grew up with an ingrained hunger for wagering. After young Kerry found himself with $10,000 of gambling debts, his father, Frank, a multimillionaire many times over, tried teaching his son a lesson by making him sell his car to pay off the tab. Feb 10, 2021 The stock traded as high as $17.60 in January 2014, when Packer was ranked third on the Rich List with a $7.1 billion fortune, little changed from when he topped the list in 2006 and 2007, when he.

Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American director and producer.He directed the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. 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.

Extreme Variance

While the house holds a small edge over the average blackjack player, they still feared Kerry Packer. At the stakes the media mogul played, he could either make or break a casino’s profits for the entire year. But he wasn’t always breaking casinos, which is why many establishments allowed him to bet whatever he desired.

On one occasion, Packer reportedly lost $20 million while at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. Another story had the billionaire dropping $19 million at the Ritz Club in Vegas. However, he also experienced plenty of success too such as the time he reportedly forced London’s Aspinalls Club to shut down after winning so much money in blackjack. Another time saw him winning somewhere between $24 and $33 million from the MGM Grand while playing both blackjack and baccarat. Amazingly, it’s said that Packer almost broke the MGM Grand, which resulted in the firing of several prominent employees who let him make huge bets.

Packer’s Blackjack Legacy

There is perhaps no blackjack player – nor gambler of any kind – who can boast of wins and losses the size of Kerry Packer’s. After all, few billionaires are big gamblers, much less to the extent that Packer was. He made blackjack bets worth $300,000 or more on a single hand, and never sulked after a multi-million dollar losing session.

It’s often been said of the Aussie that he played blackjack when he was bored, and he was bored quite often. Seeing as how he gambled so frequently, Packer was able to accumulate quite a collection of interesting stories. One of the most-told stories was when a Texas oil tycoon was mouthing off to him and said, “You know who I am partner? I’m worth $60 million!” Packer then pulled out a coin and said, “I’ll flip you for it.” As you can tell by this story, Kerry Packer was quite the spectacle at casinos, and it’s no reason why he became such a legend.

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire James Packer’s dream of opening a landmark casino in his home city of Sydney hangs in the balance after a damning report into money laundering and organized crime links found Crown Resorts Ltd. isn’t fit to hold a gaming license. The company’s stock fell.

In an excoriating report released Tuesday, retired judge Patricia Bergin recommended that Packer, Crown’s largest shareholder with a 36% stake, be subject to a 10% ownership cap that requires special permission to be lifted. She called for the departure of the CEO and key directors and an overhaul of the firm’s culture and governance before the casino can open.

© Bloomberg Casino Dream Dashed as Crown Seen Unfit for License

Site offices and cranes at the Crown Resorts Ltd. Barangaroo South luxury hotel resort and One Barangaroo Crown residences development in Sydney, Feb. 10.

Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

“The scorching light of this inquiry has exposed a number of problems that would have otherwise remained unearthed and unresolved,” Bergin said in the 751-page report. Crown was currently “quite unsuitable” to hold a casino license in Sydney, she said.

Bergin said it was clear Crown “enabled and facilitated” money laundering through bank accounts tied to its Perth and Melbourne casinos for at least five years before 2019. Crown had prioritized profits before the welfare of its staff, and worked with people connected to organized criminal gangs, she said.

Kerry Packer Stories

CEO Ken Barton “has demonstrated that he is no match for what is needed at the helm of a casino licensee,” Bergin said.

Crown shares plunged as much as 8.9% before closing down 3.4% in Sydney. That valued the Melbourne-based company at A$6.6 billion. S&P Global Ratings placed its rating on Crown on CreditWatch, saying Bergin’s proposals “heighten the risk of permanent license loss for Crown Sydney and its operations.”

Read: Crown Shares Likely Face Regulatory Overhang for Months

© Getty Images Crown Resorts Holds Annual General Meeting Following Accusations Of Misconduct

James Packer

Photographer: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

The report, one of the most damning indictments of an Australian company in recent memory, caps a torrid period for 53-year-old Packer, who’d envisaged the soaring A$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) harborside hotel and gaming complex as his family’s legacy to Sydney. Any forced sale of his empire’s cornerstone investment would complete Packer’s retreat from Australia’s corporate landscape, which his media baron father Kerry dominated for decades.

“If that’s enforced, Crown will be changed forever,” said Warren Staples, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne who focuses on business ethics and corporate governance, referring to Bergin’s proposed limit on individual shareholdings. “It’s a watershed day in terms of recommendations.”

Still, her findings aren’t enforceable: The New South Wales state gaming authority will discuss her recommendations on Feb. 12, while regulators in neighboring Victoria state are considering Crown’s suitability to run its Melbourne casino.

“They’ve got a lot of work to do to satisfy us,” Philip Crawford, chairman of the NSW gaming regulator, told reporters on Wednesday. “Things have got to change.”

The overhaul started almost immediately. Crown directors and Packer nominees Guy Jalland and Michael Johnston quit early Wednesday. And Packer’s private investment company said it would have “no involvement” with the Crown board, giving directors “clear air” to work with the regulator on a plan to reform.

Bergin’s report is a rare, unvarnished assessment of the way one of Australia’s most storied corporate dynasties -- the Packers -- does business. It also continues a drama-filled period that stretches back to 2016, when Chinese authorities rounded up Crown staff on the mainland, before a court convicted 19 current and former employees of illegally promoting gambling. Packer has since tried to sell some or all of his stake in Crown to at least two buyers, including Wynn Resorts Ltd.

© Bloomberg Crown's Turbulent Years

Packer “almost certainly will sell down” his stake, said Charles Livingstone, an associate professor at Melbourne’s Monash University who specializes in gambling policy and regulation. But he said an overhaul of Crown’s board, management and culture will take time.

It’s “hard to see how Crown is going to get in a position where it can open this new casino anytime soon,” Livingstone said.

Bergin’s inquiry was triggered by a series of media articles in 2019 that alleged money laundering took place at Crown’s casinos and the company used junket companies with ties to criminal gangs.

It’s now unclear when the gaming tables at Crown’s Sydney resort might open. While retail operations at the site are underway, the start of gambling has been on hold since December. Tuesday’s findings also put a cloud over Crown’s other casinos in Australia.

Victoria’s state gaming regulator, which has already brought forward a review of Crown’s license in Melbourne, said Bergin’s report “would be of strong interest” and “will inform any regulatory action which may be required.” In Western Australia, home to Crown’s Perth casino, Premier Mark McGowan said the state government will review the report and stamp out any unlawful conduct.

The report heaped criticism on the relationship between Crown and Packer’s investment company, Consolidated Press Holdings, which manages the billionaire’s assets.

Kerry Packer Cricket Series

Lines of reporting lines were blurred, risks weren’t properly identified, conflicts or potential conflicts were not recognized, and Crown’s corporate needs weren’t given precedence over those of Packer’s investment company, she said.

Packer’s influence on Crown and its operations, even when he wasn’t a board member, had “rather disastrous consequences for the company” Bergin said.

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Kerry Packer Stories List

For more on the Crown inquiry:

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