The Great Nico Zographos
If the big racing gamblers are flamboyant, the best card players are shrewd and analytical. Ely Culbertson, the master bridge player, would not only bet heavily on his matches, he would increase the bets when losing, no doubt in an attempt to achieve psychological supremacy over his opponents.
At baccarat just like in Sports Betting, the bank is auctioned among the players. The highest bidder takes the bank, and his bid is the amount he must put up for the other players to bet against. In 1922 at Deauville, Nico Zographos announced 'Tout Va', meaning that there was no limit; he was prepared to cover any bet that anybody wanted to make.
He thus pitted the entire wealth of the Syndicate against the world's best and biggest gamblers. Zographos was an intellectual, the son of a Greek professor of Political Economy. His card counting was superb.
At baccarat six packs (312 cards) are dealt from a shoe until less than nine cards remain, when six new packs are shuffled, cut and placed in the shoe. It was said that when nonce cards were left at the end, Zographos could more often than not name them.
Gordon Selfridge, founder of the famous London store, was a victim of the Syndicate. He haunted the casinos in the 1920s, usually with the Dolly Sisters, a Hungarian cabaret act. He was a big gambler himself, and in seven years he lost about 2 million pounds.
He left only about 2,000 pounds when he died, and owed Zographos 80,000 pounds. Zographos also won a fortune from Andre Citroen, the French motor car manufacturer.
Citroen obtained so much publicity from losing heavily. He sometimes claimed it was worth losing. In 1926, he temporarily lost control of his factory after losing 13 million francs to Zogaphros in one session.
In the same years that Selfridge was losing his money, Citroen lost 30 million francs to Zogaphros, and eventually did lose his business altogether. A rich American once offered to play Zographos one hand of baccarat for a million francs.
Zogaphros suggested the best of three hands. The wager was made, he lost the first hand, then won the next two and bet. In 1928, Zogaphros lost heavily for a long time. He was, in fact, down to his last million francs, which formed what could have been the Syndicate's last bank.
Over 1,000 pounds passed through Zographos' hands in his career. When he died in 1953, he left over 5 million pounds.
The Syndicate took on the world's most famous gamblers, winning and losing huge amounts, sometimes being nearly broke, at other times being millionaires. In later years they played for the casinos.