Is Pedro Grendene Bartelle the Biggest Mines Games Tips Roulette Winner Ever?
Brazilian businessman Pedro Grendene Bartelle made headlines in 2017 when won $3.5 million in a single roulette spin. At that time, it was reported to be the biggest roulette win ever, regardless of whether the bet was made at the top brick-and-mortar casinos or the best roulette sites.
If you check Twitter, you can find several video clips of Bartelle celebrating the said win. Here is one of them.
Who is Pedro Grendene Bartelle?
Pedro Grendene Bartelle co-founded Grendene, one of the world’s largest sandal manufacturers, with his twin brother Alexander Grendene Bartelle. According to Forbes, Pedro is vice-chairman of the board of directors of Grendene SA and owns just under 14 percent of the Sao Paulo-based company.
Aside from Grendene SA, Pedro has other business interests, including footwear company Vulcabras Azaleia, which directly competes with Grendene. He owns a controlling stake at Vulcabras Azaleia.
In 2019, Pedro Grendene Bartelle made the Forbes list of Billionaires in2019. At No. 2,057, he was reported to have a net worth of $1 billion during the ranking period. He however subsequently dropped off the list in 2020. Twin-brother Alexandre however, is listed at No. 1,805 in the latest Forbes list with a net worth of $1.6 billion.
How Much did Pedro Grendene Bartelle Win that Night?
There are several versions of the Pedro Grendene Bartelle story. However, the common denominators were that the game happened in January 2017 at the Hotel Conrad in Punta del Este on the Uruguay coast.
Now here’s where the fun begins.
According to the reports of UK betting sites Daily Mail UK and LADBible reported that Bartelle wagered $35,000. Straight away, there is a discrepancy here because a single number payout is 35:1 which means that Bartelle won only $1.2 million on a $35,000 bet and needed to bet $100,000 to win $3.5 million on Red32. Or did he?
Looking closely at the table, it looks like Pedro did not make a single-number bet on 32. It appears like he made a modified complete bet on number 32, modified because he specifically targeted the inside bets – the single, split, square, and street. But Pedro didn’t cover all angles, and it looked like he covered the 8 numbers around the 32 with split bets.
So while you think that the chips tower on 32 is going give him the monster payout, you’re correct but not completely. That’s because the four piles of chips surrounding the 32 are also going to pay out at 17:1. So when the ball dropped to the 32, all of his bets hit and it’s possible that he won $3.5 million from a smaller amount wagered.
But we’ll never know the value of those chips so there is no way of confirming this theory. However, with all media outlets unanimous in saying he won $3.5 million, let’s leave it at that.
Who are the other Biggest Roulette Winners in History?
Looking back at the history of the game, Pedro Grendene Bartelle is just one of several gamblers who hit the jackpot at the roulette table. Here are the others:
Charles Deville Wells
In 1891, Charles Deville Wells “broke the bank” at the Monte Carlo Casino when he won 1 million francs at the roulette table. According to the story, Wells went on a crazy winning streak during an 11-hour session where he won 23 out of 30 consecutive spins. Because he won so much money, the casino refused to let him continue playing.
He would return to the casino later that year and won again. His most popular session was a succession of winning bets on the number 5 for five straight spins.
Wells’ exploits’ made him one of the biggest roulette winners in history and even inspired the song “The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo, a British song written by Fred Gilbert and sung by Charles Coborn.
Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green
Philip Nigel Ross Green is the former chairman of the retail business Arcadia Group which used to own clothing retailers like Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge.
Back in 2004, Green won around £2 million in one night on the roulette table at Les Ambassadeurs in Mayfair, London, and a subsequent £1 million during another trip to the same casino.
Unfortunately, Green’s businesses took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the steep drop in high street sales in 2020, the company went under administration. But that’s another story. The fact of the matter is, Philip Green was one of the biggest roulette winners of all time.
Mike Ashely
British Billionaire Mike Ashley is a known casino whale. The former Newcastle Football Club owner won £1.3 million on a single spin at Fifty Casino in Mayfair, London back in 2008.
That night, Ashley made a complete bet amounting to £48,000 on his lucky number 17 and won on black 17. According to witnesses, once Ashley saw the roulette ball fall into the no. 17 pocket, he calmly looked the croupier straight in the eye and said: “That’ll do me, thanks very much.” and left, just like that.
Ashley only spent a total of 15 minutes at the table and left over a million pounds up. That hit-and-run strategy, which makes sense, has been linked to Ashley’s name.
Other Notable Roulette Wins
In 2004, 32-year-old professional gambler Ashley Revell from Kent, England sold his home, car, and other personal belongings for an equivalent of $135,000 with the intention of going to the mecca of gambling and risking it all on a single bet.
So Revell went to the Plaza Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas to fulfill his dream. Having placed his chips on red, the ball settled into the red pocket 7, and he doubled his money to $270,600. He would use his winnings to open an online poker company called Poker UTD. Although that site closed in 2012, Revell’s all-or-nothing risk made him one of the biggest roulette winners we’ve witnessed.
Ten years before Revell, a computer programmer named Chris Boyd also set foot in Vegas looking to bet his life savings of $220,000 on a single spin.
At first, he was unable to find a casino willing to take such a large bet. Fortunately, Binion’s Horseshoe Club in Fremont Street accepted his wager and since they only had American Roulette tables, the casino covered the double zero to turn it into a European wheel. The rest, as they say, is history. Boyd also bet on red and he went home with $440,000 on a single spin.
So Where Does Pedro Grendene Bartelle Rank?
Straight-up, the Pedro Grendene Bartelle roulette win of $3.5 million is bigger than the amounts won by Charles Deville Wells, Philip Nigel Ross Green, and Mike Ashley.
If you account for inflation however, Green’s £2 million win in 2004 is roughly £.3.2 million in 2023 ( at £1 in 2004 worth £1.61 in 2023 ) or roughly around USD 3.8 million ( at a rate of USD 1.2 per £1). Obviously, Wells’ 1 million francs bounty is worth much more. But Wells’ money was a result of nearly one-half day at the table, Green and Bartelle won on single spin bets.
Whether it’s the biggest roulette win ever, depends on how you look at it. But regardless, Pedro Grendene Bartelle’s feat is one for the gambling record books.