CLEAR the casino, Kerry Packer is sitting down to play blackjack - for US$250,000 a hand. Forty minutes later, Australia's richest man walks out into the Nevada night US$20 million richer. Nice going, particularly for someone whose recent run of bad fortune was capped by the theft of gold worth US$3.8 million from his office safe a month ago.
The Australian media magnate is one of the world's biggest gamblers. His win in the biggest Las Vegas casino - where eight tables were cleared to give him plenty of elbow room - is thought to be his largest. But the stakes were not extraordinary by Mr Packer's standards - he is believed to have lost A$19 million in one night at London's Ritz casino in 1987 and to have won A$14 million in Las Vegas in 1994.
Although the most watched businessman in Australia, Mr Packer, 57, has always been something of an enigma, granting interviews only rarely and defending staunchly his family's privacy at their multi-million dollar Packer mansion in Sydney's exclusive eastern suburbs.
He has the image of a ruthless bully, but is given also to spontaneous acts of generosity. After his recent Las Vegas win, Mr Packer paid tips of A$3,200 to each of the staff on duty at the casino.
A large and tough man, Mr Packer is known for his love of polo. In 1990 he suffered a severe heart attack and was clinically dead for several minutes. 'I've been to the other side,' he said. 'And let me tell you son, there's nothing there.' His big blackjack hit came in a year in which the cards appear to have been going against him. Last year, Mr Packer and American casino operator Circus Circul lost a bid to develop a casino in Sydney. In November, a cable television consortium, Optus Vision, in which Mr Packer has a major stake, was thwarted in its plans to carve up Australia into regional cable television and telephone franchises.
This year, Mr Packer was blocked by the Australian government when he tried to increase his stake in the Fairfax newspaper group. He has also faced a serious challenge to his rights to broadcast Australian Rugby League through Rupert Murdoch's plans for a new Super League.