Story of Prominent Gambler Haralabos Voulgaris
Haralabos Voulgaris, a Canadian native of Greek descent, has made a name for himself in the worlds of poker and basketball. Born to parents who owned a Greek restaurant named after the Greek god Hermes, Voulgaris's interest in games and sudden enrichment was evident from an early age.
In the early 2000s, Voulgaris noticed a trend in sportsbooks where they didn't account for fouls in their projections for how many points would be scored in an NBA game. Seizing this opportunity, he began making around 350 wagers on the NBA with a lot of success, especially during the 2000/01 season.
Voulgaris's big break came in 2009 when he and his prodigy developed a predictive model that was heavily used during the second half of the NBA season. This model, combined with his keen eye for basketball, led to significant success in betting on NBA games.
However, Voulgaris's success didn't stop at basketball. In 2017, he landed the largest tournament win of his poker career in the WSOP's One Drop event, earning $1,158,883. Over his career, Voulgaris has amassed a total of over $3 million in live poker tournaments worldwide.
In 2018, Voulgaris moved into a role in professional basketball, joining the Dallas Mavericks as Director of Quantitative Research and Development. However, his love for poker didn't fade. He remains active on Twitter, sharing betting insights on his account.
In a surprising turn of events, Voulgaris purchased a third-division Spanish soccer club, CD Castellon, in July 2022. Despite not being associated with soccer, Voulgaris insists it was not a "vanity play". Instead, he has set out a six-year plan for CD Castellon to reach the top division in Spanish soccer, La Liga.
CD Castellon, founded in 1922, has a stadium with a 15,000 capacity. While it may seem like a daunting task, Voulgaris has shown time and time again that he is capable of turning seemingly impossible situations into success stories.
Meanwhile, in the world of poker, the largest prize pools are typically found in the Main Event and several high roller tournaments. For WSOP 2025, the Main Event had a record prize pool of approximately $90.5 million, making it the largest single event prize pool in WSOP history. Additionally, WSOP 2025 included multiple high roller events with buy-ins up to $250,000, creating some of the largest prize pools outside the Main Event. These include the WSOP Paradise series held in the Bahamas, where super high roller events attract elite players and offer substantial guaranteed prize pools. Other notable large prize pools come from popular events like the Mystery Millions, which have significant multi-million dollar prize pools due to their large participant numbers.
Voulgaris's journey from poker to soccer is a testament to his passion for games and his knack for turning opportunities into success. With CD Castellon and potentially future ventures in professional sports management, it seems that Voulgaris is far from done making his mark in the world of sports.
[1] WSOP 2025 Main Event Breaks Prize Pool Record [2] WSOP Paradise Series Attracts Elite Players and Offers Substantial Guaranteed Prize Pools [3] Mystery Millions Offers Multimillion-Dollar Prize Pools
All these accomplishments, from winning the largest tournament in poker's history to purchasing a Spanish soccer club, demonstrate Haralabos Voulgaris's unparalleled passion for games. [1] WSOP 2025 Main Event Breaks Prize Pool Record, [2] with the WSOP Paradise Series attracting elite players and offering substantial guaranteed prize pools, and [3] the Mystery Millions offering multimillion-dollar prize pools. Clearly, Voulgaris's impact transcends poker and is making waves in the world of sports management and soccer.
