Boulis was born in a fishing village of
Kavala in
Macedonia. He left school after sixth grade to work with his father as a fisherman, then trained as a mechanic. In 1968, Boulis joined the
merchant marines against his father's wishes. He would later jump ship in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, to avoid compulsory military service before moving off to
Toronto. Boulis started off as a fisherman before taking a job as a dishwasher at a
Mr. Submarine sandwich chain. The original owners of Mr. Submarine, now known as Mr. Sub, were Jack Levinson and Earl Linzon. It was Gus Boulis who showed Levinson and Linzon how to franchise. He soon was offered control of one of the stores, and shares in the corporation. In his five years with the company Boulis developed a chain of over 200 stores. The sale of the Boulis's shares in the company in the mid-1970s made Boulis a multimillionaire at 25. In 1979, Boulis moved to Florida with the intent to retire, however he soon began building the popular
Miami Subs Grill. He continued his success in food business, expanding the Miami Subs chain throughout
Florida and beyond. In May 1994, Boulis bought a legendary mafia restaurant in Hollywood Florida, the
Joe Sonken's Gold Coast Restaurant and Lounge, and flipped it into a
Miami Subs Grill. He sold the
Miami Subs Grill chain to
Nathan's Famous hot dog chain in 1999 for $4.2 million. In 1994, Gus Boulis took 300 of his Miami Subs Grill employees aboard a Las Vegas-style gambling ship for a party. This experience inspired him to purchase the "Sir Winston" for $2 million only a few days later, a 100-foot cruise ship which he rapidly converted into a casino ship. It was this that based the grounds for his new venture, which would ultimately result in his death. Boulis founded the
SunCruz Casinos boat company in 1994 in
Key Largo. It was a cruise line with "cruises to nowhere" as the passengers would
gamble on the voyage as the ships would travel out onto international water, where Florida
gambling laws were not applicable. In September 2000, Boulis had agreed to sell SunCruz to
Jack Abramoff and
Adam Kidan for $147.5 million. In the deal Boulis kept a silent ten percent interest, accepting a $20 million promissory note in lieu of the $23 million cash down payment. This transaction later went on to be the focus of a
grand jury inquiry. ==Murder and subsequent investigation==