EVERYONE knows Alex Salmond is a gambler and that he lost this week.

He put his money on creating a new nation and ended up shoring up the survival of the old one.

This was a politician who would always bare his soul on a personal basis to take a gamble and win.

The SNP leader and First Minister thought he could achieve a 51% vote in favour of independence, but he fell on his sword after the Yes camp polled a mere 45%.

Many will find his resignation admirable. It helps that he has a successor in place but the grand gesture is impressive nonetheless.

Born in Linlithgow in 1954, Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond was educated at the town's academy and St Andrew's University, where he first joined the SNP.

A socialist radical in his youth and a cunning radical as he led his party, few would dispute his abilities as a political tactician.

He led the SNP to a minority government in 2007 and a stunning victory in the 2011 election, paving the way for Thursday's historic referendum.

Graduating with a degree in economics and history, he worked as an economist for both the Government Economic Service and the Royal Bank of Scotland before being elected as an MP for Banff and Buchan in 1987.

His election at Westminster followed a turbulent period for the SNP, which saw its number of seats fall from 11 to two in the 1979 general election.

As a young and brash newcomer, Mr Salmond played a role in the breakaway faction of the party known as the 79 Group but expulsion did not hinder his advancement within the party in the long-term, with his election to leader coming in 1990.

With the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, Mr Salmond served as leader of the opposition at Holyrood, while retaining his seat at Westminster.

He stood down as SNP leader in 2000 and left the Scottish Parliament in 2001.

Returning as leader in 2004, he guided the SNP to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotland's first Nationalist First Minister, with his wife Moira by his side.

In 2011, he led his party to an unprecedented victory with the Additional Member voting system - a combination of the traditional first-past-the-post system, and the list system of proportional represensation at Holyrood essentially aimed at preventing such a result.

It meant the SNP's manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum could be delivered, and set in motion events which would bring the Scottish electorate to the ballot box on September 18.

Mr Salmond signed the Edinburgh Agreement with Prime Minister David Cameron on October 15, 2012, setting out the terms of the referendum.

Since then, his political profile north and south of the Border has risen considerably.

Despite attempts by some in the Yes camp to move the focus away from him, Mr Salmond has ben seen as synonymous with the Scottish independence movement.

Now his certain successor Nicola Sturgeon has time to build her own power base.

During his time as First Minister Mr Salmond has survived controversies including SNP Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's decision to free Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. He had a bitter spat with US tycoon Donald Trump over plans for offshore wind farms near his luxury golf course in Aberdeenshire, and also drew criticism over his dealings with newspaper boss Rupert Murdoch.

But over the past year, his White Paper on independence has been the focus of criticism from his Unionist rivals, most notably over his currency plans, oil revenue projections and a pledge to transform childcare - all of which have been defended with bullish rebuttal.

Mr Salmond also heavily lost the first televised STV debate with Better Together leader Alistair Darling in Glasgow in August, as Glasgow basked in the success of the Commonwealth Games.

However, Mr Salmond bounced back in the second debate, aired by the BBC from Kelvingrove, which he was judged to have won.

Since then Mr Salmond has terrified the British Establishment, prompting a promise from all three Westminster party leaders. After a poll two weeks ago caused shockwaves by putting the Yes camp ahead, the three Westminster party leaders came to Scotland to offer plans for extra powers.

Mr Salmond said David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg's intervention was attempt to save their own careers with Mr Cameron tipped to resign in the event of a Yes vote.

Should he choose to stay in politics, Mr Salmond may face accusations of being a political back-seat driver to his successor, just as John Major was dogged by the spectre of Margaret Thatcher when he became Prime Minister.

Mr Salmond's highly tuned political antenna and strategic thinking would be in demand from the private sector.

His connections to senior business leaders make him likely to win directorships in the oil and gas industry or as a senior advisor to multi-nationals, including major banks. But his plans are unclear.

He hoped his legacy would be to transform Scottish politics.

It might end up being reform of the Westminster system he so detests.