Confessions of a female craps player

22 November 2016

By Frank Scoblete

If you play craps you know one major truth: most craps players are men. In fact, well over 90% seem to be men. It is not at all rare to be at tables — one after another after another — where women are not seen and not heard.

Still, there are some intrepid women who do play craps and are not reticent about it. Marie is one such individual.

She told me, “I used to play the slots just like all my friends, but other than pressing a play button I didn’t feel engaged in the game. I always heard the shouting and clapping and encouragement at the craps tables and so I got a book by you [meaning me!], learned the basics of the game and headed to the tables.”

How did she do? “I was nervous at first, really nervous. I was the only woman at the table and some of the men gave me the look.” She defined the look as something on the order of “What are you doing here?”

It took Marie several turns at the table to get comfortable. “Once I understood the game and I could ignore the look, everything fell into place from there. I love the game. Here is what is unusual about my marriage. My husband plays the slots and I play craps. I think you won’t find that very often.”

What is Marie’s style of play? “I generally only bet the pass line with odds and two come bets with odds. I am conservative except – I am almost ashamed to say this – on occasion I will throw out a hard way bet. Not a lot, but enough to give me a zinger in the emotions. When those hit it is fun, but overall I have lost money on them. But I see players make those bets and even worse bets all the time.”

Amy is also an inveterate craps player. “Ever since I went to my first casino when I was 21, craps has fascinated me. And don’t ask me my age! I have no interest in any other game. I did try just about all of them and all I have to say is they didn’t appeal to me at all. Craps was and is my game.”

And what about the men? “Nowadays I don’t find many who get upset with me at the table. Maybe some of the older guys when I was a kid but that generation is just about gone. I cheer with everyone and moan and have a great time. I am not married so I go to the casinos with my girlfriends, all of them slot players, a couple of times a month for a couple of days on each trip. I unwind and have loads of fun.”

How does Amy bet? “Oh, I am a wild one after a few drinks. I go for some of those proposition bets in the middle of the table. I don’t bet as much on those as I do on the pass line or my place bets but I have to have some of them on the layout at all times. That’s the excitement for me, the chance to make a score.”

Finally, there is June, a new player who has been playing for less than a year. “I was scared the first time I went to the craps table. I wasn’t the only woman there. One girl was with her boyfriend, hanging all over him. She had a few chips in front of her which I am thinking were there so she could stand at the table. The boyfriend threw out the bets for her.”

Her first experiences were not too good. “I lost money my first three times at the tables. I thought to myself if it were possible to beat the game, even for one night. Then it happened, I got on a great roll – my own roll. I think I rolled for over a half hour and I made a lot of money because I kept hitting the numbers I was betting on. That sealed it for me. I became a craps player and I have never looked back.”

What women need to break into the game is threefold. First, they have to be able to walk up to a table loaded with men and take their places while showing as little nervousness as possible. For some that is hard to do – at first.

Secondly, they must know the elements of the game. Many male craps players do not want the game slowed down by someone who has no idea of what bets she wants to make.

And thirdly, she has to be aware that some of the men are royal PITAs – as in pains-in-the-ass. They will complain about everything and she has to develop a thick skin especially when confronted with a quick seven-out when she is the shooter. (“Hey, why did you even bother to take the dice, lady?”) She should remain cool and calm and let the occasionally disgruntled players roll off her like water off a duck’s back.

Frank Scoblete’s new books are “I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps”; “Confessions of a Wayward Catholic” and “I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack.” All available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores.