Outrageous Craps Experiences

27 October 2020

By Frank Scoblete

I am sure that almost all casino gamblers have experienced crazy stuff at the table games and this could be especially so in the world of craps. I know I have been there for such memorable events..

Let me start with the worst first – to get that out of the way: I saw a man die at the table in Atlantic City. This big guy, probably six-foot six and fatter than the Matterhorn, took a deep breath and fell to the floor like a giant redwood. Stone cold dead.

There was a pause and one player yelled out: “Let’s keep playing; they’ll come to get him.” We didn’t keep playing. Seriously we should have some respect for the dead, if only for about 15 minutes which was the time it took to get the body out of there.

Thankfully a new player who was stepping over the body to get the guy’s spot was stopped by my late mentor the Captain and the dead guy’s chips were covered and the paramedics soon arrived. They certified the player was dead and shortly wheeled him through the casino and out the door. The game continued. “Death be not proud,” at least at a craps table.

At one of the swankiest casinos in Las Vegas there was this young, drunk, loud guy – maybe mid-20’s – who pictured himself as a comedian who would entertain the rest of us at the table. All I can say was that he was indeed loud but he was not so funny. Drunks tend to think highly of themselves and expect the rest of us to think highly of them as well. That in itself is a sad commentary on the human race. What happened next was even sadder.

After slurping down several more cocktails, he leaned over the table and puked up whatever humour was left roiling about in his stomach. No one laughed at this. And those on the side of the table that had their chips and clothes soaked did not seem amused one bit. The casino had to close that table in order to bring in the cleaning crew who proceeded to clean the chips and the table.

Once done the soaked players went to their rooms to change their outfits. The kid? He was half dragged from the table to be taken who knows where. Luckily I was on the other side of the table from this would-be George Carlin.

This next one also took place at a swanky Las Vegas casino. This relatively young Japanese guy with two beautiful scantily clad women on either side of him was shooting the dice. He was the only person actually playing at the table.

But there was a crowd around the table anyway because these young women were putting on a show of kissing and grinding against our fellow and occasionally going across and behind him to kiss and grind against each other. Again, these women were scantily clad and their actions were sure delighting the all-male crowd. This was early morning, maybe six o’clock, and the guy was obviously in his cups just as was our comedian of the last story.

The guy did not throw up (thank heavens!) but he did lose about $250,000 before he staggered away from the table to the cheers of everyone as the women fondled each other. They didn’t seem to care that their man had lost so much money.

There have been good outrageous things I’ve experienced at the tables too. I was there when a man whipped the dice so hard to the other side that the box person had to keep telling him to “ease up for crying out loud!” What is so special about this? He hit – hold your breath my fellow craps players – he hit the 12 six times in a row! Just multiply 36 X 36 X 36 X 36 X 36 X 36 over 1 X 1 X1 X 1 X 1X 1X and that is the probability of that sequence happening.

Even the dealers were stunned but one player at the table claimed he had seen “snake eyes” (the 2) appear eight times in a row. No one believed him but who knows? Weird things can certainly happen.

Did anyone make any money on this sequence? Yes, on the third 12 a guy bet $10 on the number for the next three rolls. No one else did. I never saw another sequence such as that in my 30 years of playing the game.

Finally, I was on an outrageous roll by the Captain way, way back in Atlantic City when he rolled 147 numbers during one hand. At the time I believe that was the greatest roll ever achieved until Pat DeMauro topped that with a 154 roll hand in Atlantic City some years later. Interestingly enough the players at DeMauro’s table did not make much money as many were novices and failed to increase their bets!

Finally, let’s get back to rotten outrageousness. At another Atlantic City casino one floor man named Francis leaped across the table at a shooter he claimed was consistently missing the back wall when the rolled the dice.

Francis must have had poor vision because this shooter had not missed the back wall even once. That did not stop Francis from being enraged. Of course, the shooter had a fabulous roll and this must have upset Francis as well. He was led away from the table by the pit boss and did not return that night.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Visit Frank’s web site at www.frankscoblete.com. Frank’s books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books and at bookstores.