Outrageous Sums

3 April 2017

By Frank Scoblete

Sometimes they take a table in the main casino so everyone can see them and be awestruck by the outrageous sums they wager. Sometimes they sit quietly in the high roller room, away from other players, betting their outrageous sums.

I have seen craps players with over $200,000 on the layout. There was the Hollywood producer at Venetian who allowed me to play at his table. I figured if I had a big roll this guy might give me a big tip or two. I had crummy rolls and I slinked away from the table defeated and ashamed. The next day I went back and asked the crew how our high-roller did – one crew member whispered to me that the guy lost 1.4 million dollars!

I also remember a Japanese porn star at Bellagio who bet this kind of money. He brought along his cheering section, several barely dressed women who snuggled and kissed at the table. The day was another loser except for the legion of men who were enjoying the women’s antics. This porn star had a pants dropping miserable day, ultimately losing a lot of money.

The late Captain of craps, my mentor, had a Crew of players who were big bettors. Although none were in the above category, many times you’d see ten to twenty thousand on the table – and this was the 1990s – wagered by one or another of his Crew.

Go into the high-roller baccarat game and you will see folks betting thousands of dollars on the cards. Baccarat players are perhaps the most superstitious of players. Since many Asians play the game certain numbers, such as the four which sounds like death in Chinese, are removed from the table. There is no four-spot for sitting.

In Indiana I once sat in the high-roller playing blackjack with several NBA players. I don’t remember the name of the casino but I do remember the names of the players. They were some of the worst blackjack players I ever saw as they bet their $10,000 per hand.

I have seen $100 slots players. These folks need a casino employee to stay with them whenever they played because every time they hit for $1,200 or more tax forms had to be filled out. They hit for that sum many, many times. Yes, people watched these folks play with intense concentration. One guy said in a stage whisper, “My lord, this guy has put more money in that machine than I earn in a year!”

Too bad he didn’t see the Godzilla betting levels of the players in the private rooms of the casinos who bet more money than some people make in a lifetime.

So what is it that makes watching these monster players so awesome? Yes, I do think some of it has to do with comparing your yearly income to the outrageous wagers such players make. But I also think there is something more; something quite deeply ingrained in all of us.

We all like to think some people have it made; that these people are totally happy, totally comfortable in their own skins and, of course, they are totally rich; folks who can pluck the sweet fruits from the trees all over the world.

From our youngest days we project that when adulthood arrives it will bring about such happiness and power to our lives that we shall stride the earth like a giant or a Greek god. I guess for most of us it comes as a shock to discover that adulthood is merely being older, yes with more knowledge, but little control over the vagaries of life. Then we see these happy folks betting more money than imaginable and project on them our youthful dream of “having it all.”

Do they have it all? I think not. The Hollywood producer was a nasty, bloated creep who constantly whined about his losses and yelled at the casino workers; he didn’t tip them or the cocktail waitress!

The Japanese porn star was drunk, slovenly and he was told he couldn’t take out any more credit. He was flat broke – at least flat broke for that trip. His bankroll was flaccid.

The grass isn’t always greener in the other yard and money, while a nice, somewhat ease-producing aspect of life, isn’t the “be-all and end-all” of a person’s worth. This is an old adage, and perhaps trite, but the trite is often true. Someone might be able to bet more than you earn in a year but his thrill level and happiness, at least in gambling, is probably no greater than yours.

I remember a wonderful quote my wife, the Beautiful AP, recounts in an article she wrote many years ago about a 25-cent slot player, “I just want a bigger bucket.” She wanted to make enough money to go to dollar coins. I think many of us want bigger buckets but that might not always happen. And if you do get a bigger bucket, it might not mean anything in the end.


Frank Scoblete’s latest 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. Available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores. Visit Frank’s web site at frankscoblete.com.