Sixty-Sixty Over and Out

The measure of greatness for a single craps hand are time, the multitude of numbers hit, and how much money you make. The longer a craps roll lasts, the slower the game goes since more and larger bets have to be paid off. So the hand starts fast and as time progresses tends to go slower with each passing profit. But the longer the hand goes, the more money is made since most craps players start to escalate their wagers.

Decisions slow down; the money won increases. That's a very nice equation.

The year of 2004 was a very good year for me and monster rolls - I had six 50-plus monsters all together. I've done several hour-long rolls, too, the latest just happening.

And what a day it was.

But I am getting ahead of myself. A few of my Golden Touch craps colleagues and I decided to spend a few days at the casinos. We did have some business to take care of - a television show, a legal case - but we also had three full days of play. I was joined by my colleagues the Dominator, Rock 'n Roller, Stickman, Chip, Marilyn and Charlie.

I played four craps sessions each day. A one to two hour session at 7AM; a one to two-hour session at 11AM; an afternoon session and an evening session.

My first rolls of each day were quite good - anywhere from 15 to 25 numbers. But then I would go into a 50-50 rhythm - I'd have a decent hand, anywhere from 10 to 20 numbers, and a disastrous hand where I would establish a point and then quickly seven out. My income from my combined rolls was positive but not spectacular - certainly not something I'd write an article about.

Of course, with such shooters as Dominator, Rock 'n Roller, Chip, Stickman, Charlie and Marilyn, I didn't need to make spectacular amounts on myself. Each and every one of them had great rolls during the three days, with Marilyn having four 30-number rolls, and Dominator putting on a show of four straight hands going into the 20s just before he had to leave for the airport. Yes, as luck would have it, Dominator missed the hour-long monster roll.

If the three days we spent had just been our rolls as they were, with no monster roll, it would have been a great three days for all of us.

But the craps deities decided to bless us with a monster on the second-to-last night. I had been having my usual good roll/bad roll day. Dominator had just finished his four-straight 20-plus hands and had headed off to the airport.

After dinner it was playtime.

Stickman was the first to shoot at stick left one (next to the stick man on his left side). He had a 15-roll hand - a nice moneymaker. Then it was my turn. I moved into part of the stick left one position as Stickman made room for me to shoot.

I was feeling relaxed, attentive, and my shot looked quite good. On the come-out roll, I set for the 7 and hit a couple of them. Then I established my point. The casino allowed 20X odds, I had a $5 Pass Line bet and I backed it with $100 in odds. I then put up a Come bet.

By my fifth or sixth roll, the world started to get hazy. I know I hit my point right away, then another. But now I was not focused on the world of the table; I just saw the dice and the back wall where those dice had to hit. And I started what was to be a monster. (Monster rolls are sometimes defined as 45 minutes or more, or hitting 30 numbers or more.)

All long rolls need a little luck here and there. Once my dice hit some chips and I prayed that the 7 wouldn't show its ugly face. It didn't. That fact was just a vagary of fortune. There was also one bettor who had his Pass Line bet about an inch from where I needed to land my dice - I never once hit any of his bets the whole time. The luck goddess was with me there.

As the roll progressed I could hear people clapping and screaming, but they all seemed so very far away - as if I were in a light sleep and these were dream claps and dream screams off in a dim and distant somewhere.

Every so often I could see Charlie clapping his hands - he was to the left of me, but I was never focused on him. Occasionally, Stickman would say, "Beautiful rolls, beautiful."

I tipped the dealers with Pass Line bets and double to 5X odds so every point I hit, the dealers made some money. And those dealers were just great. The stick person would always step back and give me a clear view of the back wall and with each winning tip, the dealers would all say, "Thank you, sir." Classy dealers. Even the box man, whose job it is to see that the game goes smoothly, would occasionally say, "Great rolling, sir."

These thoughts floated in my mind, as thoughts will when you are in a deep daydream. Other thoughts came to mind - most of them I have forgotten. I had no idea as I rolled about how long the roll was. It just kept going. I just knew that I had covered all the numbers on the board and that I was slowly escalating my bets - which were now all Place bets. Somewhere in the roll, I had stopped the Come betting and just placed the numbers.

Somewhere in time, a few chip trays were brought in. Usually craps players think the casinos will bring in the chip trays to make the shooter lose his concentration. Not this time. The area of the table where the casino keeps its chips was empty in places. We had taken many of the chip stacks down to the wood!

I noticed this but again I noticed it in a dreamlike far away.

And I kept rolling.

But even dreams come to an end - however pleasant those dreams might be.

I sevened out. There was a pause and the table exploded with applause and laughter. Hands flew into the air. Fists were raised. Players came over and patted me on the back. Other players were saying, "That was remarkable!" or "That was great!" or "You are the man!"

Marilyn came over to me (she was on stick right two, next to a clapping Rock 'n Roller) and said, "You rolled sixty minutes and sixty numbers!"

I smiled, "Sixty-sixty and out!"

I was tired now. I could feel the fatigue in my muscles.

I cashed out. I wanted to savor the win. A good night's sleep on top of a sixty-sixty, it doesn't get much better than that for a craps player.