Craps Winners: A Spy’s Casino Game of Choice?
Craps: it’s not considered the most glamourous of casino games, is it? The less glitzy reputation is probably due to some unconscious revulsion at the name: “Craps”, who chose that name and why? Yep, you’ll find Hollywood Blockbusters about Poker, but not about Craps…then again, there aren’t any Blockbusters about Bingo either!
Sure, James Bond shoots some Craps in “Diamonds are Forever” (and that isn’t a euphemism – he actually plays Craps. He doesn’t shoot some baddy called “Craps”), but in general, it isn’t considered a stylish game…
…that’s a shame because if more people realised how big you can win at the Craps table, more people would play, and it’s a fun game to play. It’s one of the few casino games that has a complex set of rules, with interesting twists and turns. It’s fun to watch and to play.
Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall. 5111 Boulder Highway. Las Vegas, NV 89122. 702-456-7777 Don't let the game get out of hand. For Assistance call 800-522-4700. The largest jackpot in recent memory came back in 2014 when an unnamed player from Las Vegas walked off with a cool $14 million. The spectacular win wasn’t even collected on a planned visit either, as the lucky winner was in town visiting a friend at the time. 21 million and $4.6 million dollars. It’s hard to fathom winning millions of. Gold Coast Hotel & Casino. 4000 West Flamingo Road. Las Vegas, NV 89103. 702-367-7111 Don't let the game get out of hand. For Assistance call 800-522-4700.
In Craps, you can get some long winning streaks (the longest we know of is 154 rolls, but more on that in a minute) and some huge profits. It really is surprising that we don’t make more of a deal of it.
If you’ve never tried your hand at Craps before, then read on. Today, we’re going to show you just how glamourous Craps can be – a millionaire’s lifestyle is ready and waiting for the lucky players amongst you. Now, let’s meet some of the luckiest Craps players…
Five Biggest Craps Winners
First up, we have Stanley Fujitake. In May 1989, Fujitake made more than $1,000,000 in 3 hours at the California Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. What followed was the longest recorded Craps roll in history, at that time. He rolled 118 times before he passed the dice along. So legendary was this particular Craps session that a new name was born for the greatest players. Lucky Craps players are said to have the “Golden Arm”. Today, the casino sees an average of one Golden Arm a month, and lucky winners get their name in “The Golden Arm Club”. Fujitake received a Golden Arm no less than four times!
#2 Craps Winner
Twenty years later, in 2009, Patricia Demauro broke Fujitake’s winning record. She now holds the record for longest ever Craps roll, at 154 rolls over 4 hours and 18 minutes. Much mystery surrounds this winning streak; Demauro won’t say how much she won. It could have been anywhere from $500 to $5,000,000. Our guess is that it leans towards the heftier side. Otherwise, why keep it a secret?
#3 Craps Winner
Next, we meet “The Phantom Gambler”. Why he received this nickname is unclear, because we know perfectly well who he is: William Lee Bergstrom. In the 1980s, at Horseshoe Casino, Las Vegas, he won more than $700K. He walked in with two suitcases, one empty, and one full of money – $770K according to reports – and gambled it all on a single Craps roll, winning a further $770K, which he then put in his empty suitcase. Over the course of the coming months, he did this twice more, winning first $190K and then $90K. Finally, he did what he’d set out to do all along, and bet $1m on a single Craps bet. You’ll never guess what happened…
…he lost! Craps! Yep, he lost $1m and never recuperated that money. Unfortunately, in 1985 he committed suicide. He still had a lot of money in the bank at that time, so it’s unlikely the two events were linked. Still, a warning to would-be big rollers out there: make sure you take risks you can afford to lose!
#4 Craps Winner
The following two stories are urban legends. According to one source, the biggest Craps win at Caesar Palace, Las Vegas is $2m, supposedly won by one of Hollywood’s top executive. This guy was high rolling with working bets of $160K. That’s all we know, but if a big Craps film comes out soon, I’m going to place a bet that this guy has something to do with it.
#5 Craps Winner
Finally, we have the tale of “Mr Royalty” (a Bond name if ever we heard one!). According to Tom Breitling, former owner of The Golden Nugget, Las Vegas, a member of a royal family somewhere in Europe, won $4.7m over a six-hour period on the Craps tables, returning a week later to win a further $1.5m!
Craps isn’t as flashy as some casino games, and the jackpots aren’t as big, but one thing that makes it stand out is the secrecy. We hear urban legends, rumours of big wins, but only three or four verified wins. In all but name, it definitely is a game for secret agents like Bond.
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The house wins again.
Nevada sportsbooks won $18.7 million off $154.6 million in bets on Super Bowl LIV, according to figures released Tuesday by gaming control officials. Both the win and the amount wagered were near-records for Nevada's bookmakers and stand as evidence that Las Vegas remains the epicenter for American sports betting.
The Kansas City Chiefs rallied in the fourth quarter to knock off the underdog San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on Sunday. The Chiefs covered the 1.5-point spread, the game stayed under the 53.5 total and Nevada cleaned up.
The $18.7 million win is behind only the $19.6 million Nevada sportsbooks won on Super Bowl XLVIII between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, and the $154.6 million bet is just behind the record $158.5 million that was wagered on Super Bowl LII between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.
This was the second Super Bowl since a 2018 Supreme Court decision opened a path for states outside of Nevada to offer regulated sports betting. Since the ruling, legal sportsbooks have opened in 14 states, with several more poised to get into the bookmaking business this year. The expansion hasn't slowed down the action in Nevada, though. A record $5.3 billion was bet with Nevada sportsbooks in 2019.
'The overall picture in Nevada [since the Supreme Court decision] remains positive,' Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for Nevada Gaming Control, said in an email to ESPN. 'Nevada has set annual records in 10 consecutive years for sports pool volume and won $329.1 million in 2019, which is an all-time record and up 9.5% over last year. In fact, since 2010, sports betting volumes in Nevada have increased 92.6% or $2.555 billion.'
Bettors had more success on the Super Bowl in some of the new states offering sports betting. New Jersey sportsbooks reported a $4.2 million net loss on the $54.2 million bet on the Super Bowl, although some of that loss can be attributed to promotions offered by Garden State bookmakers. Pennsylvania sportsbooks reported a $3.3 million loss on the $30.6 million bet on the Super Bowl.
Kip Levin, president and chief operating officer of FanDuel, pointed to in-play wagering as a big factor in the book's Super Bowl loss in New Jersey.
'With their knack of playoff comebacks, there was a lot of interest in the Chiefs when their odds peaked in the fourth quarter,' Levin told ESPN.
He emphasized, though, that FanDuel was still pleased with the betting interest on the Super Bowl, despite the loss.
Vegas Biggest Winners
'I think we have a lot of years to go before revenue, instead of customer acquisition, is the primary metric for success on days like Super Bowl Sunday,' Levin said.
Biggest Vegas Winners History
Rhode Island sportsbooks fared better, winning $804,000 off $5.5 million bet on the Super Bowl, according to state lottery officials. The Oregon state lottery did not report a net result but said more than 90,000 bets totaling more than $2 million were placed on the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers.