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Authors: Dennis Griffin
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the size and locations of the crap games, but maybe even the Secret Service knew, too.”
With rare exceptions, the New York game had betting limits designed to protect the house from suffering major losses to a hot roll. The normal betting cap was $300. Sometimes that was raised to $500, depending on the players and the mood and bankroll of the operators.
The house started a $300-limit game with a bank of around $30,000. When higher limits were in effect, the bank was in the area of $100,000. Unless high rollers made arrangements for a special game, they were held to the limits no matter how much money they had in their pockets. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t play higher.
To satisfy those who craved more action, players could bet directly with one another without going through the house. This was pure “street craps,” where one player “faded” another’s action. If a shooter wanted to bet $500 on a game with a $300 limit, he could offer the extra $200 to whomever was willing to book the action. Once he had a fader, that portion of the wager was strictly between the players; the house had no financial interest in the outcome of those bets either way.
This side action was often booked at negotiated terms, but only the uninitiated “squares” would accept a bet at diminished odds. For the most part, the players in these games knew their stuff and understood dice probabilities cold. Hence, it was far more likely for man-to-man bets above the limit to be covered at correct odds.
“It wasn’t uncommon for a guy with money looking for action to lay two grand to win a grand on the four or ten, which was an even bet for both players,” says Andrew. “They didn’t care about getting an edge. They just wanted to gamble high.”
Another difference in the underground dice games was that most of the customers were “wrong bettors,” meaning they bet on the “don’t” side of the layout. It’s the opposite in legal casinos, where almost everyone bets the pass line, or the “do” side. There was a good reason for betting wrong in the underground game: better odds.
The version of the game played in the legal casinos is what the gangsters call “Western craps.” That’s not the game the Gambino family ran. Their game was a derivative known as “New York craps.” The two are similar in many respects, but have major differences as well. The man who ran the games for the Gambinos believes those differences made his offering more player-friendly.
The biggest difference was in the basic pass and don’t pass bets, which aren’t even called that in New York craps.Instead, there was a bet called “Win or Lose.” Betting Win worked exactly like a pass line bet in the standard game. And betting Lose was similar to a bet on don’t pass, with one major difference—there were no “barred” numbers.
In the legal-casino game of craps, on the “come-out” roll, don’t pass bettors lose on a 7 or 11 and win on a 2 or 3, but only tie if a 12 is rolled. It’s called “barring the 12” and it’s the way the house gets its 1.4% edge against the don’ts. If they didn’t bar the 12, the don’t bettors would enjoy the same 1.4% advantage that the house does against pass-line bettors. Incredibly, this was the case in New York craps (and the reason most bet on the don’t side). There was a saying, “Right bettors go broke; wrong bettors go on vacation.”
“How could we do it and still make a profit? It was human nature,” Andrew insists. “The limits on the Win or Lose bets were set well below the limits on the other bets—usually a hundred dollars. Also, there were no come or don’t come options, so there was no way to get more action unless you made one of the other bets, all of which carried a house advantage. Everyone did, of course. The Win and Lose bets were the ultimate loss leader.”
“You say it makes no sense?” added Andrew’s mentor, who dealt New York craps for decades. “The
With rare exceptions, the New York game had betting limits designed to protect the house from suffering major losses to a hot roll. The normal betting cap was $300. Sometimes that was raised to $500, depending on the players and the mood and bankroll of the operators.
The house started a $300-limit game with a bank of around $30,000. When higher limits were in effect, the bank was in the area of $100,000. Unless high rollers made arrangements for a special game, they were held to the limits no matter how much money they had in their pockets. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t play higher.
To satisfy those who craved more action, players could bet directly with one another without going through the house. This was pure “street craps,” where one player “faded” another’s action. If a shooter wanted to bet $500 on a game with a $300 limit, he could offer the extra $200 to whomever was willing to book the action. Once he had a fader, that portion of the wager was strictly between the players; the house had no financial interest in the outcome of those bets either way.
This side action was often booked at negotiated terms, but only the uninitiated “squares” would accept a bet at diminished odds. For the most part, the players in these games knew their stuff and understood dice probabilities cold. Hence, it was far more likely for man-to-man bets above the limit to be covered at correct odds.
“It wasn’t uncommon for a guy with money looking for action to lay two grand to win a grand on the four or ten, which was an even bet for both players,” says Andrew. “They didn’t care about getting an edge. They just wanted to gamble high.”
Another difference in the underground dice games was that most of the customers were “wrong bettors,” meaning they bet on the “don’t” side of the layout. It’s the opposite in legal casinos, where almost everyone bets the pass line, or the “do” side. There was a good reason for betting wrong in the underground game: better odds.
The version of the game played in the legal casinos is what the gangsters call “Western craps.” That’s not the game the Gambino family ran. Their game was a derivative known as “New York craps.” The two are similar in many respects, but have major differences as well. The man who ran the games for the Gambinos believes those differences made his offering more player-friendly.
The biggest difference was in the basic pass and don’t pass bets, which aren’t even called that in New York craps.Instead, there was a bet called “Win or Lose.” Betting Win worked exactly like a pass line bet in the standard game. And betting Lose was similar to a bet on don’t pass, with one major difference—there were no “barred” numbers.
In the legal-casino game of craps, on the “come-out” roll, don’t pass bettors lose on a 7 or 11 and win on a 2 or 3, but only tie if a 12 is rolled. It’s called “barring the 12” and it’s the way the house gets its 1.4% edge against the don’ts. If they didn’t bar the 12, the don’t bettors would enjoy the same 1.4% advantage that the house does against pass-line bettors. Incredibly, this was the case in New York craps (and the reason most bet on the don’t side). There was a saying, “Right bettors go broke; wrong bettors go on vacation.”
“How could we do it and still make a profit? It was human nature,” Andrew insists. “The limits on the Win or Lose bets were set well below the limits on the other bets—usually a hundred dollars. Also, there were no come or don’t come options, so there was no way to get more action unless you made one of the other bets, all of which carried a house advantage. Everyone did, of course. The Win and Lose bets were the ultimate loss leader.”
“You say it makes no sense?” added Andrew’s mentor, who dealt New York craps for decades. “The
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