The Best Craps Players of All Time

One of the oldest and most popular table games in the casino industry is craps. The dice game dates back to the late 1700s, when it was known as “Krabs”. It eventually grew in popularity in the United States, based on the Western European game of hazard.

Essentially, players in the game bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. There are two different types of craps games:

• Street Craps – players wager money against each other
• Casino Craps – players wager money against the bank

Unlike Casino Craps, Street Craps can be played in an informal environment, due to the little equipment that is required to play. For Casino Craps, players must attend a retail casino or visit an online gambling site to play. At casinos, players may use slang terminology for craps to place bets and other actions.

Who are the Best Craps Players Ever?

Although craps is a table game that is completely based on luck, there are still a number of professional gamblers that have made a name for themselves. In this article, we cover some of the most reputable craps players of all-time. That includes:

• Stanford Wong
• Dominic LoRiggio
• Patricia DeMauro
• Stanley Fujitake
• Archie Karas
• Benny Binion
• Jerry Patterson

Stanford Wong – The Professional Gambling Author

One of the most famous craps players and gamblers of all-time is John Ferguson, who is better known for his pen name, Stanford Wong. Born in 1943, Wong is a professional gambler who made a name for himself by playing blackjack, craps and other table games. Today, Wong owns Pi Yee Press, a publishing house that has produced a number of gambling books from Wong and other authors.

Although Wong is most well-known for his books, particularly for ‘wonging’ at blackjack tables, he is also an established craps player. He wrote a book, titled ‘Wong on Dice’, which explains how players can overcome the house by using controlled dice throwing. However, not all experts believe that the technique can actually increase a player’s chances. It is certainly not as accurate as the mathematics used in his card counting strategies for blackjack. In addition to Wong on Dice, and his many casino books, Stanford Wong also wrote another book about craps, entitled “Tournament Craps”.

Dominic LoRiggio – The Dominator

Known as “The Dominator”, Dominic LoRiggio is a professional gambler and master craps player. LoRiggio used to be one of the most appealing craps players back in the day, before he retired from gambling and instead became an author and public speaker. He is most well-known for his expertise in the art of dice control. In craps, this is known as “rhythm rolling” or “controlled shooting”.

LoRiggio developed a technique that he used to influence the outcome of a roll of dice by the way of which they are thrown. He was part of a team of professional gamblers known as “The Crew”. The team were based in Las Vegas and specialized in playing craps. In recent times, LoRiggio has been labelled the best dice controller in the world. He has appeared in several television shows and documentaries about gambling. He appeared on the History Channel in a show about his life titled: “The Dice Dominator”. He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel’s “Breaking Vegas” and the Travel Channel’s “Gambling Adventures”.

After retiring, LoRiggio spent time sharing his knowledge and experience to others interested in how he became “The Dominator” of craps. One of the best ways to learn more about his style was from the book, “The Craps Underground: The Inside Story of How Dice Controllers are Winning Millions from Casinos!”. He has also publicly spoken at many seminars and workshops to further divulge his experience and expertise of the dice control techniques that he used.

Patricia DeMauro – The Queen of Craps

In 2009, Patricia DeMauro became “The Queen of Craps”, when she spent four hours and eighteen minutes rolling dice at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. DeMauro, now a retired New Jersey grandmother, set the world record for the longest craps roll in a casino. She managed to roll the dice 154 times without rolling a seven.

This achievement has never been matched, beating the previous “Golden Arm” record of Stanley Fujitake that stood for twenty years. The odds of rolling the dice that many times without a seven are estimated to be 1 in 1.56 trillion. For that reason, DeMauro’s feat is considered so remarkable.

Unfortunately, DeMauro never revealed how much she made from the winning streak. However, it is safe to assume that thousands, or potentially even millions, were won by the New Jersey local. Some outlets even believe that she won $180 million over the space of those four hours. Since then, DeMauro has retired from gambling and stay out of the public eye.

Stanley Fujitake – The Original ‘Golden Arm’

The ‘Golden Arm’ is a term that is used in craps to refer to a player that has rolled dice for over an hour without losing. The California Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas first introduced the term in 1989.

On the 28th of May 1989, Stanley Fujitake, a legendary craps player, recorded the longest roll in craps history (at the time) that lasted three hours and six minutes. He made a total of 118 consecutive rolls without rolling a seven.

Fujitake started with a $5 bet on the Pass Line when he began the streak. By the end of the streak, the craps player had won over $1.5 million in a single session. His remarkable achievement stood the test of time for twenty years, before DeMauro broke the record in 2009. Fujitake is still regarded as a legendary craps player, earning him a place in the Craps Hall of Fame.

Archie Karas – One of the Most Controversial Gamblers Ever

Anargyros Karabourniotis (known as Archie Karas) is a Greek American professional gambler that played craps, as well as poker, pool and other gambling games. Karas is one of the greatest craps players of all-time but more so, one of the best gamblers to ever grace the industry. In 1992, he had arrived in Las Vegas with only $50 to his name. Over the following three years, Karas had won more than $40 million.

His winning run started in 1992 when Karas borrowed $10,000 from a fellow poker player and had paid him back $20,000 during the same session. He had travelled across Vegas, playing at different poker tables and also winning pool matches for money.

Once his reputation exceeded him, Karas was banned from many poker tables in Las Vegas due to his high stakes playing game. He had turned to craps but was only allowed to bet a maximum of $100,000 per roll at the Binion’s Horseshoe. Temporarily, Jack Binion (the manager at the casino) raised Karas’ buy bet limits to $200,000. Karas had made the most of this, winning $920,000 with the new limits. This lead Binion to reduce the limit back to $100,000. Karas had stated that he could quickly win $3 million on craps, while it would take days or weeks to do so by playing poker. He said:

“With each play I was making million-dollar decisions, I would have played even higher if they’d let me”.

By the end of his winning streak, Karas had won all of the Binion’s casino’s $5,000 chips, the highest denomination at the time. He carried a gun with him at all times as he would have to travel around with millions of dollars in his car every day. He was escorted by his brother and casino security guards at most times. He had won over $40 million by the end of the winning streak.

Unfortunately for Karas, his luck eventually run out. Whilst he had won millions over the three-year period, he had also started losing millions as well. In 2013, Karas was arrested after being caught cheating. He was found guilty and sentences to three years’ probation.

Benny Binion

Although Benny Binion was not notoriously known as being one of the best all-time craps players, he certainly did contribute to the table game. Benny Binion was the father of five children, including Jack Binion, owner of the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino.
Born in 1904, Binion moved to Las Vegas in the 1950s to open the Horseshoe Casino. He had previously been involved in criminal activity including being a convicted murderer. Binion had killed African American Frank Bolding, and gambling competitors Ben Friedman and Sam Murray. He had also established an illegal gambling operation in Texas and became a mob boss of Dallas.

Binion moved to Las Vegas because gambling was legal in the state. He had opened the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino. It became popular because of the high limits that he had allowed at tables, including $500 for craps, ten times higher than any other competitors. The Horseshoe is also believed to be the first casino to offer 100-times-odds at craps, a patron with a bet on the pass or don’t-pass lines could take or lay up to 100 times their bet in odds. Essentially, Binion popularized craps in the United States. Binion died aged 85 in 1989 in Las Vegas.

William Bergstrom – The Suitcase Man

Born in Austin, Texas in 1951, William Bergstrom became known as ‘The Suitcase Man’ for his incredible craps bet in 1980. Bergstrom took out a $777,000 loan for real estate but took the money in a suitcase to Binion’s Gambling Hall for a craps session. Upon entering the venue, Bergstrom had a suitcase full of cash and another empty suitcase. Fortunately for him, the Texas native doubled up on the pass line. He immediately collected his winnings into the empty suitcase and left the casino.

After taking several years off, travelling the world, Bergstrom eventually returned to the casino holding two suitcases, one of which had $538,000 in it. He had won again and continued to do similar bets on the pass line every now and then.

In 1984, Bergstrom made history by placing the first ever $1 million bet on craps. He had bet on the pass line but sadly did not win. Shortly afterwards, Bergstrom had committed suicide, having battled with mental health problems for many years. It is also the reason why he had placed all of those all-or-nothing bets previously.

Jerry Patterson – The Creator of the PARR

Jerry Patterson is one of the pioneers in controlled shooting. In the early 1990s, he had developed his own throwing style, known as the Patterson Rhythm Roll (PARR). He was in the same team as Dominic LoRiggio, but the two had conflicted over the approach used. Patterson’s “Rosebud Team” was only ever allowed to wager no more than $10. LoRiggio, who enjoyed betting big when on a winning streak, fell out with Patterson’s conservativeness. That is when “The Dominator” had decided to leave the team and go solo. After the team eventually disbanded, Jerry Patterson wrote a book about the Patterson Rhythm Roll, teaching new craps players how they could influence the outcome of a throw by using a specific technique.

The Greatest Craps Players Ever

In addition to these players above, craps has a colourful history of famous players. The likes of Frank Scoblete and Richard Favela spring to mind, among others. It is near impossible to pick a single craps player as “the greatest ever”, as each one of these players is famous for their own reasons and styles. However, they will all be remembered in their own ways for how they have contributed to the game of craps.