Full of 'Craps' part 3

Shaun and I step up to the table and plop down are entire budget for the event: $60 dollars each. We receive a handful of red chips and put down two red chips ($10) on the pass line and the sweat on our respective brows appears.

The first roll of the dice is a "7", which at this point in the game is a winner for us. We are now $10 up and I get cocky. The next roll is an 8, and the cycle begins. My money on the table is a wager that the an "8" will be rolled before a "7". While the odds are not in your favor, it is pretty close to 50/50 so I "bet the odds" and put another red chip down to back up the bet.

Shaun does not do this back up bet, which is significant. The primary objective is for Shaun and I to go home with exactly the same (or even better, more) money as the other. To end the evening with less money than the other person is an unbearable thought, so it is rare that we do not bet exactly the same. Misery loves company, they say, and I'll go one step further that success loves solitude. In all honesty, either of love when we are in the position to say that the other person made "X" amount, but I ended up with $10 more.

So here I am with more money on the table than Shaun and a "7" is rolled. So I am down $15, while Shaun only lost $10. Damn! This will mean I will have to be more riskier with my wagers to gain the lost ground. I vaguely am aware that Dennis is still with us and has chips burning a hole in his pocket. He says something about playing blackjack and he would see us later. I wave him off and get back to the table.

I lose a few re wages and I am down to $15. I am ready to hang it up, but Shaun (with significantly more chips than I) wants to hang on. I begrudgingly agree as the dice are handed to a new roller. She rolls the dice and this is where our luck changes. We are betting conservatively, no backing up the bets, no side bets. By the time her end runs, I am up to about $70 bucks in my pocket and I am feeling ready to take a risk.

She loses the dice and it is given to an elderly gentleman with the most perfectly coifed hair I have ever seen. He places the dice in front of him, meticulously turns each die so that his lucky numbers are facing up, and slowly lobs them down the table. A "10" is rolled and the cycle has begun. I back up the bet, which is risky, as a"10" is harder to roll than a "7". However the payoff is 2 to one on the back up so I am in. I also start making some side bets on the "6" and "8" to come in. Every time he rolls a "6" or an "8", I get $14 bucks, and that happens multiple times.

Shaun and I are on a roll, but the meticulousness of the old guy with the fancy hairdo is too much and I am getting annoyed at how long he is taking with each roll of the die. I point thus out discreetly to Shaun.

"He must put the same amount of time into his hair as he does rolling the dice!" I observe.
Shaun looks surprised and gives the guy a once over, "I really thought he was a woman".

At this point the guy hits the "10" we needed, and we continue a long steady climb to winning more chips. This goes on for a while; chips laid down, dice rolled, winnings picked up. It was a great feeling. After what felt like a long while, "The 'do" finally loses the dice and Shaun and I decide it is time. We had been at the table for a while and felt our luck could change at any moment and we had quite a good run.

I call for a "color in" (meaning your red chips are exchange for higher amount chips of different colors so you don't have a unmanageable wad of chips) and the tally comes to $163, a net profit of $103 dollars. Not my biggest haul but close. I anxiously await Shaun's tally to see if I will have to bear the shame of walking out with less then him.

The dealer says "Wow that is weird, you both have the same amount." I scratched my head. We hadn't been betting the same but in the end we had both leveled out. Ecstatic about the situation we turn and see Dennis approaching.

"Dennis, we are up $100 each, isn't that incredible? We had the best run!", I exclaim.
He replies with all sincerity, "That is great! I did well too at the blackjack table."
"Really, that is awesome. How did you do?", I inquired.
He opens his hand, reveals 1 $100 chip and 2 $500 chips and says "OK, I recouped my poker losses."

And as the excitement of making a quick $100 is suddenly replaced with a curiosity of what losing and winning $1000 in one day must feel like, I turn to Shaun and say, "What do you say we come back next week?"

We find Dan and head for the exit, stopping only to watch Dan place a wager on the roulette wheel. Dan has an annual tradition of coming to the casino and laying $100 down on either red or black at the roulette table. Up until this evening his record is 1 and 1. Tonight he puts his money on red and his record stands at 1 and 2.

The trip home is filled reliving the evening and congratulating each other on how well we did (and consoling Dan), but I think in the back of our minds we were thinking, "Next time I am going to turn my $60.00 into a thousand."