From the late 1980s to mid 90s when Foxwoods opened, a few times each year I would take the 300 mile trip down to Atlantic City and spend a few days. I always stayed at Harrah's Marina since it was away from town by the Brigantine Bridge. This gave me the opportunity to take a walk outdoors at night which I wouldn't feel safe doing at the other casinos, most of which were on or next to the boardwalk. I was able to drive to those casinos and park in their garages free of charge.
I can remember one time shooting craps at the Marina. There were two men at the table wearing shirts that were unbuttoned at the top to display the gold chains they wore around their necks. They either didn't like the rules, or maybe they just didn't think that the rules applied to them. Whatever their reason when they threw the dice they wouldn't toss them hard enough to hit the cushions at the end of the table that looked like the bottom of the boxes that eggs come in. The reason for requiring the dice to hit them is in order to prevent someone from manipulating the dice by bouncing them back onto the table.
Over a period of time they were warned numerous times by the Stick Man, the person with that curved stick who pushes the dice to the players and calls our the results of the roll. When their turn came these two men continually threw short, I'm not sure if they noticed what I did but I don't think so. Twenty feet or so back from each end of the table were two large young men wearing jackets and ties who had their eyes locked on the two craps shooters. I was expecting that shortly, if the short throwers kept it up, I'd be witnessing a scene like you might see in a movie like
Casino. I saw the two observers move a little bit closer to the table.
Right around then, after another warning, one of the gold chain guys was getting ready to toss the dice. Surprisingly one of the dice actually hit the cushions at the end of the table. The second one was just dropped from his hand straight on the table. The Box Man, the person sitting there with all the chips in front of them and is in charge of the table, called just the dice that had hit the end of the table. Luckily we all didn't lose due to that number, but I think that the Box Man was hoping that peer pressure if we'd lost might cause the gold chains to leave. I don't know if those guys had noticed the large men with ties, or they had just decided for whatever to leave on their own, but that is what they did.
I hope that you enjoyed that story. If you ever run into me ask me about the fire alarm incident at Trop World, and the blackjack player at the Showboat who said that he
knows Donald Trump. Until that time, good cards! And remember to hit the end of the table with the dice.
