$5.3 Million in Six Hours of Craps, Again at the Trop
Published: Tuesday, June 07, 2011, 7:48 AM Updated: Tuesday, June 07, 2011, 7:49 AM
The Associated Press o a gambler weeks after another high roller won $5.8 million at the same casino.
Tropicana Casino and Resort CEO Tony Rodio told The Press of Atlantic City the unidentified gambler won most of the cash during a six-hour streak playing craps Wednesday. He also won at blackjack and mini-baccarat. Rodio says the player left a $150,000-plus tip, which was divided up among the Tropicana table games dealers.
Rodio declined to name the player. However, Rodio says it was not Don Johnson. The Bensalem, Pa., resident won nearly $6 million during a hot streak at the Trop in March and April. Rodio told the newspaper Johnson and the winning craps player will be invited back for more high-stakes gambling.
That statement was merely for public consumption. In actuality, Rodio told both Johnson and myself that neither one of us is welcome back there.Quote: SanchoPanzaRodio told the newspaper Johnson and the winning craps player will be invited back for more high-stakes gambling.
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Quote: FleaStiffThat statement was merely for public consumption. In actuality, Rodio told both Johnson and myself that neither one of us is welcome back there.
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In Your dreams ! ROFLMAO
Second high roller takes Tropicana for another $5.3 million at craps, blackjack, mini-baccarat
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 6:00 am
ATLANTIC CITY — Think of the odds of two high rollers winning more than $5 million apiece — at the same casino, within weeks of each other.
Well, it has happened at Tropicana Casino and Resort. Two months after a blackjack player won $5.8 million, another gambler has burned the casino for $5.3 million.
Tony Rodio, Tropicana’s new chief executive officer, said the unidentified gambler won most of the money at the craps table during a six-hour hot streak Wednesday night. He also got lucky playing blackjack and mini-baccarat. . . . Rodio declined to name the craps player, saying it is Tropicana’s policy to protect the privacy of its customers. He did say, however, that it was not Don Johnson, the high-rolling blackjack player who revealed his identity in a May 22 story in The Press of Atlantic City. . . .
Johnson complained that Atlantic City’s casinos are refusing him a chance to play again, but Tropicana’s billionaire owner, Carl Icahn, said he plans to personally invite Johnson back to the blackjack tables. “We have not cut him off,” Icahn said. “I congratulate him on his winnings. That’s what gambling is all about. We’d be happy to see him again.”
Rodio said the winning craps player also will be invited back for more high-stakes gambling. At one point Wednesday, the mystery player was betting more than $100,000 at a time on the craps table.
Tropicana has made high-stakes wagering the centerpiece of its casino strategy, with mixed results. The casino posted higher table games revenue in six of seven months while the rest of the Atlantic City market shrank. Johnson’s winning ways, however, brought Tropicana’s streak to a dramatic end in April.
“Mr. Icahn and his company understand that with this strategy, there is a little bit of volatility,” Rodio said. “Sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield.”
Rodio recalled that Icahn was unfazed when he told him about the craps player’s big win. Instead of scrapping the high-stakes strategy, Icahn told Rodio that he wanted to spread the word that Tropicana is still pursuing major players. “This is Mr. Icahn’s strategy,” Rodio said. “He has made no bones about this strategy. He feels very confident. We are not afraid to offer aggressive limits.”
Last week, Rodio, 52, of Hammonton, replaced former Tropicana CEO Mark Giannantonio, who was fired in May. Rodio denied that Johnson’s huge win had anything to do with Giannantonio’s ouster.
Rodio has spent nearly 31 years in the casino industry. He recalled one Japanese gambler who won about $6 million while playing baccarat at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in the 1980s. But he said he had never before heard of two gamblers winning more than $5 million each at one casino so close in time."--acpress
Quote: pacomartin
The late Akio Kashiwagi was a Japanese property developer with a vast fortune and alleged ties to the Yakuza. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the highest of high rollers. Baccarat was his game of choice and with credit lines in the millions he routinely gambled US$100,000 - $200,000 a hand. For his fearless gambling, he was dubbed “The Warrior” by casino executives.
One casino executive, Dennis Gomes, of the Dunes in Las Vegas says that Akio Kashiwagi would “sit at the Baccarat table and bet $100,000 a hand for 80 hours. He’d play two days straight without sleeping, go to bed, get up and gambler some more.”
The Negotiator
While the casinos may have competed for Akio’s action, he was known as one of the toughest customers. He was known to routinely negotiate his losses. Mr Gnomes says “He was a friendly guy but he was a tough negotiator when it came to paying his debt. It was frustrating to deal with him. Out of an $8 million debt, you'd probably collect maybe $5 million."
Highs
Akio Kashiwagi’s most famous win was a record breaking US$6 million from the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City in February 1990. In a baccarat session befitting a whale, Akio was wagering US$200,000 a hand at a rate of around US$14 million an hour. At one point, ‘The Warrior’ was up more than US$7 million.
Lows
In May 1990, Akio Kashiwagi again broke records. During a marathon high stakes baccarat session at the Trump Plaza that lasted 6 days, Akio lost US$10 million. This still stands as the largest single loss in Baccarat history. Casino owner, Donald J. Trump is quoted as saying that Akio was up more than US$10 million before losing.
In January 1992, Akio Kashiwagi was found dead at his Mount Fuji home with 150 stab wounds. At the time of his death Akio still had casino debts to be settled in the order of at least US$9 million, owing US$5 million to the Las Vegas Hilton and US$4 million to the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
Quote: SanchoPanza
“Mr. Icahn and his company understand that with this strategy, there is a little bit of volatility,” Rodio said. “Sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield.”
Rodio recalled that Icahn was unfazed when he told him about the craps player’s big win. Instead of scrapping the high-stakes strategy, Icahn told Rodio that he wanted to spread the word that Tropicana is still pursuing major players. “This is Mr. Icahn’s strategy,” Rodio said. “He has made no bones about this strategy. He feels very confident. We are not afraid to offer aggressive limits.”
We all know Icahn's strategy is sound. The free press of huge winners might help draw more people to a sagging city.
I'd like to know what bets he was spreading at the Craps Table and if there was any setting involved. (I'd assume at thousands of dollars a bet, he could have the table to himself and be the shooter every roll...)
Yep, a Boxman was just a setting there watching to see if he tried anything funny with the dice.Quote: cclub79I'd like to know if there was any setting involved.
I don't think this latest winner is going to start up some seminar on dice setting though if he did he would be the first seminar huckster with anything close to credentials.
Quote: FleaStiffYep, a Boxman was just a setting there watching to see if he tried anything funny with the dice.
I don't think this latest winner is going to start up some seminar on dice setting though if he did he would be the first seminar huckster with anything close to credentials.
Right. I was more curious to see if it was done, but not as endorsement that it works in any way.
Though even then, the crew was experienced and there were cameras. So may be he just liked to be obnoxious and got lucky.
Quote: FleaStiffI don't think even a high roller can distract an experienced and trusted crew, though I do have some lingering doubts about that obnoxious guy who brought an entourage with him and kept the pace fast when he won at the Golden Nugget against those two young men who bought out Steve Wynn or something long ago.
Though even then, the crew was experienced and there were cameras. So may be he just liked to be obnoxious and got lucky.
Tim and Tom admitted that their dealers were not that experienced to handle the action at the Golden Nugget that day. Tom even acknowledged that the dealers were making mistakes on the payouts, but he considered it more important that they keep up with the pace the shooter demanded than they make every payment correct.
