High Rollers - Win or Crash and Burn?

A high roller walks up to your craps table and takes out a marker for $100,000. Most players, including yourself, have $5 to $25 bets out.

Now be honest. Would you rather watch this high roller win big money, or crash and burn? Or do you not care one way or the other?

Speaking as a dealer - i want him to break the house. more tips for the dealers is a good thing.

As a casino employee - crash and burn, managers will give us an easy life.

As a gambler, doesnt matter to me, good luck to the fella.

I would be more interested in seeing HOW he's betting. Is he making intelligent wagers hence reducing the house edge to the bare minimum? Or is he maniacally playing the props and betting on hunches, ignorant of the odds and vigs?

As long as he's playing smart I'd be rooting for a win.

Quote: gambler

A high roller walks up to your craps table and takes out a marker for $100,000. Most players, including yourself, have $5 to $25 bets out.

Now be honest. Would you rather watch this high roller win big money, or crash and burn? Or do you not care one way or the other?

Basically depends on the player. If he was nice to the dealers and not flaunting his wealth, I'd probably hope he won. Likewise, if he was mean, or demanded to be the star of the show, I'd root against him. I would also be less likely to be sympathetic if he was losing his money on sucker bets.

Everybody's got a right to gamble, and if that means they can afford a larger bankroll than me, that's just the way it goes.

On the same note, everybody's got a right to be an a**hole.

To answer your questions: It depends on the person.

If he's an a**hole, then I start to wish that there is justice in the universe and watch him burn thru the bankroll.

If he's an average joe, then let's see if we can win some money.

I agree with The Wizard on this. It also helps if I'm betting on the same side, because then a win for him means a win for me -- just a much smaller amount. I try not to think about the fact that his single bet on one number is more than my entire session bankroll!

I wish I was a bigger man here, but I've got to say it bugs me if I see some drunken guy throwing down $1000 bets on crazy plays and get lucky. Once again back to the old guys at Binions. They say there was a kind of gambler in the old days that didn't care about comps. They would go to the snack bar and eat red beans and rice and then throw down thousands. They only cared about good odds. They also didn't care about mixing with the masses. I think I would cheer on a guy like this.
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But generally it would be difficult to wish somebody ill if he is friendly and jovial and nice to the staff.
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They say that Vegas was built on public gambling. It was built into the Nevada law. Unfortunately, they have had to relent on this prohibition because so many of the new class of gamblers wanted privacy. I understand that their are fiber optic systems from the new class of private club that have secure visual connections to the state regulators. The original requirement was that the players needed a $300K approved line of credit and $500 minimum bets. Steve Wynn talked the regulators out of the minimum because he found some highly superstitious gamblers would want to switch from $5K bets to $50 bets. He felt that once the player was permitted to enter the club, he was allowed to follow whatever magic he believed in.

Quote: gambler

A high roller walks up to your craps table and takes out a marker for $100,000. Most players, including yourself, have $5 to $25 bets out.

Now be honest. Would you rather watch this high roller win big money, or crash and burn? Or do you not care one way or the other?

You left out some very imoprtant details.

For example, if this hypothetical high roller is a hot woman in her late 30s, then who could possibly want to see her crash and burn? :)

Quote: Croupier

As a casino employee - crash and burn, managers will give us an easy life.
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Does the manager really get angry at you if you book a big loss on your shift? Are they really that short-sighted?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

On the same note, everybody's got a right to be an a**hole.

As long as they are willing to accept the consequences of said a**holishness. i.e. don't question my disgust if you are going against the grains of courtesy (no matter how much your betting). Often I find that people, who's conduct does not meet the standards that were instilled in me and all of the people that I associate with; get ticked off at you if you show any negative reaction to their unruliness. This just irks me all the more.

Like many people have said in they're own way, personality overrides the $100,000. Most of the $500-$4000 spreaders I've played with at same table over the years (maybe 7 or 8), definately were quiet and polite (and did not drink). Randomly, anyone at my table (I was here first) that drops 100 long has already shown the credentials, get on with personality.

true story. i was at Bellagio playing $25 on roulette when an high roller from India walks up to the table. he asks how the table was. I said it was hitting the 1st 3rd of the table a lot (ya ya, i know it doesn't matter for the next spin but allow me my superstitions).

He proceeded to plunk a single 10,000 chip (good lord, i thought) on the 3rd table-3rd bet. I glanced at him, he glanced back. I bet the 1st table-3rd. Hits an 8, i win, his chip raked. We exchange glances again. Same exact bets. Spin 2, hits a 3, he is down $20k. Now our eyes lock, the battle of wills is on! One last bet, same thing. Of course, i go 3 for 3! Now he just dropped 30K in 3 spins.

He looks at me says, "guess you were right", and then just walks away. As a side note, the dealer left the table as soon as the Indian guy left. I figure he went to pick up some sort of trophy or reward. Hopefully the casino at last gave him a 'dealer of the week' parking spot!

True story here too. Once at a $5 crap table a guy plunks 5g's against me. Being at a hot table I was playing Right, and up a few hundred. Point is 9 and I back full 4x on my $15. They guy Lays $7500 after a call to pit. The dice go 6-8-hard 10-9. Guy comes out again 5g's against. I'm up to $20 Right. Point is 5, out comes the 7500, and I back with 80. Rolls are 11-4-4-8-9-5. Thats the biggest bets against me, that I'm aware of.

This one is in my journal with a winning one.

Foxwoods 1996: Playing $5 craps. I step into a game after a point is made two spots to right. Lotta money on table, I play right. The shooter makes two points and a 7 then 7-out. Next shooter makes a 7 come-out then point 7-out. I get the dice and hold them for nearly an hour. Betting increments of $5 for each pass-line point made, I'm up to $40 with a ton of green in the tray with a few black chips. I had 120 on 6 and 8. Finally, i sevened out, and got some applause. I tipped $50 drop. Next thing I realize 2 black chips come my way.

It seems the fellow at the other end of the table was down 7800 before I started, and was ahead 19000 when i finished. It then dawned on me that the lotta chips I saw at first approach were all his... purple green and black. The red ones were everyone elses.

Several years ago There would be a guy from interstate come drop by the craps table at my local casino from time to time. His usual action would be $2200 the inside numbers with a $5k lay on the 10. He was a real asshole and everyone would root against him to the point of having $5 on the 10 and cheering when it hit.

A couple years ago in AC, at Caesar's; my dad and my brother in law and I were playing 3 Card (when pairs plus paid 40/30/6/4/1). A woman comes up, slightly tipsy, you could tell she used to be a knockout but she'd been through some tough times; maybe late 30s or around 40. Still somewhat pretty, but not for much longer. She signed a marker for $10k, and started playing black chips. Almost right away, the entire table got hot as hades. I was playing quarters, the rest of us $10 and then $25; she hit 3 of a kind and a straight flush almost back to back, I hit two 3 of a kinds, everyone else was hitting flushes and straights out the wazoo, the dealer was getting toked left and right (the straight flush was a "205 and down"). This was about 4PM. After about 20 minutes the table cooled off, and we went different directions. Around 7PM, I wandered over to the craps table and saw her, so drunk she could hardly stand, playing her last $25 chip on 12. It lost. She shrugged, smiled, and left.

(I don't know if $100s count as high roller, but it is the kind of bet that makes my gut clench, personally. At 3 Card it means almost $1000 every 3 hands.)