The Old Colonel's Crap System

Ever heard of the Old Colonel's crap system? No? That's probably because I just made that name up, but a few years back there was an old man who played a craps system at Harrah's in Reno. He was rumored to have been a Colonel in the US Army, perhaps in the Korean War, or World War II, or...well, you get the idea. He was old.

The Colonel always entered the main casino from the sky bridge, his white hair wild around his face and his unkempt beard flailing in all directions. He rode the escalator down to the main casino, holding tight to the hand rail. It moved fast, he didn't. The casino floor would come rushing up towards him at the end of the ride and he would try to get his legs going as fast as possible, really churning, but he didn't worry, because he used the main crap game to stop. Sometimes he knocked over a few drinks, but that was all right, because his long coat absorbed the alcohol and cut down on the other smells it harbored.

He always started with $40 in chips from two wrinkled twenties that he cashed after brushing the spilled drinks and cigarette butts from his coat, but if his beloved field-system failed him, he'd finish off his bets with a massive, ugly roll of crinkled bills he had to fish out from somewhere deep inside that musty old coat.

Regardless of what rolled on that fateful final bet, that stinking wad of cash had to be de-banded and unrolled; not a task the dealers enjoyed. However, it was very rare to see the Colonel get to his final bet, and he had a wonderful tendency to catch a deuce or twelve when he got to his fifth or sixth bet, placing him squarely in the black for yet another session.

The Colonel made his final field bet several years ago, but his system is still used by the occasional player. The funny thing is, I see it win on a pretty regular basis. As always, the house has the edge, but it's fun to try something new on occasion.

You can read the whole scoop at the Colonel's Crap System.>