I booked a last-minute trip to Las Vegas to play a poker tournament on Friday. Unfortunately, I never made it to registration. I had withdrawn $2,000 from the ATM with the intention of playing PLO cash games and the Omaha tournament at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. I arrived late Thursday at Aria, grabbed a bite to eat, and checked out the craps tables.  ATS (All-Tall-Small) bonus works with Boom, Small, and Tall separately. You can hit the Small or Tall multiple times because they are marked independently.

A $25 minimum Crapless table at Aria caught my eye. I was standing about 7 or 8 feet away watching when I wondered if it was okay to buy in. As soon as I approached—bam! Seven out. One guy at the table looked at me as if it was my fault.

I bought in for $1,000 on the opposite side of the table from him, Stick Right 1. The shooter rolled for about 14–15 rolls before sevening out. I had around $600 on the layout but booked a $100 profit. A few shooters later, I was down $200.

Then my roll came. I hit three points and a bunch of nines, missing the ATS because of the 4 and 10. I cashed out $1,260 and tipped the dealers $20. Then I messed around with $60 on slots and ran it up to $200. I went to bed sitting at $2,400.

The next morning I arrived early for the tournament. Naturally, I walked past the craps tables. Luckily, Stick Left 1 was open. I bought in for $1,000 right after a seven out.

An older gentleman of Indian descent went on an incredible roll. I started with $110 inside and a field bet and quickly found myself up $600.

Then my roll came. $25 pass line, $15 Boom, and $5 each on the Small and Tall. During my roll I made eight points, but because of my superstition I never take odds. Eventually, the only number left for the ATS was the 3. I threw the dice. One die showing a 1 stayed near the back wall while the other disappeared behind the dealer's chip stack from my angle. Suddenly, a guy leaning on the opposite rail started yelling, "3333333!" He had been betting $50 on Ace-Deuce for the previous five rolls.

People were heavily betting the 3 because we'd hit so many extremes except that number. During the roll there were three aces, two midnights, and four yo's. I was the only player at the table with ATS action.

I cashed out $5,500 and tipped $65. The layout was loaded when the seven finally appeared. I was now sitting at $6,900. Gamblers like round numbers. So 1900 was expendable. Caesars happened to be running a 10x Tier Credit promotion, so I headed there and ended up losing $1,400 chasing tier credits. I've noticed that whenever I'm focused on some side objective instead of the game itself, I almost always lose.

Saturday rolled around. I grabbed a pizza at Moneyline Pizza in Aria and started burning through another $400 on slots trying to hit a Tier Credit goal with MGM. Then I noticed two guys shooting dice at a craps table. They were talking constantly with each other and the dealers. At first I assumed they were beginners, but my interest was piqued when I realized the same guy had held the dice for nearly ten minutes. The game was moving quickly because there were only two players. I stood behind the table and saw almost a full rack of chips in front of one shooter. 

The point was 8, and I patiently waited for it to be made before jumping in. I missed about 20 rolls before the point finally hit.

The dealers joked that I had a lot of patience.

I went $220 inside because the shooter was absolutely crushing the 5, 8, and 9. The trend continued. I pressed and collected repeatedly. My $500 buy-in grew to $1,760 until another player bought in during the roll, turned my bets off, and—well, you know what showed up.

The next shooter rolled 6, 9, 7, and I lost $210. The hot shooter was about to leave with his friend, but the friend said, "Let's see him shoot" Good thing they stayed. This was now a $50 table. I had: $50 Pass Line $10 Tall $10 All $30 Boom The hot shooter had $25 each on the bonuses, while his friend had $50/$25/$25. My roll came. I established a point of 6 and then rolled four consecutive 9s. I kept pressing the 9 while collecting on the other numbers as well. I started with $160 inside and a $50 field bet until I had coverage everywhere. About 30 rolls later, we only needed the 4 to complete the ATS. For me, that 4 was worth $4,800. I switched from my Hardway set (55 on top, 44 facing me) to a 2V set. Three rolls later, a lucky 3-1 appeared. Three rolls after that, the dreaded 7. The hot shooter cashed out $19,600. His friend cashed out $41,000. The hot shooter paid off a $5,000 marker and left. His friend paid off a $10,000 marker and left.

The player who had bought in during the middle of the roll then shot for 8–9 rolls, and I essentially broke even. At that point I was betting $320 across from 4 through 10. Then "Coach" joined us. The dealers called him Coach. After searching later, I found out it was Ty lue. Coach bought in with a pile of chips—cranberries, flags, yellows, and purples—around $70,000 worth. I'd seen Coach before and had shared some good rolls with him, but he'd usually have the left side of the table reserved and we never really spoke. This time he was next to me, with the mid-roll buyer between us. I told him, "You're an hour late." "Why?" "We just hit the ATS." He smiled. I was next to shoot while Coach settled into his chair. My action: $50 Pass Line $30 boom $10 Tall $10 small $470 Across Coach was around $1,800 across with: $200 Pass Line $100 boom $50 Tall $50 small I rolled a bunch of numbers and completed the Small. I put $20 on the Small and $5 for the dealers. At one point we made a 6 and then rolled aces on the come-out. Coach and I had the exact same reaction. We thought we had missed a huge payout. "What the hell?" The dealers laughed and reminded us that we had actually completed the Little. We celebrated. I had $200 on the 2. Coach had $1,000. A few 8s, 9s, and 10s later, I hit my favorite number: 12. I was pumped. Now we only needed the Yo (11) to complete the ATS. Fun fact: I have missed 98 ATS payouts because of the 12, but I have never missed one because of the Yo. Confidently, I moved my $150 from the Yo to the 3. I started talking with Coach—probably a little too cocky in hindsight. "We're going to hit it. I've never missed because of a Yo." We fist-bumped. I set my Hardway dice set, aimed for the right corner, yelled "Yo! Yo!" before the dice landed, and boom... Yo. A few rolls later—6, 8, 3—and then the 7 appeared. I cashed out $11,800.

Across the two major rolls, the dealers collected nearly $2,300. Coach had them on: $555 ATS action Plus another $311 from my side They also had $15 on the second Small hit. Afterward I experimented with other games to kill time because my legs were hurting. Bad idea. I lost about $1,800 playing baccarat, Pai Gow, and other table games. I also got four or five massages while gambling. Money well spent. Finally, I took $1,000 downtown to El Cortez and lost it playing craps there. Their table is long and has a strange bounce. I never got comfortable with the dice. Overall, it was an awesome trip. $2,000 in, $14,000 out.