Ranking the 5 Biggest Craps Wins in Gambling History

Craps is a dice game that’s been played for (at least) 200 years. Players love it for two main reasons – it’s easy to play, and it’s easy to win at.

The game doesn’t require too much equipment, so it’s commonly found in casinos, even small ones. The same goes for online casinos. Most of them have some craps games in their collection, many of which have an RTP of roughly 99%.

The money-making potential of craps is another reason behind its popularity. Rolling the dice has made many people rich over the years. And I mean very rich! The biggest craps wins saw people add millions of dollars to their bank accounts.

If you’d like to learn how and when the biggest craps win in history happened, you’re at the right place. 

Of course, if you don’t want to put any more time between you and your own big craps win, head to one of the online casinos below.

Stanley Fujitake was a Hawaii native who loved playing craps so much that he had to fly over to Vegas to indulge in his favorite hobby.

The reason he couldn’t just just gamble in Hawaii is because it was (and still) is illegal. The venue of his choice was the California Hotel and Casino, a.k.a. The Cal in Downtown Vegas.

One day in 1989, the Hawaiian had more excitement at the craps table than usual. He rolled the dice 118 times without sevening out, cashing in about $1 million.

That’s something that was previously unseen at The Cal, which prompted the casino management to come up with the Golden Arm designation.

Basically, a Golden Arm is a player who manages to play craps for one hour straight without losing. All the people you’ll read about in this piece regarding the biggest craps wins ever are Golden Arms.

If you want to become a Golden Arm, then consider signing up at a reputable online casino. Just follow the steps below. Maybe one day you can say you have the biggest online craps wins.

This might not be the biggest win at the craps table, but Patricia Demauro’s story definitely deserves a place on this list. It’s because her daring escapade holds the record for the longest winning roll. It happened in 2009 when she rolled 154 times over four hours and 18 minutes at Borgata in Atlantic City.

Speaking of which, if you ever happen to find yourself vacationing in Atlantic City, make sure to check out these recommendations for the top Borgata casino slots before sitting down at a random slot game.

If you’re wondering what are the chances of something like that happening, the answer is – slim. In fact, the odds of that happening are 1 in 1.56 trillion. But it did happen!

Happy #InternationalWomensDay! Did you know in 2009 a New Jersey grandma visiting Atlantic City broke the record for the world’s longest crap roll? Patricia Demauro beat odds of 1 in 1.56 trillion when she played #craps for four hours & 18 minutes without ‘sevening out.' 🎲 🎲 pic.twitter.com/UJSfxEVzud

— California Hotel & Casino (@thecalcasino) March 8, 2021

At this point, you might be wondering if Mrs. Demauro is a mathematical genius with an elaborate craps-playing strategy. Nope, she’s just a regular grandma who plays casino games out of boredom.

Actually, when asked about her incredible feat, Demauro said she knew nothing about craps. Her story proves that even an amateur can win a fortune gambling if luck is on their side.

Still, I think it’s wise to arm yourself with knowledge about the game you wish to play. Rather than following in Demauro’s footsteps, my advice for you is to check out these casino tips for beginners so you can have one of the biggest win at the craps table.

Mrs. Demauro had no intention of revealing the amount she won that fateful day. It’s speculated that she walked away with at least $500,000, which is enough for me to put her on my list of the biggest win in craps.  

If you are new to the game of craps, be sure to follow these unwritten craps rules.

New to Craps? Be Sure to Follow These 10 Unwritten Rules

It’s important to not remove your bet once it wins so you have evidence that you placed the wager. Only use one hand when rolling the dice to keep everyone at ease that you aren’t cheating. Craps etiquette includes not handing the dealer cash, avoiding...

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Unlike Mrs. Demauro, Mr. William Lee Bergstrom was no noob. This guy knew all the best craps bet any gambler can make and was confident in his skills. That’s why he put all of his savings into a suitcase and headed over to Vegas.

It was September 24, 1980, when Bergstrom entered Horseshoe Casino with the intention of placing the largest single bet in history. And he did it! Not once, but twice in the same evening.

First, he placed a record-breaking $777,000 bet on craps, which in today’s money is just short of $3 million. Lady Luck was on his side, and he doubled his money.

But having $1.4 million ($5M in today’s money) in his hands apparently wasn’t enough for this guy, so he decided to gamble more.

Bergstrom then broke his own record by placing a $1 million bet on craps. Unfortunately, Lady Luck was busy elsewhere this time. The result is that he ended up with $223,000 fewer in his suitcase.  

Next up on my biggest craps wins list is an unnamed player who won $8.5 million playing this dice game at Golden Nugget in Vegas. That’s according to the former co-owner of the casino, Thomas Breitling.

In his autobiography Double or Nothing, Breitling tells the story of a video game developer with a passion for the game of craps.

That’s a lot of money, even by Vegas standards, especially if the player starts winning. Mr. Royalty – as was the nickname given to the player by the Nugget staff – won not one toss but 25 of them.

The guy won around $4.7 million in a single evening, Breitling says. But that wasn’t enough for him. He returned a few weeks later and won just another couple of million.

The result is that the sum of his Golden Nugget adventure was roughly $8.5 million.

Kerry Packer was born to a wealthy Australian family and inherited $100 million when his dad died in 1974. He used that money to start businesses but also to indulge his gambling. Slots, roulette, baccarat – he loved all casino games.

He was particularly fond of baccarat, probably because he landed some big wins playing this card game. His baccarat wins, however, weren’t record-breaking.

If you’re wondering what are the biggest wins in baccarat, none of Packer’s belong to that category. But his craps wins do.

This goes especially for the one at MGM Grand in Vegas. Actually, this isn’t a single win but a series of victories that amounted to $30 million.

I say “one of” because we really don’t have any info on the biggest online craps wins. There are plenty of craps online casinos out there on the Internet, but none of them has shared much detail about their players’ craps wins.

This shouldn’t stop you from playing online craps. If you’re in the mood for playing some dice, you can do it at Drake Casino. The game in question is Craps by Nucleus Gaming, a game with a fantastic 98.64% return to player (RTP).

Their welcome bonus is 300% up to $6,000, but you can read more about the details with the complete Drake Casino review before heading to the site to potentially have one of the biggest win in craps.

Footnote:

• Craps rules taken from The Venetian Resort.