Iowa Casino Stories

Back from a 3 day trip to Iowa, which included a trip (or trips?) to the local casino in Iowa City, which is about 15 minutes south of town. Again, I thank God that this was built and opened after we moved away from Iowa, or else I would have become one of those creepy regulars that pop in at 10 pm and stay til about 2 am, 3 nights a week.

Some of the weird stories from the trip:
- Played craps with a college guy with 1) a Chief Wahoo hat AND 2) A Jeff Garcia Browns jersey. No, that was not mine that I gave to the Iowa City Goodwill store in 2005. (I still have mine somewhere).

- Blackjack stories: It amazes me the stupidity of players at the $5 blackjack table. A couple was at our table and made the following moves:
1) he had 17 vs the dealer 8; he hit. (Apparently, before we got to the table, he had 17 against a 5 and hit as well.
2) he had 12 against a 5 and hit; he received a 2 for a total of 14; he decided that was enough and stayed on 14.
3) he had soft 18 vs. a 6; I would have doubled; he did not. Of course, my friend who came with me had $60 on the hand; the dealer ended up with 20 for a loss at the table; if the player at the end would have doubled instead of stayed, the dealer would have busted.

I'm only imagining what Derek would have threw at the player after that display.

- Craps stories: So I arrive at a craps table, and the action is a bit stalled as an old man pulls out $90 or so, betting on the "hops" for the 8. (A hop bet is a one-roll bet on the exact roll of the dice; he is putting $30 each on the 6-2, 5-3 and 4-4.)
He's doing this each roll - each roll! - and losing every one. The roller is rolling numbers (6, 4, 10, ...) but not the eight. He lost at least $1500 when I was there.
- So while this was going on, there was another college kid at the table who was clearly annoyed at the delays in the action with this guy and the hop bets. He wanted this to stop, and stop quickly. In addition, the guy who was making the hop bets was rolling - so the action slowed down even more.
The point was 5, and I have some money on the pass line with odds. Well, this was no matter for the kid. He wanted the dice to move so badly, that he did the unthinkable....
"$1 for the dealers on Any Seven".
He's betting for the dealers on a 7!

The next roll: 5! Winner!

Oh, I did my best Derek impression... I looked right at him. "FIVE! WINNNNNNNNNER, FIVE!" He was not amused; I was.