Diamond Jo Casino Hosts Its First Craps Tournament

In February, I received a promotional mailer from Diamond Jo Casino in Iowa for a $100 entry fee Craps Tournament on March 6, 2010. Upon closer inspection of the mailer, it revealed that my invite included a waiver of the $100 entry fee. As the event came closer, I began to practice throwing from various positions at the table.
On March 6, 2010, Diamond Jo hosted its first ever craps tournament. It consisted of six qualifying rounds and then a final table. The qualifying rounds were set up as follows; up to 16 players would be present at the table. Rounds would begin on the hour and last 30 minutes and if someone was in the middle of a roll as time expired, they would be allowed to continue until the point is made or the shooter sevens out. The top two players in terms of total chip count would advance to the final table. In the event of a tie, there would be a roll off to determine the winner. The players involved in the tie, would get one roll and only one roll, and the shooter with the highest total moves on. Additionally, players who did not qualify for the final table would have two additional chances to make it to the final table. The first being the top two players in terms of total chips would move on and second the rest of the players who did not qualify would have their names thrown into a drum and two more people would be chosen at random. The final table would also feature 16 players with the top 12 earning some type of prize. Not bad at all, the challenge would be to make the final table.
I was set to play at the 4PM round and so I decided to arrive a bit early to observe the action. Early rounds had players with $1200 moving on to the money round. That was encouraging, since making 20% at a table is not too difficult. When the 4PM round started, I drew position 7, which was two shooters to the right of the stickman.
The basic rules were as follows, a $10 minimum pass line / don’t pass wager had to be made each game. All proposition wagers were $25 minimums. The first up was shooter #1, who was positioned right next to the dealer. I proceeded to place my Don’t Pass Line wager. A few rolls later, the point was established and I was already down about $50. I then took odds on my Don’t Pass Line wager and placed a Don’t Come wager. Another box number was rolled and I placed a second Don’t Come wager. The same number was rolled. Eventually, the shooter threw a seven and the dice were passed to the next shooter via a random draw of the remaining shooters. One thing to note is that the payouts were somewhat slow and confusing. In defense of the crew, they are used to payouts based on wagers ranging from $5 to $10 table minimums. Next up was shooter #6, she made her first point and then established a second point. At this time, they announced that there was under 10 minutes left in the round. I noticed the guy next to me in position 8 had somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000 - $3500 on the rail and approximately $500 on the table. Now was the time to make my move or I would be out. The point was a 9 and I had wagered $200 on the Don’t Pass Line. I placed a Don’t Come wager of $200 and a 10 was rolled. This was good. I laid $200 odds on the 10 and placed another Don’t Come wager. The next number rolled was a 5 and I laid $200 odds. I had about $160 or so in front of me and figured why not. I was “All In”. I glanced around the table, there were two people who had been completely eliminated. The guy next to me was down to about $500 and a quick survey of the remaining players revealed a similar situation, with the majority of the players “All In”. Then it hit me, if a seven was rolled, I have a real good chance of winning. Just as soon as the thought crossed my mind, a 10 was rolled. OUCH! Two rolls later a 5 and then a 7 were rolled. When it was all said and done, I had $1032 in front of me, and I was about $50 short of 2nd place. Oh well I had a great time either way.