{"id":141568,"date":"2019-12-26T11:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-12-26T16:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=141568"},"modified":"2019-12-16T16:07:31","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T21:07:31","slug":"dice-roll-the-phantom-gambler-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/12\/26\/dice-roll-the-phantom-gambler-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Dice Roll: The Phantom Gambler"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>We\u2019re away until January 6, but we\u2019re reposting some of our favorite pieces from 2019. Enjoy your holiday!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/phantom-gambler-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-134192 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/phantom-gambler-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"840\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/phantom-gambler-1.jpg 840w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/phantom-gambler-1-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/phantom-gambler-1-768x468.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On September 24, 1980, a man wearing cowboy boots and carrying two brown suitcases entered Binion\u2019s Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. One suitcase held $777,000 in cash; the other was empty. After converting the money into chips, the man approached a craps table on the casino floor and put everything on the backline. This meant he was betting against the woman rolling the dice. If she lost, he\u2019d double his money. If she won, he\u2019d lose everything. Scarcely aware of the amount riding on her dice, the woman rolled three times: 6, 9, 7.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPay the backline,\u201d said the dealer. And just like that, the man won over $1.5 million. He calmly filled the empty suitcase with his winnings, exited Binion\u2019s into the desert afternoon, and drove off. It was the largest amount ever bet on a dice roll in America.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMystery Man Wins Fortune,\u201d the <em>Los Angeles Times <\/em>reported. No one knew the identity of the fair-haired young Texan who\u2019d just made history, and so he became known as the \u201cPhantom Gambler.\u201d \u201cHe was cool,\u201d said Jack Binion, president of the Horseshoe. \u201cHe really had a lot of gamble in him.\u201d But it would be years before the phantom would be seen in Vegas again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/05\/dice-roll-the-phantom-gambler\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more &gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The art of the gamble, one famous gambler at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1093,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60329],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-2019"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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