The First World Craps Championships

One of my favorite sites on craps is Craps Hero. Every time I go there, I find a wealth of information. I surfed on over the other day when I found I had some time on my hands, and I was not disappointed.

This time, I came across an article about Frank Scoblete's 2006 World Craps Championships. For those of you who do not know who Frank Scoblete is, he is an author, gambler and and authority on dice control. His goal was to have a tournament to determine who the best of the best was in the game of craps.

The tournament was a non-casino sponsored event that expected to have just over 30 players pay the $365 entry fee to vie for titles in 9 different areas, as well as overall. However, 167 contenders actually showed up for the June 22-23 competition at Atrium Suites Hotel in Las Vegas to try and claim the title "World Craps Champion".

In addition to the individual titles there were also team championships as well. Teams from Florida to Hawaii competed to see who had the most skillful members. Each member of a team had an individual score that was averaged with the other members of the team to determine the team score and the winners. In addition a "best man" and "best woman" were also awarded. These were the individuals who beat the most people in the first nine tournaments. A special set of awards called "The Goldies" were also awarded to participants. These were essentially "good humor" type awards that were given to promote camaraderie.

But the weekend was not just for tournaments. It was about the science and techniques behind craps. Several seminars, most notably in dice control (one of Scoblete's claims to fame) and several special challenge matches were held. It was a chance for craps players from all over to get together, share knowledge, have fun, compete and, yes, play some craps.

The results:


Special Awards "The Goldies"

The Family that Plays Together Goldie - The Chabots
The Fabulous Hawaiians Goldie – Renfred Frias, Roland Shar, Art Yamamoto, and Regan Onikuma
The Above the Crowd Goldie – Dave "Da Porker"
The Generous Spirit Goldie – John "Skinny" Therkelsen
The Silk Purse Goldie – Charlie "Sandtrap" Romano
The Above and Beyond Goldie – "Travelin" Marilyn Taylor
The Golden Shovel Award - Missouri Rick

THE COME OUT CHAMPION
Jim Buckley

THE IN THE FIELD CHAMPION
Dennis "Nitro" Dion

THE MAKE YOUR POINT CHAMPION
Nancy Visco

THE ON THE HOP CHAMPION
Louis "Lou-cifer" Van Dyke

THE 4 AND 10 CHAMPION
Don Garcia

THE 6 AND 8 CHAMPION
Pat Higgins

THE CRAPSHOOTER CHAMPION
John Chabot

THE HARDWAY CHAMPION
Tim Barnes

THE NO SEVENS CHAMPION
Phil Corder

THE TEAM CHAMPIONS
The Cleveland Crew

THE BEST MAN (Three way tie)
Charlie "Sandtrap" Romano
Louis "Lou-cifer" Van Dyke
Jim Buckley

THE BEST WOMAN
Kathleen Bush

THE WORLD CRAPS CHAMPION
Linda "Lowroller" Mabry

So far there has not been a follow up to this tournament, but with it's initial popularity, common sense would dictate that it would be repeated eventually.

This was a landmark in craps. The game crowned a champion.