Floating craps
The term floating craps refers to an illegal operation of the dice game craps. The term 'floating' refers to the practice of the game's operators using portable tables and equipment to quickly move the game from location to location to stay ahead of the law enforcement authorities.
The term may have originated in the 1930s when Benny Binion (later known for founding the downtown Las Vegas hotel Binions) set up an illegal craps game utilizing tables created from portable crates for Texas's Centennial celebration.[1]
In the 1950s and 1960s the The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas had an actual (legal) craps table that floated in the swimming pool to play off the notoriety of the term.[2]
The 1950 Broadway play Guys and Dolls features a major plot point revolving around a floating craps game.
References
- ↑ Preston, Amarillo Slim and Greg Dinkin. Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People (April 26, 2005), p. 132, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 978-0-06-076230-8
- ↑ Royer, Victor H. Casino Gamble Talk: The Language of Gambling and New Casino Games (2003), p. 59, Lyle Stuart, ISBN 0-8184-0634-8, ISBN 978-0-8184-0634-8
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