Longest Craps Roll: Patricia DeMauro’s 154-Roll Record
Patricia DeMauro · 154 rolls · Borgata · Verified probability
Patricia DeMauro held the dice for 154 rolls over four hours and 18 minutes at Borgata in Atlantic City on May 23, 2009. Boyd Gaming reported the event at the time, and mathematicians later calculated that a fair-dice hand at least that long occurs about once in 5.59 billion hands.
The record at a glance
- Shooter: Patricia DeMauro
- Casino: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City
- Date: May 23, 2009
- Hand length: 154 rolls
- Duration: 4 hours, 18 minutes
- Reported buy-in: $100
What contemporary sources confirm
A 2009 Boyd Gaming employee publication reported that DeMauro bought in for $100, attracted a large crowd, and was greeted with a champagne toast after sevening out shortly after midnight. It also quoted her saying this was only her second time playing craps.
The same account identified Stanley Fujitake’s three-hour, six-minute hand at the California Hotel & Casino in 1989 as the previous record. A later mathematical paper lists Fujitake’s hand as 118 rolls and DeMauro’s as 154.
154 rolls does not mean 154 wins
A shooter’s hand includes all rolls from the first come-out until the final seven-out. Come-out craps numbers can lose a Pass Line decision without ending the shooter’s hand, and come-out 7 can win without ending it. The record is therefore 154 total rolls before a point-cycle seven-out, not 154 consecutive winning rolls.
Why the old “1 in 1.56 trillion” figure was wrong
Early reports treated the event as 154 consecutive non-sevens and calculated (5/6)154. That answers the wrong question because come-out sevens do not end a shooter’s hand. A hand moves among come-out and six possible point states, so the correct calculation must track those changing states.
Mathematicians S. N. Ethier and Fred M. Hoppe modeled the process and calculated:
P(hand length ≥ 154) ≈ 0.0000000001789, or about 1 in 5.59 billion.
Rare does not mean controlled
The record is extraordinary, but it is not evidence of dice control. A sufficiently large number of random hands will sometimes produce a spectacular outlier. DeMauro’s limited prior experience makes the story memorable; it does not create a “beginner’s luck” force or a repeatable betting method.
How much did she win?
The reliable sources used here do not disclose DeMauro’s final win. Her $100 buy-in does not allow a credible estimate because winnings depend on the bets, bet sizes, presses, odds, and timing throughout the hand. Claims that she won a particular six-figure amount should be treated as unverified unless a primary source supplies it.
Documented record versus casino folklore
| Story | Documentation |
|---|---|
| Patricia DeMauro: 154 rolls, 2009 | Contemporary casino-company account plus published mathematical analysis |
| Stanley Fujitake: 118 rolls, 1989 | California Hotel history and reported surveillance review |
| “The Captain”: 148 rolls, 2005 | Disputed; the mathematical paper notes that the exact date and casino were not revealed |
| Anonymous whales “breaking the bank” | Not verifiable without a named event and reliable source |
The practical lesson: long hands are part of the game’s variance, not a reason to chase the next record. Bet limits and house edges remain in force no matter how memorable the previous shooter was.
Sources
- Boyd Gaming employee news, July/August 2009 (contemporary company account).
- Ethier & Hoppe, “A World Record in Atlantic City and the Length of the Shooter’s Hand at Craps”.
- Stanley Fujitake and the Golden Arm club.
Follow a seven through the hand’s changing state
Consider these official totals: 7, 5, 8, 5, 7, 6, 7. The first 7 is a come-out natural and wins a Pass decision; the shooter keeps the dice. The 5 establishes a point, 8 leaves that line wager unresolved, and the next 5 wins. The fifth roll is another come-out 7, again winning Pass without ending the hand. The 6 then establishes a new point, and the final 7 is the seven-out that ends the hand.
This seven-roll example contains three sevens and only four completed Pass decisions. If a player wagers $10 on each decision, three wins and one loss produce $20 net profit before any other action. A different collection of Place, Don’t or proposition wagers could have a different result on the same throws. The beginner round guide explains the state changes. Counting only non-sevens would exclude legitimate rolls that belong in a shooter-hand record.
