CHEATING AT CRAPS?

Defendant rolls the dice at craps cheating trial

Published on 5/19/2009

Richard S. Taylor took the witness stand at his craps cheating conspiracy trial in New London this morning but spent most of his time standing around a makeshift craps table to explain his “system” for winning the dice game.

Taylor, 43, of Memphis, Tenn., is accused of masterminding a conspiracy in which dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino paid players he sent into the casino for late bets. The players then split the profits of the cheating with Taylor and the dealers, according to previous testimony at the trial.

Taylor denies taking part in the conspiracy and maintains that he is a professional gambler who has shared his system for winning craps with anyone who is interested, including a TV news crew.

“On Fox 13 News in Memphis, Tennessee, they did a special on me,” he testified.
Taylor said that he was approached by Foxwoods dealers and asked to take part in the cheating conspiracy but that he declined.

With jurors standing up for a better view of the green felt craps layout on the floor in front of them, Taylor took a pair of dice that had been provided by Foxwoods and rolled them, using the judge's bench as a back wall and referring to a written explanation of his system that was shown on a projector. Attorney Ralph Bergman asked Taylor to explain what numbers “go with” other numbers and how his system works.

“Nobody knows the exact number that will come up,” he said. “But if you know the parameters of the numbers that will come up you can win.”

Taylor wanted to have somebody else roll the dice for his demonstration, but Judge Stuart M. Schimelman told him he had to do it himself. He explained how if he was playing at the casino, he would be placing $3,000 or $5,000 bets. Because he was a high roller, Taylor said, there would be pretty women around him and hustlers looking for money.

With Taylor as the shooter, the makeshift craps table was “hot” for a while. The number nine came up frequently as did numbers in Taylor's system. And when the number was not in his favor, Taylor pointed out that even if he didn't win, he didn't lose, either.

Taylor will face cross-examination this afternoon from prosecutor Stephen M. Carney.


EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE; I don't quite understand the system, maybe some reader could explain it to me. I have been told that certain numbers like six and eight (6 and 8) come up a lot. I have been told by gamblers that the system would not work at casinos. Does anyone know? What do you think?