When I Was A Donk With David Grey

In this series, Card Player asks top pros to rewind back to their humble beginnings and provide insights regarding the mistakes, leaks, and deficiencies that they had to overcome in order to improve their games.

David Grey has been a part of the poker scene since the late ‘80s and was a member of the crew that beat Andy Beal out of millions back in 2004. Although Grey is primarily a cash game player, he has had some tournament success, racking up $1.6 million in earnings.

Grey has two World Series of Poker bracelets. He earned his first back in 1999 in the $2,500 seven-card stud event, and the second in the 2005 $5,000 no-limit 2-7 draw lowball event. In 2003, he made the WSOP main event final table, finishing in eighth place.

Here, Grey talks about a brutal morning session of craps.

I haven’t had any leaks since I moved to Las Vegas, but back before poker, when I was a racetrack guy, I would lose a lot of money shooting dice in Atlantic City. It didn’t matter how much I won at the harness track or at cards, I lost it all shooting dice. I never won. I think I might have been 2-82 in my dice career.

The last time I shot dice, back in 1984, I went with my best friend at the time and another friend of ours. It was one of the rare times I didn’t go broke right away when I got to Atlantic City. Back then the casinos would close at 4 a.m., or 6 a.m. on the weekends, and then re-open at 10 a.m.

So I somehow woke up with $7,000 or $8,000, which was surprising. We decided we’d have breakfast, play a little more, and then head back to New York. My friend was a bookie, and he wanted to be back in time to take bets before the games started.

We were in the Golden Nugget, and I was doing my usual losing. My friends were at the same table, and we always use to bet the line, and two come bets. I was down to my last little bit, and I remember I bet $75 on the line. The point was at six, and I took $375 odds and left my last $75 in the rack.

The guy with the dice ended up shooting for an hour and a half, and he never hit the six. One of my friends won $450,000, the other one won $350,000. Since the shooter never made the point, once he crapped out, I was left with my $75.

I had to drive my friends back home, with $800,000 in the car, and I had less than $100 to my name. That was the last time I ever shot dice, and I moved to Vegas later that year. ♠