I know the dice game you're talking about, but can't remember the name, either. ...
The dice game of choice we played in the Cubi O'Club was
Klondike:
Man with cup (house) places bet on table. Others to the left in order kick in enough $$ until the house's bet is matched.
With 3 die, the house keeps rolling until he gets a pair – the odd die is then the "number." The house then passes the cup to the left. That person rolls the 3 die until he gets a pair, with his odd die being his "number." If his number is lower than the house's, he loses his bet. If higher, he takes out of the pot double of what he originally bet. If there were other bettors to his left, he passes the cup left. When all betters have rolled a number, the cup goes back to the house for another round.
Aside from having a high, winning "number" or "point" with the odd die, there also were some automatics - a 4-5-6 was an automatic winner; a 1-2-3 was an automatic loser. "Trips" - 3 die of a kind were either automatic winners or losers, depending upon "West Coast" or "East Coast" rules. (Two East coast carriers came 'round the horn to WestPac and caused the game problems.:icon_rage)
The house could relinquish the cup to his left at any time. If he won, he had to keep letting the pot build until he either lost all of it, or passed the cup so he could finally rake in the pot. Therefore, the pot often doubled, and then redoubled etc resulting in some massive pots.
Several Klondike games would start early in the evening, usually melting into one large one that often continued until sunrise. The pile of cash on the table, and the amounts won and lost were staggering.
Back then we were all paid in cash, in$20 bills, and many of them ended up in the pile on the table.