Shot his wad

Posted by John J. on March 02, 2001

In Reply to: Shot his wad posted by Harry Brassen on February 02, 2001

: need to know origin of this expression. Think it might be from the civil war period. Thanks.

There is a dice game called craps. Those who pitch or roll the dice in this form of gambling are called shooters. A person is said to have "shot his wad" when he can no longer play the game because he has lost all his money.