Jump into the pit and roll the dice

[drdeng]

I don't know what the two idoms mean in the following passage. They were discussing something about mass actions.

"Then came tobacco," he said sadly. "Many of the same lawyers, from right here. I thought they were crazy, hell, everybody did, but they sued the big tobacco companies in almost every state. I had the chance to jump into the pit with them, but I was too scared. It's hard to admit that, Ray. I was just too damned scared to roll the dice."

[Quizmonster]

'Pit' is really being used in two ways here. One meaning is the hole or enclosure in which captive animals were made to fight...eg a bear-pit. The other is the area of a casino in which gambling games take place.
So, when he writes about 'jumping into the pit', he means becoming one of the lawyers fighting against the tobacco companies. When he then refers to 'rolling the dice', he means gambling or taking a chance in a dice-game.

[Quizmonster]

I should have added above that the use of both 'pit' ideas is figurative...that is, he does not mean actually fighting or rolling dice but only taking part in a contest and risking things.