(one's) Venus turns out a whelp

An outdated expression used to describe the failure of something that was once expected to be successful. The phrase comes from dice, in which the best roll was once known as a "Venus" and the worst a "canis" (a dog). A "whelp" is a young dog. I thought I was definitely going to get a promotion, but I didn't even get a raise—my Venus turned out a whelp, all right.