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Getting
the Most Out of Your Practice Sessions In
Part II of this series, we talked about
making Session-Notes and Grip-Variation Notes; plus how to go through Mental
Check-Offs and setting-routines. In
addition, we discussed a couple of excellent Craps-Roll Calculation Programs from Pablo
and Porkchop. By
the way, I have no involvement or financial interest in either of those software programs,
but I can tell you that they will make a world of difference in how accurately you
gauge your Practice-Session progress. Both
Pablos and Porkchops software programs track your evolution as a
Precision-Shooter. With them, your
advancement is measurable and quantifiable with each Practice Session. If you use a low-cost Voice-Recognition program;
then Porkchops CRAT program is totally hands-free once you do the initial set-up. That makes it the ultimate
practice-session assistant. Grip
Development
Today, I want to cover Grip
Development, and how each and every one of your Practice Sessions can be used to
improve and hone your Precision-Shooting skills on an on-going basis. Lets start with some keen insight
provided by Heavy. He recently wrote: I
was standing straight out at the table at Green Valley Ranch when Bill (C.) first got the
dice
When I saw that ice-tong grip and his first toss, I said, "That can't
work
Then I saw it again and started piling chips on the table
I would not
have thought it possible to keep the dice on axis with that grip - but Bill did a hell of
a job with that
Great job, Bill. Despite
previously-published misgivings about the ice-tong grip, Heavy was open-minded
enough to accept that there is more than one way to throw the dice, and more than one way
to make good money from this game, no matter how unconventional it may seem. In
some cases, the most unlikely of methods will prove to be the most profitable ones. Sometimes the most logical of grips or
the most rational of throwing methods is, in fact, the least reliable and the
least profitable for some people, and vice versa. You can take a look at a number of grips that
are pictured and described on Irishsetters Grips page
here. When we talk about Grip Development, we are
really talking about the small changes, corrections and improvements that you can make to
almost any grip to make it more profitably consistent for you. I get e-mail all the time from readers who
want to know EXACTLY what grip will work best for them.
I gotta tell ya, that despite advertising claims to the contrary, there is
not ONE IDEAL grip for every player, at every table in every
casino, in every shooting position. We are all unique
just like everyone
else
so we have to adapt our grip to suit OURSELVES. By the way
what size of shoes do you
wear? Im serious. What size of shoes do you wear
and at the
same time I know that you wont mind telling me what size of pants that you wear
either. Now, does everyone else that you have
ever seen playing craps have the same height, and do they all shoot from the same position
at the table? Is every craps-table the same
length, and does everyone have the same arm length and range of motion. Oh yeah, while were at it, ask your wife if
all men have the same size of
um
hands
shell know what Im
talking about. Like I said, we are all unique
just like
everyone else
and Im sure you see the humor in that, but we still have to adapt
our dice-grip to suit OURSELVES. While we all have to send two ¾-inch cubes
down to the far end of the table, we all use somewhat different stances, sets, grips,
throws, trajectories and targets to achieve our goal. Okay, with that being said, let us agree
that there is NO SINGLE grip that works best for everyone all the time. What I am going to show you today is how you
can take any grip that you are using now, and make genuine and significant improvements to
it. It will take some work, but the effort is
rewarded with higher shooting-consistency and with proper betting methods; higher casino
profits. Ive got to tell you that some of the
grips that I use are not the most beautiful things around, and sometimes, depending on the
actual bounce characteristics of the table, my stance and release isnt a thing of
beauty either. But Im not shooting for beauty,
Im Precision-Shooting for PROFIT! What is important to know is that what
works BEST and most consistently for YOU is the BEST grip for you to use. That doesnt mean that you cant
make constant improvements to it, and it certainly doesnt mean that you will reject
any new ideas or thoughts that other people may have.
It only means that you will continue to use and improve the one you have
right now until something better comes along. So why am I
telling you what you probably already know? Because there is
a way to take a grip, and adapt it to your style of throw, and then make continual
changes, corrections and improvements to it. The
goal is to end up with a grip and throw that is profitably repeatable in the casino. To my mind,
Precision-Shooting is all about profitable repeatability. Developing Profitable
Repeatability. The first step is to develop a
base-line for your current Precision-Shooting efforts, so that you will have a
strong foundation upon which to build profitability.
Let me explain why.
o
We know that the random-roller rate of
Sevens-to-Rolls ratio is 6:1.
o
We know that with Precision-Shooting, we can
initially improve our SRR toward the 8:1-to-12:1 range.
o
I like to call that initial improvement the
intermediate success range, because consistent profit can be derived from it,
but it can also provide safe-haven for some of the biggest bankroll-robbing pitfalls that
a craps players can encounter. We cover those
pitfalls in a number of other articles that address bankroll, discipline, maturity, and
betting methods.
o
Human nature dictates that we are always
looking to improve ourselves, in one way or another.
With Precision-Shooting, that entails constantly tinkering with, and
upgrading of our dice-grips. We first need to
reach that intermediate success level of SRRs in the 8-to-12 range; then
we want to improve upon it from there.
o
We put in a lot of time on our at-home Practice
Rigs, but we have to be sure that we are producing optimum results that lead to
ever-improving profits at the casinos, and not just reinforcing the mistakes or
limitations that keep our shooting in that lower intermediate success range. How do we produce better results, and reduce
our mistakes? Ah, thats where Grip
Development comes in. We know that if we track, lets say, 720
tosses using the same set, grip, release, trajectory and target; then we should get some
tangible information about how good that particular shooting-set is. It will give us a known SRR, and it will indicate
which Place Numbers are most dominant. That
determines our Signature Numbers and assists us in developing betting strategies that
maximize our profit while reducing bankroll-risk. Okay, with that being said, we have to
determine if there is any room for improvement within that particular shooting
set. The answer is always
yes, but we have to determine where we are in our current progress before we
can determine where we are going to go, and how we are going to get there. That is where having a base-line
or benchmark for each grip will give us a firm foundation upon which to improve our
Precision-Shooting. A base-line means our current
level of performance using our best, most consistent grip and toss. In my case, my various grips and tosses
evolved over a period of time. Some worked
great, and I kept them in my arsenal and gradually improved upon each one of them a little
bit at a time. Over the past eleven years or
so, that continual grip-development has meant that I could make lifestyle-changing profits
from craps. On the other hand, some of the other
grip-variations that I tried were stone-cold losers which I discarded before they could do
serious harm to my bankroll. Keep in mind, that all of this
grip-development, and constant refining, tweaking, and improvement was done right in the
casinos at live tables. Sure,
having money at risk made the evolution-process a profit-or-perish situation,
but I now realize that I probably rejected some grips that could have shown more promise
had I tried them and developed them under less risky conditions. In fact, I never would have developed my
Long Ranger grip (as discussed in detail in my
Long
Tables = Po$$ibilitie$ series
of articles) for use on long tables or distant and far-flung throwing positions, were it
not for my use of a jury-rigged practice set-up in the deserts of Utah, Arizona and Nevada
just after the events of 9-11-01. Had I experimented with and tried to develop
that Long Ranger grip and toss in a real casino; then I probably would have
discarded it long before it had a chance to bear any fruitful profit. Developing a
Base-Line for a New Grip
Ø
First we have to determine a set to
use.
Ø
Are we using a 7-Avoidance set, or
are we using the hardway set so that it is easier to determine if one or both
dice have gone off-axis when we throw them? Are
we using two different colors of dice to achieve the same effect?
Ø
Each set will determine our on-axis
7-probability. The 3-V has an 8:1 on-axis
7-probability, while the Hardway set has a 4:1 on-axis 7-probability. Thats a big difference that you have to take
into consideration when making the choice. Ill
discuss those dice-set choices further in an upcoming article entitled, Blasphemy
courtesy of The Mad Professor.
Ø
We may decide to use the Straight-Six (S-6) or
Parallel-Six (P-6) set for our Come-Out Roll grip-and-throw development. We may choose the Crossed-Six (X-6) or Mini-V
(V-2) set. Each one has its strengths and
weaknesses, and of course its own unique set of uses.
Ø
We select the one set and one throw-release
that we want to focus our primary development on.
Ø
Next, we grip the dice based upon the way that
we see them on the grip picture page, or in a way that we think they should be
gripped.
Ø
Keeping the dice, and our throwing motion, as
square to the backwall as possible, we make a number of tosses.
Ø
It will probably take you a few throws just to
have an idea how the dice are supposed to be released using this particular hold.
Ø
After a few practice lobs, we start to make
mental note of the dice outcomes.
Ø
If you are a fast learner, you should see
steady improvement as you become more comfortable with this particular grip. Initially, our primary focus is in looking for
smoothness in the release and landing of the dice. After
we attain a comfort level in the nice, easy and smooth dice-action; then we can take a
closer interest in the dice-outcomes
Ø
At this point, you may want to start tracking
your rolls by recording the results. Again,
we are looking for a smooth reliability in our release, flight, trajectory,
target-accuracy, and roll-out distance.
Ø
You may find that even small samplings of your
rolls will yield interesting results, which indicate you are on the right track. Even if they dont, it is important that you
continue to focus on the quality of your rolling.
Ø
The objective of having a smooth release from
your hand and the proper arc of the dice in flight, is so the dice travel side-by-side in
a mirror-like formation. The closer they
travel the same path with the same number of rotations; the greater the likelihood that
they will not only stay on-axis, but higher the likelihood that they will end up with the
same primary faces that you initially set them on. That
is real and measurable progress.
Ø
Quantity of throws is not as
important as making each throw as standardized as possible. By making each
roll an exact replica of the one before, and the one before that, you are starting to lock
in muscle memory and that builds throwing-consistency.
Ø
We put quality of the throw ahead
of quantity, but you really need to have a high number of throws to lock in
that muscle-memory, and to determine if you can extend your throwing consistency over
numerous opportunities. The only way to do
that is to practice a lot
and then practice some more.
Ø
You may be surprised at how you will begin to
feel how good or bad a roll will be as soon as the dice leave your fingers. That means that you are building a keen awareness
of what it takes to make steady and reliable throws.
Precision-Throwing is as much a mental feat as it is a physical one.
Ø
Part of your job while you are practicing is to
carefully observe how the dice are leaving your hands and how they are landing. You need to look at how the dice react when they
hit the felt, and what happens to them as they are traveling to their final resting place
on the table.
Ø
These observations are key to determining if
there is additional fine-tuning that your current grip requires. Heres what I mean. If the right-dice wobbles nearly every time that
the dice leave your hand; then no matter what the outcome is, your release requires
immediate repair. However, if the dice leave
perfectly and touch down perfectly, but veer off in one direction or another; then you
know that your hand and/or arm alignment may be the culprit. Likewise, if upon landing, one dice is rolling
much more than the other; then one dice is probably getting slightly more pressure or
contact from your finger(s) than the other one. In
each case, you must determine and correct the problem before progressing to the next step
in profitability.
Ø
We continue to make small improvements and
refinements until we are satisfied that our grip and throw outcomes are showing repeatable
consistency.
Ø
At that stage we have determined the basic
mechanics of our new grip.
Ø
We then start to fully chart our throws. Im a big proponent of using low-cost
Voice-Recognition software for this task. When
you hook it up to a Roll-Tracking program like Porkchops CRAT; then you forego pen and
paper, and simply call out the results, and the program does all the calculations for you
as it tracks your progress. You get to
concentrate on your game. Okay, thats how we develop an initial
base-line of a certain grips potential. When
we track the rolls, we are able to determine our Signature Numbers. We are also able to determine how frequently we
roll Box-numbers (Place numbers). Plus, we
can determine how frequently we roll Inside-Numbers that may form the heart of our betting
methods. While assembling all of that
base-line work is a time-consuming effort, it brings us closer to the
objective that we took up Precision-Shooting for in the first place
profitable
throwing consistency. Even though establishing all of that
base-line information is just the first step; its an important one,
because it develops our awareness of what MAY eventually work best for you. It also makes us more attentive to the whole
grip development process. When we are in the casino, we are then better
prepared to determine exactly what we are doing right, and what we are doing wrong. That knowledge and awareness allows us to make
tiny (usually very tiny) corrections to our throw without jeopardizing our bankroll. Keen awareness develops at the same time as we
cultivate more and more profitability into our game. Remember, we are using our Practice Sessions
to improve and hone our Precision-Shooting skills on an on-going basis. That leads to more profitable consistency in the
casino. In Part
Five, well look at fine-tuning your grip and your throw WITHOUT
throwing off your game. By:
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