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Cheap Craps Guide
When
you go to Las Vegas, you can play in a large number of casinos and get a lot of action
even if you are on a limited gambling-budget. Casino-play
should be fun, and if you are losing money
well
its not really that much
fun now is it? With
that in mind, a low table-limit means that you have a greater number of opportunities to
get your Precision-Shooting efforts grooved-in. If
you are playing at a higher-stakes table, then a few losses could have a negative effect
on not only your bankroll, but also on your attitude, outlook and overall vacation
enjoyment. The
success-equation is simple. Low-limits
can keep the early-game jitters to a minimum when you are getting started. Low-limits
let you groove-in your Precision-Shooting with a lower bankroll-to-bet ratio. Success
at lower-limits permits you to move your bet-levels up without putting you into
scared money territory. Simply,
when you start to THINK about how much money you have exposed on the table, you are
diverting your attention away from the more important Precision-Shooting FOCUS. Regardless
of the dollar amount that you have exposed on the table; if you misdirect your attention
away from the skill element and focus it onto the worry element,
then your mind is concentrating on the WRONG thing.
If
you happen to shoot well when you are properly focused, you can pretty much attribute it
to LUCK, because your WALLET is obscuring the view of your dice target area. Failure
or lack of success at lower levels reduces the pain and impact that a loss will have on
both your bankroll and your ego. Cheap
tables let you concentrate on your shooting, and not on the money. When your shooting is grooved-in, the money
will roll in. Therefore,
seeking out the low entry-cost tables gives you the chance to validate your tireless
at-home practice sessions without putting undue strain on your budget. If your shooting proves itself and substantiates
its advantage with a good profit; then you can escalate your bet-levels or play at a
higher-limit table or casino if you wish. Now
THAT sounds like FUN! Okay,
so lets continue our journey of affordable tables in this desert gaming oasis. Tuscany
Resort-Casino
On
January 15th of 2003, Charles
Heers and Gaylord Yost (owners of Ellis Island Casino & Brewery) opened
this 60,000 square-foot casino which is located on Flamingo Road between Paradise and
Koval Lane (east of Ballys, Bourbon Street, the former Maxim Hotel and The Flamingo
Hilton). Almost
every time that a new gaming establishment opens, I am there. I am always eager to try my Precision-Shooting on
the completely new tables. In this case, you
will only find one new layout. The
one lone craps table at Tuscany doesnt get very much action. My guess would be that if business doesnt
pick up in the near-term, that theyll replace this barely used piece of felt-covered
furniture with a double row of slot or video-poker machines quite soon. Each
visit to Tuscany has seen me as the only player at their table. Now Im not complaining at the ample
solo-shooting opportunities, but Im not sure how long casino-management will
continue to staff a labor-intensive game that probably isnt justifying it presence. The
initial minimum-bet when it opened was $5, which clearly wouldnt qualify this place
for my Cheap Tables list. However,
theyve wised-up, and you can now find a $2 or $3 game here at most hours. The Pit Supervisors report that they can sometimes
get away with their $5 target minimum during late-in-the-week evenings and
busy convention or sports-betting periods. Whatever
the minimum bet, their table-MAX is set at $200, which should provide some insight into
their loss-tolerance limits in the event that the table gets hot. Santa Fe Station Their three $2
tables are excellent for Precision-Shooting. During late-night weekdays, these 10x-Odds
layouts are pretty empty, but mid-day and weekend action is quite steady. Playing from
midnight to 9 am. brings more frequent throwing opportunities. If you typically need a few throws to dial-in the
right amount of throwing-energy on a new table, then the uncrowded conditions bring the
dice back to your position much quicker at those hours. The primary
sweet-spot for me on these tables is at the outer (farthest) edge of the Come-Box. While that spot is a bit further out from the
backwall than some of my more normal target-areas, it affords a good
touchdown-spot that deadens the dice impact perfectly.
However, you might want to reduce your throwing energy to its lowest
possible level, because these tables carry a lot of forward-momentum speed. Sunset Station
Even though they
have five long tables here, the first three SR and SL positions are close enough to the
backwall so that they provide some GREAT consistency.
The table angled closest to the Gaudi Bar is the most forgiving as far as
non-bouncy throwing is concerned. Gaming
at Sunset is a locals-oriented affair, and youll usually find three out of their
five tables open by early afternoon during weekdays.
This picture should give you an idea of just how L-O-N-G their tables
actually are. On true
rolling tables like this, it is tempting to run up your profit especially if your
shooting is really hitting on all cylinders.
In fact, with 10x-Odds, it is pretty easy to rack up a profit in very short
order. One word of
caution
DO NOT take them for too much money. Excess greed will get you 86'd from
shooting. There is a small
group of local Precision-Shooters who are allowed to win virtually every day, but the
unwritten rule is that you DO NOT take them for more than $300 per day. If you don't abide
by the rules, you will find yourself unwelcome from shooting. They will simply pass you
by, and tell you that you are not permitted to shoot.
Their house, their
rules, their dice, their money
their prerogative. Did
I Miss Any? That
pretty well covers most of the $2 tables in Vegas. I might have missed a couple of places since some
switch from $2 up to the next higher $3 limit quite freely.
In that case, well probably cover them in this next section. Cheap
THREE-DOLLAR Craps Time to step up to
the next snack-bracket in the pursuit of Cheap Tables.
While you can find $3 tables in a number of other gaming-markets in the
U.S., there isnt anywhere else where youll find more than 20 casinos that
offer $3 tables most of the time. So lets take
a look at some of them. Barbary
Coast BC
is the home of turbo dice. That
means that they want to move the dice as quickly as possible. Most casinos average 70-to-90 rolls per hour,
while Barbary likes to come close to doubling that figure. For
a seasoned Precision-Shooter, that shouldnt pose any problem. However if your dicesetting speed is a little
slow or your pre-throw routine consumes more than three or four seconds, then you can
expect the stickman to encourage a little faster action on your part. If you dont heed the polite advice, then the
boxman may prompt you once more with a less-than-kind comment. Dont take it personally, this is corporate
policy. The
first warning comes from the stickman. The second and third warning comes from the
box-man. The fourth is in the form of the stickman tapping the stick in front of you with
one last warning before they deliver the dice back to you. After that, they automatically
pass the dice to the next shooter. They
need a high number of rolls-per-hour to grind out a steady profit. They
want SPEED, and they want it NOW! If they aren't getting 120-150 rolls per hour; then the
Pit Boss better have a damn good excuse for the Shift Manager. They know that speed kills
bankrolls, and the faster the game, the more they'll make per hour. Its
as simple as more rolls equaling more profit for the house.
Thats the nature of the business, and they dont mind offending
you if your dicesetting-delays cut into their rolls-per-hour profit. On
the other hand, they only sweat the money a BIT. They
realize that people get lucky, and they also know that most people will play back any
winnings, so they dont get bent out of shape if you start to string together
something that approaches Precision-Shooting greatness.
However, when a hot hand does end, you can almost hear an audible sigh of
relief from the Pit. The tables are hard,
but not bouncy. Expect slight heat if you don't consistently hit the back wall. As Cheech
and Chong would say, "Toke early and toke often". Although it does sometimes
takes a while before you get the seasoned crew and the box on your side if they dont
recognize you as a regular player. The table closest to
the Flamingo Road entrance (tuck-shop counter) has a straightest and truest rolling lane
parallel to the Pass Line. Reduce your dice-momentum to their minimum, and consistency on
this table is AMAZING! Ill be back
with Part VI of this series shortly. Until
then, good luck and good skill at the tables
and in life. Sincerely, The
Mad Professor
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