How Do You Do It?

A reader who also frequently corresponds with me by e-mail, asked, “How do you do it?”

When I first saw the question, I thought that he was talking about Precision-Shooting.  As I read, I realized that he was asking something entirely different.  He wanted to know how I “got used to the grind of playing everyday” and then asked, “doesn’t all of the travel and restaurant meals make you feel like a traveling salesman?”  He went on at ask, “I know how you keep your table-play organized, but how do you keep all of your travels organized, and how do you keep from burning-out?”

That’s a good set of questions.

The short answer is, no, I don’t feel that craps play is a grind, and, no, I don’t feel like a traveling salesman.  To stay organized and prevent burn-out, I frequently bring my girlfriend.  She’s a cool drink of water, if ever there was one!

First of all, there is nothing wrong with being a traveling salesman.  I think it’s a noble profession.  The fact that I wouldn’t want to do it, does not take away anything from the achievements of the most accomplished professionals who chose it as their career.

Secondly, while I do usually play four or five days each week, my total playing time is usually in the 20 to 30 hour range.  That leaves plenty of time for other pursuits. 

Almost all of the cities that we visit have a wide variety of entertainment and a vibrant nightlife.  We enjoy all of that, plus a lot of outdoor physical activities as well.  We work hard in the casino to earn a decent living.  We eat well because I think that is one of the joys of life.   We play hard to keep in shape, as well as actually enjoying the activities. 

At the same time, we also know how to relax well.  Spas, pools and general lounging is also part of our regimen.   I’m not embarrassed to say that we often spend an entire afternoon in bed, enjoying each others company.  I have a fine lady, and I am pleased to spend a lot of intimate quality time with her.

Thirdly, the time that we do consume in the casino is well spent.   While it is true that I like to play in “off-hours” to afford a higher amount of personal shooting-time, it doesn’t always work out that way.  We have adopted certain methods that permit us to “stay in the game” while other random-rollers have the dice.  It doesn’t work all of the time.  In fact, random-rollers who have hot hands contribute less than 5% to my overall income.  That’s an incredibly low number, and it shows that if you only avail yourself to the vagaries and randomness of the dice; then you will have a very difficult time making any money at this game.  That truly exemplifies that it really is a negative-expectation game. 

On the other hand, I keep a keen eye out for other Precision-Shooters or rhythmic-rollers or “sharpshooters” who seem to know exactly what they are doing.  They contribute about 20% to my overall income. 

An interesting side-note here, is that a lot of rhythmic-rollers don’t take advantage of their own “signature-numbers”.  Why?  Well, sometimes those particular numbers are not Place numbers.   Instead, they are the higher-vig, but higher-paying Prop numbers.  While they may get upset that they throw a lot of crap numbers without repeating their Point; an astute observer can make a bundle off of those shooting traits.  Does it work all of the time?  Of course not, where do you think we are…in a casino or something?! 

Rather, it is that ability to discern trends and patterns WHILE something is happening instead of figuring out what occurred AFTER it has happened that will make a big difference in your game.

That last paragraph is an important one.  You may benefit from reading it again.

When you live with this game long enough, and you are open-minded enough, you get to understand the ebb and flow of the numbers at a much higher level than a regular bettor.  In an upcoming article entitled “Raising Your Conscientiousness And Fattening Your Wallet”, I’ll explore that subject in detail.

To stay organized and prevent burn-out, I frequently bring my girlfriend.  While I keep track of each and every table that I play on, she keeps track of our favorite restaurants, new places to try out, she updates our travel plans and deals with a number of Casino Hosts on my behalf to make hotel/dinner/show arrangements.  She generally keeps me happy, content and satisfied.  Believe me when I tell you that keeping me happy, content and satisfied is a much more difficult task than it would appear.  While I’m not “high-maintenance”, I do require a fair amount of “focus time”, and I do like certain things to be handled in a certain ways.   If that makes me demanding, then make it so.   But I also think that it helps to keep things on an even-keel.

And that, my friend, is How I Do It.