I’ll start by saying this:
The Hardway dice-set promotes laziness and lowers your SRR.
Yes, I know that sounds like blasphemy to some people.
Yes, I know that the Hardway-set is THE set used by most followers of the PARR faith.
Yes, I know that this set is the most “forgiving” for novice Precision-Shooters because it’s off-axis results usually avoid the “7”.
But here’s what else it does.
The Hardway-set DOES promote laziness because when you are first starting on your journey to successful dice-shooting, it really DOES work better than random-rolling. You almost always get immediate improvement in your shooting success, but also it leads to reinforcing bad Precision-Shooting habits.
Here’s why:
As a beginner, when you set the dice and throw them to the other end of the table, you have many more off-axis results than actual “intentional” on-axis outcomes. Since your throwing-mechanics are not fine-tuned and polished yet, one or more dice often go off-axis. That usually results in an off-axis “non-7” outcome.
That’s a good thing, so let’s continue.
After a number of successful (profitable) hands in the casino using this method, the novice sees that their casino-rolls are longer, and they profit better than they did as random-rollers. With that kind of success, the greenhorn thinks that they’ve have found both the Arc of the Covenant and the Pot of Gold at the end of the casinos neon-hued rainbow. That victorious accomplishment is achieved courtesy of Precision-Shooting and the Hardway-set.
Okay, so far those are still good things, but I’m going to show you how that early success can lull you into a false sense of ever-increasing progress, while in reality it holds you back from greater (and more profitable) success.
You would think that all of those accomplishments with the Hardway-set would be a good thing, but here is where it all starts to fall short.
As the novice-shooter practices more and more, their throwing-motion becomes more and more fluid and locked into their “muscle memory”. Their release becomes smoother and their targeting accuracy improves as well. The apprentice-shooter stays with the Hardway-set because they saw so much initial improvement with their dice-lobs, they now believe that they can get EVEN BETTER using the same set.
Part of that belief comes from having “proved” to themselves that dice-setting works, and of course it really does, and because they have been told that this was the “proper” set to use. Initially, the Hardway-set IS the right way to go, but we’ll soon see that as you improve, it artificially restrains and limits your profit potential, while actually reducing your SRR to an artificially low number.
This is where the belief system in this set starts to break down, and this is when most wanna-be shooters pick up bad habits that keeps their shooting in the same range as traditional random-rollers.
When the neophyte-shooters game “stalls out”, their progress that once seemed so close at hand and imminent, now seems to be going further and further away. They make continuous, but never satisfactory changes to their throw and release that never seem to bring back the magic moments of the initial success that they experienced when they first took up dice-setting.
They get frustrated with their lack of progress, and in most cases their shooting actually get worse than their random-rolling counterparts. Their faith is rattled, and when their dice-throwing does occasionally show glimmers of success, they think that there is something wrong with their shooting ability and consistency. They concentrate on making the “perfect pitch”, but the better they get at it, the worse their SRR becomes.
Here’s why:
We know that each dice-set has an “on-axis” 7-probability.
The 3-V-set has an 8:1 on-axis 7-probability.
The Hardway-set has a 4:1 on-axis 7-probability.
Random-rollers 7-Out probability is 6:1
That means that you can expect twice as many 7’s while using the Hardway-set as compared to the 3-V. The Hardway-set is hardly the “perfect” set that some people say it is. It’s more appropriate for the “lazy” or sloppy shooters who are satisfied with mediocre results. When my money is on the line, mediocre results are the LAST thing that I’m hoping for. The Hardway-set promotes lazy shooting and mediocre results, and that’s not blasphemy…that’s the truth.
The more a novice-shooter uses this set for his entire hand, the further they discover that the more “ragged” or “rough” their throw is, the better their results are. We’ll see in a minute just WHY that happens, and HOW it holds down a players progress…and profit.
This is where the laziness issue comes back into play, and this is where the true shortcoming of the Hardway-set shows itself. It shows initial improvement for the beginning-shooter; then progress stalls out as the shooters release becomes more focused, fluid and reliable. At that point, the shooter usually becomes lazy and reverts to a more haphazard throw even though he still carefully sets the dice.
In this case, his dice-results roughly equal those experienced by true random-rollers. Sometimes the player will have decent-length rolls, but mostly the Point-&-Out beast shows up with annoying regularity. In some fortunate cases, the frustrated player will discover other more “friendly” dice-sets, and continue in his pursuit of progress and profit.
Like I said, the more a novice-shooter concentrates on and practices making the perfect pitch using the Hardway-set, and the better they get at keeping the dice on-axis, the worse their SRR becomes. That usually results in poorer profit consequences.
In reality, the better you become at throwing this dice-set, the shorter your casino rolls will get.
Of course, there will be exceptions when this set will generate some truly awesome-length hands, but they will be painfully few and far between.
There are some legitimate uses for the Hardway-set. One of them is on the Come-Out roll. If the dice stay on-axis, you have an excellent chance of a Come-Out 7-winner.
In addition, a number of professional Precision-Shooters will revert to this set if their dice-throwing is a little bit “off”. With the forgiving nature of this set to “off-axis” rolling, it will sometimes point up release, momentum, trajectory, landing or roll-out problems better or quicker than any other “un-matched” dice-pairing. But all-in-all, the Hardway-set has limited use once you have a smooth, steady grip and release dialed-in. This is especially true for the balance of your hand once the Pass-Line Point has been established.
Now, I agree that your SRR isn’t the be-all and end-all of Precision-Shooting. In fact, I agree that the frequency of Inside Numbers is the heart and soul of Precision-Shooting, and it certainly forms the core of my betting methods. For today however, we’re talking about the shortcomings of the Hardway-set.
Here’s more reality:
The better your Precision-Shooting gets; the more harm the Hardway-set can do to your earnings-success.
Let me state that another way:
Using the Hardway set; the better and smoother your shooting becomes, the worse you will do in the casino.
Yes, that’s right.
The Hardway set will actually LOWER your Sevens-to-Rolls ratio as you become a better shooter!
Let’s revisit the reasons that we DO NOT want to use this after we establish our Pass-Line Point. We know that each dice-set has an “on-axis” 7-probability.
The 3-V-set has an 8:1 on-axis 7-probability.
The Hardway-set has a 4:1 on-axis 7-probability.
That means that you can expect twice as many 7-Out’s while using the Hardway set as compared to the 3-V.
But wait, as they say when they are trying to sell you value-added products, there’s even more. Here’s the kicker:
Random-rollers 7-Out probability is 6:1
While the 3-V is twice as good as the Hardway-set in avoiding on-axis 7-Outs, even a random-roller can expect to have generally better and longer rolls than the Hardway-set roller. Yes, random-rolling is generally 50% better than this set once you establish your Pass-Line Point!
Of course, the set that you choose is entirely up to you.
Hey, it’s your money on the Pass Line, and the dice are in your hands. With Precision-Shooting we want to remove as much of the “gamble” out of casino gambling as possible. If you are using the Hardway-set, you may be putting a lot more “gamble” into your casino play than you realize.
Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables…and in Life.
Sincerely,
The Mad Professor
