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…it’s 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 let’s 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 Bally’s, 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 doesn’t get very much action. My guess would be that if business doesn’t pick up in the near-term, that they’ll 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 I’m not complaining at the ample solo-shooting opportunities, but I’m not sure how long casino-management will continue to staff a labor-intensive game that probably isn’t justifying it presence.
The initial minimum-bet when it opened was $5, which clearly wouldn’t qualify this place for my Cheap Tables list. However, they’ve 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 you’ll 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, we’ll 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 isn’t anywhere else where you’ll find more than 20 casinos that offer $3 tables most of the time.
So let’s 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 shouldn’t 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 don’t heed the polite advice, then the boxman may prompt you once more with a less-than-kind comment. Don’t 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. It’s as simple as more rolls equaling more profit for the house. That’s the nature of the business, and they don’t 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 don’t 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 don’t 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!
I’ll 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
