Dice Setter Precision Shooter’s Newsletter: January – February 2010

I Was A Fortunate Novice…

While visiting Vegas last month I noticed that the minimum bet for craps had been lowered. It must have to do with a hope of attracting players to the game. Most of the casinos I visited during this time were fairly empty, which is no surprise to me, while our nation lives through this temporarily depressed economy. I saw some tables with one dollar minimums that would normally be at five. Wow…Seeing these lower table limits makes me feel a bit nostalgic.  It made we realize how fortunate I was to have learned the game when I did.

You see, back in the late ‘90’s, I had a great time  learning my basic betting strategies to this game and practicing my tosses because the tables offered low limits like what I am seeing today. Over a decade ago, it was not unusual to find a twenty five cent table at the Plaza in Downtown Vegas. Back in those days I could find those twenty-five cent orange chip tables downtown and off the strip. Having caught the craps playing bug during a typical “virgin” shoot, I remember how after reading a few books about the game I had a desire to invest as little money as possible to gain some confidence with particular betting strategies that most players will find within the Dice Setter website pages.

Essentially, I was looking for cheap tuition to attend “Craps College.” It is one thing to diligently practice my tosses, betting strategies and approaches at home with virtually no money at risk.  It was quite a different story to go to the casino and invest my money on what, in theory, should yield a profit at the craps tables.  So, back then, those quarter craps tables allowed me to afford a great craps education with little financial investment in the game.

My typical buy-in in those days was one hundred bucks. For that amount of money I found myself playing marathon sessions at The Plaza. I practiced my sets and dice deliveries from numerous spots and employed various versions of steep regressions, iron crosses and ‘doey-don’ts” all on the cheap. It was great. The dealers and box men were great and no one “sweated” the money.

Allow me to digress here regarding sweating the money.  Craps dealers back then were bright and cheerful and welcomed everyone to the game and were eager to teach. And, if casino personnel are reading this newsletter and wish to have a lot more players at the table, they might want to read the article from Casino Journal.

Okay, I don’t think players in Vegas will find a twenty-five cent minimum craps table today. Those days are long gone. The only “quarter” tables a player can find use green chips.  That’s twenty-five dollars. Still, Vegas craps players can find one dollar to three dollar minimum craps tables at a few casinos some having better than “strip” odds.

Here’s a list where you’ll find some low minimums provided to me by one of the professional craps players in Vegas that keeps me posted on the current events inside those Vegas craps pits. He writes:

As the casino floors in Las Vegas need less vacuuming, casinos are starting to beef up their marketing ploys to get the carpets dirty again.  At the craps tables, some of the marketing promotions include:

Binions – $1 table near the front door, but it quickly changes to

                 $3 and $5 as the crowd gathers.
Freemont – $3 table 24/7
Golden Gate – $3 table started the trend downtown
Sam’s Town – $3 table
Eastside Cannery – $3 table

Many of the local non-Strip and non-Downtown casinos still offer $3 games

Plaza – new Crapless table
Vegas Club – new Crapless table
Harrah’s, Bally’s and Rio can be found with $5 limits at various times including Friday and Sundays

Perhaps this is a good time to try your unconventional tosses and expose yourself to those steep regression strategies for a lot less than you would have had to invest a few years ago.

Happy New Year!

Soft Touch

Dear Professor,

I am hoping to get some feed back about dice influencing. I’ve seen umteen setters at the tables and read lots of books. My son and I have spent many hours on our home rig and several hours at the casinos. I’ve seen some hot hands, mostly from “Randies”. I have yet to see what I would expect to see from an experienced DI player. Then again, maybe I have and I just don’t know what to expect. Please don’t take this the wrong way, I am having some doubts about dice influencing. Thanks, Frank

Okay, Frank here are some ideas for you.

Dice influencing, … well, let me say this, many a player has taken up the hobby but they really did not grasp the depth of what all is involved to be successful. There are a few reasons for this.

1.      It takes a lot of practice and real practice get boring real fast.

2.      Like golf or a similar sport, if you learn it wrong, you will do it wrong.

3.      Very few dice setters know how to critique their own toss, let alone make the necessary adjustments for improvement.

4.      Most dice setters put too much importance on their own ability and disregard other players. (as you noted with “Randies” and hot hands)

5.      The longest rolls that I have witnessed were from random rollers. Dice is a random game.

6.      Dice setters tend to measure success by the clock rather than by results. That is to say, the number of times the paying numbers roll and especially repeating points is critical, not the time.

7.      I have heard too many stories like, “I held the dice for twenty minutes!” Nice, but you know what, in those twenty minutes, they only rolled maybe eighteen times. If you figure in a few crap rolls, the come out roll, and the ending seven, you have a hand with maybe ten or twelve paying rolls. That could be okay, depending on the numbers rolled and wagers made.

8.      If points are not rolled, well, the seven is always live. It is important to have the come out roll every 6-8 rolls. Having the safety of a seven on the come out works to the players’ advantage.

When you think about a dice influencer’s mission in the game, it has to involve controlling the game as much as possible. Being able to avoid the seven when it is deadly and influence its appearance on the come out rolls, well, in effect you are altering the odds, but at the same time keeping the dice in probability with the sevens showing up when they are welcome. Make a note the next time you see a long hand, notice if the come out rolls had sevens. Then look at the sevens to roll ratio.

My last time out, my dice were perfect. My results were point and out or 4 or 5 rolls and done. In truth, I knew I was not aligned to play. I did not “feel it”, but driving one and a half hours to the casino, I played any way. As a result, I received my  confirmation. I stopped shooting and switched to the Don’t to win back my losses.  There will be times when your dice look good but the results are ugly. Then there is the flip side to this, ugly dice but great results. Probably why it is called a crap shoot.

The secret to tossing good dice has to do with consistency. If you study your shooters and you should, you will notice those long rolls, even by random players, usually happen when the shooter does the same thing with every single roll. Yeah, even random rollers will hit a groove, like a train on a track, just like we do when we are “on” with our sets. If you watch closely, when they finally do seven out, it is usually because they changed something with their toss.

Frank, I know what you are saying. What you are looking for is to develop your own consistency with better results. Relax a little, draw it to you, don’t chase it and it will come. Practice and learn to scrutinize your toss. Remember the best practice takes place in a live game when it is for real. (See Soft Touch’s article above) Homework is necessary, that goes without saying. Keep it up. Home practice is where you perfect your grip, pick-up and learn how to lock the range. Home practice provides you with the talent to adjust to any table position, and any table conditions. Consistency and adaptation is the true mark of a dice shooter who can influence the outcome.

Cheers!

The Professor

Michael Vernon

Today’s Wisdom:

Your Faults Can Be Your Virtues

“Your weaknesses can then become your strengths. For example, instead of condemning yourself for being so stubborn, think of stubbornness as over amplified determination. This is a wonderful quality that you can call upon when you need to complete a project or get through a challenging time”

                                                                      Denise Linn – Secrets and Mysteries