Dice Setter Precision Shooter’s Newsletter: November – December 2008

So How Does the Casino Like Us Setters Now?

Season’s Greetings everyone!

Looking for an empty craps table in Vegas? 

There’s never been a better time to find a perfect shooting spot in Vegas. You can take your pick of tables, whether you’re on the strip or downtown. Not too many people visiting my favorite city. And, even the high end casinos have lowered their table minimums to red chip level in the hopes of capturing craps players.

“You’re liking us now Mr. Casino man, aren’t ya.” was my greeting to the stick man as I bellied up to play during my last visit.  One stick man in particular asked how I would like my dice set.  It felt different to be able to respond with, “I’ll take mine with the sunflowers up, thank you.”

As all the news headlines indicate, the economy has affected a great many.  Isn’t that just the nature of things?  More on this later. Yet, where craps is concerned, what a positive impact it has made in my game.

Not since the late 90’s into early 2000 have I experienced the multitude of complimentary offers received from the Vegas casinos.  Some casinos will even help with the airfare just to get me to visit.  And, I received so many three night hotel offers that I could literally live in Vegas on the casino’s nickel for the next six months if I wished to.

It used to be that I would be offered comps just for mid-week and now the peak rate weekends are included. These offers are so juicy and I will just have to oblige them as often as I can for as long as they offer them. It is nice to see these offers cycling my way again.  I hope you people out there are getting these offers too.

And, so it goes that the casino pendulum is again swinging the other way for us patrons.

As a dice setter, I am experiencing a welcoming feeling from our pit crew like never before.  Not that they were ever that discouraging, even if they knew I was “one of those” dice people.

A while back, one of our dice community members forwarded an interesting clip from a casino security and games protection meeting given by Bill Zender during the World Game Protection Conference, 2008. The content of the video had everything to do with us “dice controllers” and how we should seriously be embraced because the casino had nothing to fear.

As Mr. Zender elaborated to his audience about the general technique of our sets, grips and delivery with the dice, this casino games consultant basically stated:  “Embrace the rhythm roller.” And, “interest in rhythm rollers will increase an interest in dice.”

Here that casino people?   There is someone out there confirming what a great many in our community have always felt. Could we dice setters be saving a dying game? At least in my experience, these days it is holding true if the casino wishes to recruit new players with interest in the game.

You all can check this out for yourselves at: http://www.casinoguysonline.com/

I wonder whose course the presenter took?  His picture of the dice grip is sure telling.

While we are on the subject of links and courses, just a quick reminder to check out the next dates for our dice workshops in 2009.  Wow, that feels so way in the future.  Yet, the next one is just less than two months away.  Here’s the link:

 “Who You Gonna Call?”

Anyway, moving on to some of my  quick dice philosophy and the rhythm or cycle of things in our life. The cycle of a shooter’s hand will always end with a seven. And, it is interesting how many of the cycles in other areas of our life outside of gaming occur in multiples of seven.  There are seven days in a week, seven notes to a scale and so on.

In our natural lives, we experience positive cycles and the emotions that go along with these positive cycles like love, happiness, courage, generosity, patience and kindness.  With this cycle, everything goes well and confidence is fostered.  This is where the popular saying,  ” I must be on a roll” comes from.  And, we are on this roll because in some way we are in balance or in harmony with our life/game.

The game has its rise and fall, hot and cold, ups and downs, wins and losses.  The game has its do and don’t side and the dice patterns weave in and out of both sides.

When we weave into a negative rhythm our feelings and mental states change.  I see the economy doing this to many around me.  As things change, I see people feeling more fear, greed, envy, criticism and judgment.  And, their natural tendency is to place blame on other people and events.

It’s always interesting to watch people who are winning in the game or, in other aspects of their life created by them and accept total credit for achieving a win or lucrative outcome.  Yet, I see these same individuals readily blaming everyone and everything outside of themselves for any negative situation or outcome. 

This reminds me of the saying my grandma used to share with me when we were young children pointing the finger at the person we were blaming for our troubles in the hopes of getting out of a sticky situation. 

“Young lady,” she would say, “for that one finger you’ve got pointed at your brother there are three pointing back at you.”  Who knew I would be getting dice philosophy from my granny when it came to learning how to be accountable for our outcomes.

And so, these are the people or players that misunderstand that their experience of their reality, whether it is positive or negative, is totally created by them. Many have heard me comment that these players get stuck in the polarity of the game. They find it hard to accept both sides of their experience and miss out on the real nature of how life and the game can work with them by simply understanding how every experience, positive or negative, has its place in life.

That negativity can be overcome you know.  The rhythm of the economy, life, the game can continue and at the same time the negative feelings do not have to take place.  It is our choice to rise above negative situations by adapting and using our knowledge and wisdom from our experience. 

“Buy low, sell high.”  For this time in our lives, it has never been more important to heed that advice whether it is with the game or any other situation having to do with the cyclic nature of our life.

This is the time to plan new ventures in and out of the casino.  There has never been a better time to play craps.

During these economic times and with your game, never allow your emotions to swing too far to the right or too far to the left by external forces created by you.  If you work on this, life and your game will only get better and better.

Everything flows out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.   The Kybalion

Happy Holidays!

Soft Touch