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Maddog's
Journey -
Part II
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"subscribe" as the subject.) Part
2: Learning the theory of dice influencing Just like about 80% of the people who play the game, I had been playing without really understanding the concepts. About the only thing I knew about the game, was what I had learned from playing some casino software simulation on my home computer. Id originally bought the software to practice counting cards for blackjack. The software had several casino games like slots, roulette, and poker. And it had a craps game. The craps simulation is fun. It comes with a Hint mode that would recommend what bet to make. I bet you cant guess what the hint always was? Either bet the PL or DP and two come bets or two DC. Funny thing was that even in the sim, using its hints; Id have more losing sessions then winning ones. After playing around with the
sim for a bit it seemed like the best strategy was to bet a DP and follow that with a come
bet or two. In fact the very first time I
played the game of craps in a casino, thats how I played. It was amazing how well that strategy worked. I seemed to toss a lot of point then seven-out,
giving me a double winner of the DP and the come. (Just shows, any strategy can work some
of the time). Anyways,
at some point I decided it was time to get a better handle on this game, so I did what
many people do when they want to get information on something; I headed off to my local
library. I live in a small town and our
library carries a total of about 15 books. You
usually have to knock on your neighbors door if you want to check out one of them. Just kidding, but it is a small library and they
didnt have any books on the game of craps. Next, check out the internet bookstores and see what there is to be found. Searched on craps and got the usual listing of books; Be a craps master in 10 days, Joe's never fail craps strategies, Craps for ding-dongs, etc. etc. As I perused the list, trying to decide which of the many books might actually have some meaningful information, a couple of book titles jumped out at me. The first was How to
control the dice, the second was Dice Control for Casino Craps. Im thinking, This is
interesting. Id stumbled across
some books that were written about ways to throw the dice to ones advantage. This was amazing.
Here were books on a subject that I was playing with in my head and didnt
even know that there was already a language and school of thought, let alone publications.
Well,
I forgot all about the reason I was looking for a craps book (to learn the game. BIG mistake, Ill discuss that
mistake later on) and started reading the information on these books. Time for a choice.
Which book should I get? In the
end I bought Sharpshooters book. The title
Gambling Disciples of God in Yuri's book, just seemed a little too weird for
me. (I did end up getting Yuris book
later on, but thats another story). When
SSs book arrived I was all over it. I
think I read the entire book in one evening. The
stuff written there just seemed to make sense. Set
the dice a certain way, grip them a certain way, toss them a certain way, and achieve a
certain result. Sounds simple, sounds like it
ought to work.
Some folks simply cant see how this could possible be done and dont give Dice Influencing a second thought. Others think that maybe it can work and maybe theyll give it a try (the what can it hurt group). I suppose I had a pre-disposition to believe in the concept of Dice Influencing from the get-go. From the moment I read SharpShooters book, I was hooked and jumped into the whole dice influencing research phase with both feet. Oh, its not like I went out and bought a real full scale craps table to practice on in my living room (I wish).
Im much too cheap to do
that. Heck, I couldnt even bring myself
to spring for both dice control books to start. Its
not that I cant afford them both, like I said, Im just too cheap to lay out
serious money until Ive done my research and as they say drunk the
Kool-aid. After reading through the book, I realized Im going to have to practice a bit to see if I can really influence the dice. Im gonna need some equipment; some dice. Where do you get dice? Casino Dice? The internet of course. You can find anything and everything on the www. Well you can find anything, but everything has a price. The cheap side of me just wont let me spring for the price of a stick of dice. So, wheres the next place to look? Why not check the worlds largest flea-market. I point my browser over to EBay and search for casino dice. After some searching and choosing through the many pages of the query results, I pick up 3 pairs of used Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino dice, each pair in a different color. Very cool. (I still have these dice and carry em around as a good luck charm). Now, remember, Im new to all this stuff. I still havent found Dicesetter.com or
AxisPowerCraps or any other craps boards. Im
unaware that used casino dice arent the best selection for my Dice Influence
practice. Im just excited to give this
a trial with the best tools I have available. Ive
read the book, Ive got the basic idea behind Dice Influencing; the purpose of the
axial sets, the idea of the on-axis toss, use of proper grip, hitting the proper landing
zone. Now, Ive got some dice. The only thing left is to find somewhere to toss
the dice. There are plans for a practice table in the book, but I dont think I want or need to go to that much effort at this point. For now I figure any ole box will do. I searched around the garage and basement a bit and found the box my printer came in, an old cardboard box. The box is about 2 feet wide and about a foot
deep. I took and cut off one of the wide
sides and lay the box down on the remaining wide side.
The bottom of the box becomes my back wall. The remaining wide side becomes my
table and the short sides perform as the side walls. About a simple as you can get. Cool,
I have some dice, I have a box. Lets
get tossin and thats just what I did for about 3 nights. I quickly discovered two things about using a
cardboard box as a practice table. First, the
dice tend to slide, not roll, when they hit and second the dice edges where digging the
hell out of the cardboard. Hmm, cardboard,
not such a good idea. Time to upgrade this
toss box. Look
back to the opening sentence. The plan had
started out as learning the game of craps. Id
forgotten all about that. I was now going to
learn the game of Dice Influencing.
Notice
that I word this like there are two separate games, a game of craps and a game of Dice
Influencing. I believe that they are separate
activities. Yes, they directly influence and
impact each other. You need to have knowledge
and skill in both to make this work. But, it
is easy to get caught up with one without heed to the other. I focused on learning one without the other to my
detriment. But thats another story. In
the next article Ill discuss how my practice rig evolved and how I began tracking my
rolls. What
have I learned since those early beginnings? What
advice would I give to someone just starting? If
I could go back in time, with what I know now, and do things differently to get the most
effect, here is the advice I would give myself: ~
Buy Heavys Axis Power Craps manual first. Of
all the Dice Influence manuals Ive read, his is the easiest to read and does the
best at explaining the primary points. If
after youve read that, you want the others, fine, get them. They do add some points and compliment the
information. (I personally prefer Yuris
to Sharpshooter's) ~
Buy your dice from the Dicecoach. His sticks
of 6 die is the best deal on new dice. Youre
going to need those new dice for truer results and you will go though all 3 pairs in short
order. I would recommend a stick of red and a
stick of green to give you six pairs and allow you to mix colors for tracking purposes. ~
Build a simple box to start with (out of wood, not cardboard). It is worth the effort and even if you are not
that handy with the tools, it can be a simple process with the major cuts done at your
local hardware store (i.e. Lowes, Home Depot, etc) Until
next time, keep your toss straight and your rack full. Maddog |
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