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The
Mad Professor's Shooting Bible In Part I of my Shooting
Bible, we talked about the importance of making notes after each one of your sessions. It enables you to bring not only a higher level of
consistency and professionalism to the craps table, but it also helps you keep track of
ALL aspects of your game. Today we cover:
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A very close look
at the Pincer-Grip.
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How one particular
grip can be varied to suit different table and shooting situations.
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Why the dice
dont always do what you want them to do, and how to fix specific problems. So lets dive
right into Chapter Two of the Mad Professors Shooting Bible. Venture and Incentive
Ill tell you
right away that if you havent tried it, or you havent been successful with it,
the Pincer Grip is one of the most difficult to master. So why use it? Well, it also gives
some of the truest, most accurate, most profitable results for those who actually do
master it. With proper
execution, the Pincer-Grip in all of its permutations does give astonishingly high on-axis
performance, and very solid primary-face outcomes (where the dice end up in the original
way that you set them). That is a good
enough reason for me to dedicate an entire article to it. I use a number of
other grips for certain shooting situations and table positions or conditions, but of all
of the different dice-holding methods, the Pincer-Grip gives me one of the highest
percentages of on-axis results. Oh, before we go
any further, Ill explain that my use of the word axis means the
imaginary axle that the dice rotate around as they travel to the other
end of the table. If they stay on the same
axle as the one you set them on; then we can say that they stayed on
axis. Controlled Throw vs-
Luck & Hope Recently,
Irishsetter wrote:
Ø The ULTIMATE K.I.S.S. when it comes to
dice setting
is K.I.O.A.S. (keep it on axis stupid).
Ø If the dice go off axis, then it's a random
roll. That's the bottom line.
Ø There are MINOR, and I mean M I N O R
advantages gained when the dice roll off axis, but basically you are a random roller with
a pretty shot, the minute that one or both dice go off axis.
Ø Everything else is B.S. until you can execute a
controlled throw, ON AXIS, 50% of the time or greater. Irishsetter is
correct, and I couldnt have said it better myself.
The more you can
keep the dice on-axis, the more control that you are able to exert over the dice. You may have a smooth, fluid and pretty throw, but
if the dice arent staying on axis, then you are gambling on LUCK,
as opposed to engineering the risk out of the game with a controlled-throw. That is what
Precision-Shooting is ALL about. I Say Tomato, You Say Tomahto Irishsetter is
also correct when he tells you that what works perfectly for one player may be the worst
thing to happen to the next player who tries it. If you try this
grip and it gives moderate success, then you might want to give it further attention. If it doesnt even produce glimmers of
effectiveness after carefully trying it, then perhaps it may not be right for you. I dont get
caught up in the religious dogma of commanding you to use one set, one
grip, and one toss to solve all of your problems at the dice table, simply because a
one-dimensional approach DOES NOT work enough to make consistent casino
profit. For me, I know
that keeping the dice on-axis a high percentage of the time while using the Pincer-Grip
works very well for ME. Of course, your
mileage may vary. The benefit of
trying and succeeding, or even trying and failing is:
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You are likely to pick up some extra insight
into your own skill-set.
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You are likely to gain additional knowledge
about dice-dynamics.
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You will be better able to adapt and overcome
ever-changing real-life game situations. The Pincer Grip and its Variations Lets start
at the beginning by counting and naming our fingers to avoid any confusion. For our
discussion purposes today, well refer to:
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The first digit on your hand as the
thumb
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Then comes the index finger
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Next in line is the middle (up
yours/bird) finger
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Then comes your ring finger
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Finally, your little (pinkie)
finger With that in
mind, lets enumerate the various pincer-grips:
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Two-Finger (Thumb and Middle-Finger) Pincer
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Two-Finger (Thumb and Ring-Finger) Pincer
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Four-Finger Crab Pincer
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Five-Finger Full-Balance Pincer
Why So MANY Grip Variations? I know that some people will argue that I have
suggested too many variations to learn and perfect. On
one hand they could be correct, but Ill tell you why we are looking at so many. I want to help you find the most
comfortable, most consistent, and most replicable throw for YOU. What feels great for one person may feel awkward
and unnatural for the next guy. By showing
you a number of variations, you may find the perfect one that suits you best. You may also find
that one grip will produce stellar-profit results on one table, but when you export it to
another, no matter how much you vary the trajectory, or the throw-energy, or the
target-area; it just doesnt work well enough for you to make ANY money. You can perfect
one type of throw at home on your practice-rig, but when you put it into a real-casino
situation, it sucks. It sucks big, it sucks
large
oh boy does it SUCK. By showing you a
number of variations, you should be able to find one style of grip that adapts, or is
adaptable to, most shooting situations both at home and in the casino. That is why you
have to intersperse your practice sessions with some real casino sessions. The casino-sessions help you sharpen and focus
your skill in a real-world, real-money environment. When
you play in a casino, it either validates what you have been practicing at home or it
points our deficiencies in your throwing methods that require additional work and
retooling at home. Endless
practicing of the WRONG throwing methods only ingrains muscle-memory that will LOSE you
money. Youll agree
that one type of baseball pitch does not strike everyone out. One golf club and one swing does not conquer all
golf courses. One type of grip
and toss does not always get the job done when it comes to being consistently successful
from every position at every craps table. If
you dont believe that, then please believe this:
keep your day job because you are really going to need it now and until
retirement. If you use craps as entertainment
and not as a money-making venture, then its okay.
However, if you care about how much money that you lose at the craps table,
then a more focused effort to stem the flow of losses may be required. One grip and one toss
will not get you to great casino profit. On
the other hand, it may help you make some additional money, and thats great, but
dont rely on it to pay the bills, buy the cars, and finance your retirement, cause
it aint gonna happen! Here then are my four
Pincer-Grips, and a number of variations: Two-Finger (Thumb and Middle-Finger) Pincer My briefest
description would have you place the dice side-by-side.
Use your thumb to grasp one side-axle, and your middle-finger to grasp the
other side of the axle. Your other fingers do
not touch the dice. From there, you
throw squarely to the back wall. This method
gives you good control over backspin based upon the angle of your release, the speed of
your launch, and the direction and degree of your follow-through. With practice, you
should be able to vary backspin from one extreme (no backspin) to the other (blurring
rotational speed). Youll need varying
degrees of backspin to contend with different table surfaces and longer throwing distances
from various shooting positions at a craps table. If your progress
with the Pincer Grip stalls out; you may want to use your free index finger to reach down
to stabilize the front seam of the two dice. This is another excellent way to control
backspin. At the same time, the use of your
index finger to stabilize the dice-seam helps to correct any mid-air "inward collapse
of the axis problems. With practice,
some people have found this grip to produce repeatable perfect-rotation
whereby the two dice will spin perfectly freely between your thumb and third-finger. Your fingernail length is critical for this
to occur. On small tables, tub-tables or the
sit-down Crapshoot variety, this grip has been a solid-gold winner for me over the past
eleven years. Another huge
benefit of this grip and release is that, with focused practice, you can get the dice to
tumble side-by-side through the air, and stay on-axis with forward spin,
instead of the conventional back-spin. If you combine
forward spin with a high-trajectory landing (over 60-degrees, and up to nearly 90-degrees)
the dice can be made to immediately stop once they hit the lower-edge rubber of the
backwall. While the trajectory is high (in
number of degrees upon landing) it doesnt mean that the dice have to be launched
over the dealers head. If you
release the dice from the table surface or just above it, and release them in an upward
fashion, then the apogee (the highest point of flight) of your throw will be less than
chin-high when it flies past your favorite 5 10 dealer. No magic involved here
just
Precision-Shooting. Two-Finger (Thumb and Ring-Finger) Pincer As many of you know,
one of my favorite grips is this two-finger pincer.
I find that table
conditions vary so much, as do dice types (brand, size, density, finish and age) that
using small and subtle variations of grip, release and spin to compensate for those
variations from table-to-table and casino-to-casino work best for me. Remember, this is all done in an effort to
overcome those differences, and to bring greater on-axis primary-face consistency to your
throwing. This grip is
similar to the thumb and middle-finger pincer, only we substitute our ring-finger in place
of our middle-finger. Some people find this
provides a better feel of balance and control. Again, backspin is
easily dialed-in and controlled based on the upward angle at which you release the dice
and the flourish or flair of your follow-through. To correct any
mid-air "inward collapse" of the axis, you could try a leading-edge,
trailing-edge grip adaptation where your thumb and fourth-finger grip the upper rear
corner of the dice (on their side axis), while your index and middle-finger lightly
balance the leading top edge of the dice. This
is a lite version of the four-finger crab pincer. This variation
works best where the table has a soft underlay. The
dice take full advantage of the table-cushioning and they simply refuse to pop
or scatter when they touch down. This grip
has one of the highest percentages of producing dead-cat bounces of all of my
throws. The only problem is that you have to
throw the dice to a farther target area simply because they have a tendency to
die at or near where they initially touch down. Four-Finger Crab Pincer We start out
holding the dice the same as we do with the Two-Finger (Thumb and Ring-Finger) Pincer,
then we add our index and middle-fingers to the front-face of the dice. Those two fingers (index and middle) rest about
halfway down the front of the two dice faces. We
square both the dice and our hand to the back-wall of the table. Most people find this grip quite comfortable and
it affords them a high degree of control over backspin.
They also find that having four fingers in contact with the dice helps to keep them
on-axis. The one concern
that this grip always raises is that the amount of pressure or squeeze that
you put on the dice is critical. For some
people, it is difficult to nail down consistent grip-pressure time and time again. They find that they are always over-focusing on
the throw feel which causes them to over-tighten their grip, and that takes
away from repeatability. At-home
experimentation should help build the sensitive muscle-memory that this grip demands if
you want it to deliver reliable profit. For rock-hard but
bouncy tables (without foam or cloth underlay) I use this grip to produce a dead-cat
bounce using a lopsided variation.
To visualize it, think about one of those cheap beach-balls that
dont roll true because the air-nozzle patch adds too much weight, which unbalances
the ball. When you throw a
ball like that, it kind of has a looping rotation to it. Okay, thats exactly how the dice react when
you grip and throw them with this variation. Your
thumb and ring-finger actually grip the dice very low on the sides and at the rear-most
portion of the dice. Upon release, I give the
dice a pronounced backspin and follow-through. I
use a fairly high trajectory (between 50-degrees all the way up to 70-degrees) at their
release point. When they spin in the air,
its like the dice are unbalanced (on their side-axis), and when they land, they tend
to slam down very hard on the felt. The dice
usually stop-dead right where they land. Therefore,
my aiming point (target area) is no more than 2 to 3 inches from the back wall. In most casinos, this is usually
close enough to qualify as a full-length roll. The drawback to
this type of grip and throw is that sometimes one or both dice will flop forward one or
two additional rotations. This can be good if
both of them do it, or VERY bad if only one dice rolls twice (double pitches). Using the 3-V set, that almost always equals a
7-Out. This grip and throw takes a lot of
practice, but when it works perfectly, its a beautiful thing because of the
predictability of the results. Using the
Four-Finger Crab Pincer, I get the following results:
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Stunningly high 85% on-axis results.
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Perfect as-set primary-face dead-cat
bounces about 28% of the time. This can
be a high-paying Hard 6 & 8 set and bet.
Ø
I get one additional forward-rotation on-axis
result from one dice about 50% of the time.
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The 7% balance of on-axis outcomes result in
that double-pitching ugly bitch that we call 7-Out.
Ø
The other 15% of the results are off-axis
random outcomes. Despite its
great on-axis percentage, this one produces my lowest Sevens-to-Rolls
Ratio out of all the grips and variations that I use because of its tendency to
double-pitch. I continually fine-tune this
grip to correct that particular defect. If I have the
double-pitch thing under control, I will occasionally use the Hardways-set for this toss,
especially if the dealers and I have action on the Hardways. If you have read my
Blasphemy
courtesy
of The Mad Professor article,
youll know that I advise careful and judicious use of the Hardway-set. One last caution
is to watch your little finger. If the dice
are consistently rolling off-axis, and you are getting the same irritating outcomes; then
it may be because your wrist is slightly turning in the direction that your little-finger
is pointing. One cure is to curl your little
finger into your palm as opposed to pointing down table with it. Five-Finger Full-Balance Pincer This grip uses the
thumb on one side-axis of the dice and your little (pinkie) finger on the other axis. Your other three fingers gently touch the front
faces of both dice. A variation of this
excellent grip has the three inside fingers resting on the sharp leading-edge
of the dice, which gives a very soft release with limited backspin. If the table calls for a flat-trajectory throw;
then this is one of three or four grips that work best for me. Another variation
that is more extreme, is where the thumb and little finger GENTLY force the leading-edge
of the dice into the first joint of the index, middle and ring-finger. A very pronounced backspin is imparted upon
release. I use this grip and toss where I
want to hop over a Pass-Line or Dont Pass bet that is near the intended target area. I find this useful if I know that a table has a
great sweet-spot, but there is a lot of stacked chip-action nearby. Still another
variation is to move all three of your inside fingers right down the front
dice-faces to the tabletop. This helps to
even up the release of the dice off of your fingers. While this grip looks correct, some
people have difficulty mastering it because when you even up your finger-tips,
it actually exaggerates individual finger pressure on the dice. The result is that upon release from your fingers,
a slight imbalance is imparted to each dice. The
farther they fly, the more pronounced the pressure difference will make on their outcome. So even though it looks right when you
hold the dice evenly and examine your grip carefully, you actually have
unequal pressure coming from various fingers. That
usually results in an uneven or off-axis result. The trajectory for
these full-balance grips is fairly normal, and should be pretty close to
45-degrees at both launch and touchdown. Backspin
aids in keeping the dice from rolling too far or with too much force. After one short hop, they usually coast into the
lower margin of the wall, and then rollback twice before stopping. This throw yields good, consistent on-axis results
for me. If I was restricted to one universal
toss that I was comfortable with while ALWAYS hitting the back-wall 100% of the time; then
the Five-Finger Full-Balance Pincer would be the one. Let me quickly add
that the dice have to be perfectly aligned with the back-wall of the table, otherwise
expect one or both dice to go off-axis almost EVERY
time you throw them. This grip is
ultra-sensitive to being squared from launch, to touch down, to roll-out and
final resting place. The reward is incredible
on-axis performance, and high primary-face results when it is thrown properly. Grip Pressure
and Fingernails The
full-balance five-finger grip can also be sensitive to fingernail length, but
you DO NOT require long nails to derive profitable consistency from this grip. Ideally, with all
of these pincer-grips, the tip of your finger and thumb (the fleshy fingerprint part) will
stabilize the side-axis of the dice. Upon release, the tip of your outside fingers (thumb
and little finger) can transition into a fingernail release only, if necessary. Therefore, your nails will work against you if
they are too long. If your fingernails are
long, you may find that one of them is clipping or tripping a die as it leaves your hand. One More Reminder Be sure that both
dice are always square with each other. If one die is slightly off when it hits the table,
it will flip and roll to the opposite side that first touched the table. In addition, with the exception of
opposite corner shooting, youll want the dice to be square
to the back-wall at all times. If you draw an
imaginary line from your release point to your target area, then extend that line to the
back-wall of the table; it should be straight. If
that imaginary line isnt at a near-as-perfect 90-degree angle to the wall, then that
may be a major cause for some of your off-axis problems. Final Words on Pincer-Grips Thats my take on the various
pincer-grips that are in my repertoire. Of
course there are other variations and permutations, but the ones that I have presented
here gives me the most consistent on-axis, primary-face (results the same as I initially
set them) performance
and after all, that is what Precision-Shooting is all about. Good Luck
& Good Skill at the Tables
and in Life. Sincerely, The Mad
Professor
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