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Making Adjustments
in Craps
and in Life An elderly woman
goes to the doctor and asks for his help to revive her husband's sex drive. "What about
trying Viagra?" asks the doctor. "Not a chance" says Mrs. Murphy. "He
won't even take an aspirin for a headache." "No problem," replies the
doctor. "Drop it into his coffee, he won't even taste it. Try it and come back in a
week to let me know how you got on."
A week later Mrs.
Murphy returns to the doctor and he inquires as to how things went. "Oh it was
terrible, just terrible doctor." "What
happened? asks the doctor. "Well I did as you advised and slipped it in his
coffee. The effect was immediate. He jumped straight up, swept everything off the table,
at the same time ripped my clothes off and then proceeded to make passionate love to me
right there on the tabletop. It was terrible." What
was terrible?" said the doctor, "wasn't the sex good?" "Oh yes doctor, the sex was the best I've had
in 25 years, but I'll never be able to show my face at that craps table again!" Just pick up
the damn dice and chuck 'em! said a player on the opposite end of the table. So continued a hand
at the Caesars Palace a while back. My
prompter was on the Don't Pass line, and had just lost six Come-Out rolls in a row. His negative exhortation was enough to make me
spend an extra second setting the dice, and then an extra ten seconds looking directly and
unflinchingly at him before I unleashed another Come-Out roll "Winner-7". He shook his head and put his last remaining chips
on the Don't Pass again. This time he yelled,
"I dare you to throw another seven." I
set and tossed, threw a 7, and said with a laugh, "I double-dog dare you to dig deep
in your pocket and bet against me again!" Child-like taunts
aside; the craps table can be a study of humanity in a microcosm. All walks of life can be found at a craps table. Some will cheer you; others will jeer you. I have one
suggestion if you are thin-skinned: dont let anyone bully you into playing to their
own method, rhyme or reason, unless it is the same as yours.
The craps table is
the ultimate democratic process
you get to vote with your DOLLARS! Some craps table
layouts are soft and padded, and look comfortable enough to make love on, while some are
as smooth and hard as a bowling alley. Different
casinos have different base materials and adhesives, felt types, table sizes in numerous
lengths, rail-heights, deck-heights, and occasionally under-lays to name just a few
physical variables.
What is a
Precision-Shooter to do? Ive mentioned
previously that you can play at the Four Queens in Vegas on a high padded rail,
thread-bare layout, with fresh "white-powder" dice that are sharp enough you
could shave with them. Then you could go to
the Las Vegas Club where they have a fantastic padded underlay, that looks as comfortable
to sleep on as it does to play on. You could
then venture across to Golden Gate and play at one of their land-barge-sized 24-player
tables and feel the surface that is smoother than waxed-paper. Or maybe you'd enjoy the Plaza, where at the end
of the shift, the dice look more like a well-chewed Jolly Rancher candy than a
precisely-machined block of high-density cellulose. For the
Precision-Shooter, each table demands that adjustments be made. Each table has its own unique
"sweet-spot", and has to be handled slightly differently. In a way, the tables are similar to women. Each one has her own wants, needs, requirements,
desires and demands. Each one responds
differently to various stimuli. We adjust, we
improvise, and we overcome. Just like the
Marines, the Precision-Shooter has his objective, and is not easily deterred. For me, each table
seems to have a distinct sweet spot that faithfully rewards a consistent throw. If every table is different, then how do I keep
track of the particular sweet spots at every table at each casino in all the
various gaming jurisdictions and destinations that I play on? Im glad that
you asked. I used to keep a
small notepad where I would roughly sketch the dice-pit layout at each casino. I would number every table, then make
corresponding notes for each one. For
example, Table #3 in Caesars Olympic Casino would show that the sweet spot was just below
the Dont Come box, while the #2 table had a spot located between the letters
PA and SS on the Pass Line. In
most cases, the target area is the size of a pack of cigarettes, sometimes larger, and
often smaller. Before starting play, I would
look in my little pad to determine where my target area was. I progressed to
using a computer-tablet-type device with its own pen-type stylus for drawing and
electronic note-taking. I now use a Palm
Pilot-type device which is small, lightweight and powerful, and fully compatible with my
laptop computer. Why go to all this
trouble? Theres only one
reason: M O N E Y !
The casino HAS it, and I WANT it! I don't guarantee
that I will throw the dice perfectly EVERY time even when I track the sweet spots, but
here's something to consider: My average hand up to mid-March of this year had
progressed to 24 throws over last years average of 18 rolls. My Caribbean adventure that started at that point
and continued over the next eight weeks, improved my average to just under 28 rolls per
hand. Even the biggest idiot at
the table should be able to make money off of that kind of roll, and if they don't, it's
not my fault. They should go bark at cars and
sniff bicycle seats instead. Sometimes I will
have an "off" session where I just can't find my rhythm or settle on a spot. Instead of trying to prove to myself that I'm made
of cryptonite, I'll take a break and regroup. If
I'm tired, or irritated or unfocused, I don't play. I
won't play unless I feel fresh, relaxed, energized and focused. Dice differ among
vendors and most casinos switch brands regularly. The edges on fresh dice start sharp and
become rounded during play. The cloth on the table and the bumps on the walls gradually
degrade. Bettors stack chips all over the place; some droop their paws down over the rail. If you dont think that this has an effect,
just think of the times when a Precision-Shooter is on a hot roll and the dice hit a stack
of chips only to reveal the seven. With
random-rollers, the dice should show once every six rolls, when I shoot, I am generally
surprised when the seven actually shows up to end a hand.
Yes, it is inevitable; but no, I wasnt expecting it just yet. Obviously, my betting has to take advantage of
the fact that I never know when the hand will end. But
as my shooting improves, I want to take ever increasing advantage of that skill, and my
betting method has to keep pace with those improvements. When I am starting
a hand at a new unknown table, or a recently re-modeled one, I try one of my
four normal target areas. If and when a target produces cash, I
try to wring as much consistency out of that spot as possible. If those dont generate profit, then
Ill try three other alternative spots. If
success eludes me at that table, I will move on to greener pastures and more profitable
green felt. There havent been many
tables where I couldnt gain an edge, but there have been a few. Rather than trying to conquer EVERY table, I find
myself gravitating to tables where I have found the sweetest spots. So for the
full-time player, finding those sweet spots can greatly contribute to overall revenue
production. One last thought
about that hand at Caesars Palace; I'd had a fairly good roll with 31 tosses after my
spate of Come-Out winners, and I made some decent money.
My final roll that sevened-out was a little short, and barely made it to the
back wall. One player who had been
relentlessly pressing up his place bets chided, "Who taught you how to shoot craps?
Everyone knows setting those crossed-sixes on the dice is a loser. And next time hit the wall buddy! That got me to
thinking. With all these electronics at my
disposal, maybe I should start making adjustments for idiots! Good Luck & Good
Skill at the Tables
and in Life. By: The Mad Professor
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