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How
Do You Do It? A
reader who also frequently corresponds with me by e-mail, asked, How do you do
it? When
I first saw the question, I thought that he was talking about Precision-Shooting. As I read, I realized that he was asking something
entirely different. He wanted to know how I
got used to the grind of playing everyday and then asked, doesnt
all of the travel and restaurant meals make you feel like a traveling salesman? He went on at ask, I know how you keep your
table-play organized, but how do you keep all of your travels organized, and how do you
keep from burning-out? Thats
a good set of questions. The
short answer is, no, I dont feel that craps play is a grind, and, no, I dont
feel like a traveling salesman. To stay
organized and prevent burn-out, I frequently bring my girlfriend. Shes a cool drink of water, if ever there
was one! First
of all, there is nothing wrong with being a traveling salesman. I think its a noble profession. The fact that I wouldnt want to do it, does
not take away anything from the achievements of the most accomplished professionals who
chose it as their career. Secondly,
while I do usually play four or five days each week, my total playing time is usually in
the 20 to 30 hour range. That leaves plenty
of time for other pursuits. Almost
all of the cities that we visit have a wide variety of entertainment and a vibrant
nightlife. We enjoy all of that, plus a lot
of outdoor physical activities as well. We
work hard in the casino to earn a decent living. We
eat well because I think that is one of the joys of life.
We play hard to keep in shape, as well as actually enjoying the activities. At
the same time, we also know how to relax well. Spas,
pools and general lounging is also part of our regimen.
Im not embarrassed to say that we often spend an entire afternoon in
bed, enjoying each others company. I have a
fine lady, and I am pleased to spend a lot of intimate quality time with her. Thirdly,
the time that we do consume in the casino is well spent.
While it is true that I like to play in off-hours to afford a
higher amount of personal shooting-time, it doesnt always work out that way. We have adopted certain methods that permit us to
stay in the game while other random-rollers have the dice. It doesnt work all of the time. In fact, random-rollers who have hot hands
contribute less than 5% to my overall income. Thats
an incredibly low number, and it shows that if you only avail yourself to the vagaries and
randomness of the dice; then you will have a very difficult time making any money at this
game. That truly exemplifies that it really
is a negative-expectation game. On
the other hand, I keep a keen eye out for other Precision-Shooters or rhythmic-rollers or
sharpshooters who seem to know exactly what they are doing. They contribute about 20% to my overall income. An
interesting side-note here, is that a lot of rhythmic-rollers dont take advantage of
their own signature-numbers. Why? Well,
sometimes those particular numbers are not Place numbers.
Instead, they are the higher-vig, but higher-paying Prop numbers. While they may get upset that they throw a lot of
crap numbers without repeating their Point; an astute observer can make a bundle off of
those shooting traits. Does it work all of
the time? Of course not, where do you think
we are
in a casino or something?! Rather, it is that ability to discern trends and patterns WHILE something is happening instead of
figuring out what occurred AFTER it has
happened that will make a big difference in your game. That
last paragraph is an important one. You may
benefit from reading it again. When
you live with this game long enough, and you are open-minded enough, you get to understand
the ebb and flow of the numbers at a much higher level than a regular bettor. In an upcoming article entitled Raising Your Conscientiousness And Fattening Your
Wallet, Ill explore that subject in detail. To
stay organized and prevent burn-out, I frequently bring my girlfriend. While I keep track of each and every table that I
play on, she keeps track of our favorite restaurants, new places to try out, she updates
our travel plans and deals with a number of Casino Hosts on my behalf to make
hotel/dinner/show arrangements. She generally
keeps me happy, content and satisfied. Believe
me when I tell you that keeping me happy, content and satisfied is a much more difficult
task than it would appear. While Im not
high-maintenance, I do require a fair amount of focus time, and I
do like certain things to be handled in a certain ways.
If that makes me demanding, then make it so.
But I also think that it helps to keep things on an even-keel. And
that, my friend, is How I Do It. Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in
Life. The Mad Professor
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