A Roundtable Discussion
More on this topic – Energy Influences
Billy:
This is Heavy’s territory. He can come up with more superstitions than a bayou fortune teller on Halloween at midnight on a full moon.
Superstitions become superstitions because players remember what happened right before the bad thing happened. Stick change 10 times and nothing happens but have the seven show on the eleventh change and you will hear” damn stick change happens every time”
What I thought I would do is write about why they become superstitions and whether they are grounded in truth.
I categorize superstitions in three ways.
The first group are the ones that affect the shooter directly. Some of these are; cocktail waitress bothering the shooter, wife or husband asking the shooter a question, player squeezing into the game next to the shooter, boxman giving the shooter a comp while shooting. In other words, anything that distracts the shooter. All of these occurrences are situations in which the shooter is likely to move their feet or change their position at the table, even slightly. I believe that when the shooter moves his feet or changes the spot or the way they are standing that the next roll is likely to be different in some way. If it is different and that difference is the appearance of the seven then this is why some people will developed the “superstition” that whatever happened “brings the devil”. When reality says that the roll was changed because of the feet or body moved and changed the angle of the toss. I believe these things occur and are not superstitions per se but actual reactions to the movement of the shooter.
Number two are the things that work on the shooters brain. Some of them are, throwing two crap numbers, having the box tell the shooter to hit the back wall or slow down the throw, Frustration in not throwing the number the he wants (after eleven comes seven), else instances even more “superstitious” is that maybe on the no roll call in the rail or on the chips the dice will show seven. When these things happen I think that it’s human nature for the shooter to think that something is wrong with the last toss, too hard or too soft and they will change the next toss. The next toss is different, maybe its seven! I think of these happenings as shooter brain farts, The shooter through their own actions, changes the toss on purpose, often with negative results.
The last group are things that happen that could be put into either of the other two categories. These include tossing hardways ,or prop bet numbers, stick changes, player buying, shooter drops one die, pretty much anything that makes the shooter wait to get the dice back or changes their routine. If the seven shows what happened? Did the routine change? Did the new stick give the dice to this shooter in a spot that made them reach for them? In this kind of happening the rhythm changed, did the shooter get antsy or change the position of his feet or what.
How do these things become superstitions? Are they cosmic reactions to the forces of the dice being disrupted, or are they things that happen everyday in every casino that somehow change the next toss of the dice?
My policy is it’s unlucky to be superstitious! But beware of what the shooter is doing especially if the shooter is YOU! If the call isn’t seven then it was a good toss, don’t change the set or the speed or the spot.
Roadrunner:
Some of the superstitions I have observed are:
1. Dealer change
2. New money in the game
3. Dice off the table
4. Dice returned on a seven
5. Seven comes after ace-deuce
6. Seven comes after eleven
7. Payoff squabble between player and dealer/box person
8. Whistling at the table brings the evil one.
Have I called my bets off after any of the above occurred? The answer is yes, but I don’t think that the reason I called them off was because of the event. The reason was the break in the stability or rhythm of the table. The Professor covers this topic a lot.
I have observed that whenever there is something to disturb the flow of the table, the event disrupts the concentration of the shooter. If concentration is broken undesired outcomes tend to occur.
Porkchop:
My personal superstitions have already been touched with previous posts – but just for data details here they are:
1. People crowding into the table next to me and physically bothering/moving me to a different position. This obviously effects the throw dynamics and, (as was also detailed elsewhere – I don’t remember the times when this happens and my next roll is golden, (i.e. – non DEVIL)), however, it seems that I ALWAYS remember rolling the DEVIL after every time this occurs.
2. I also have had significant problems with some ass who invariably is betting $6 six OR eight, (NOT BOTH AS THAT WOULD COMMIT TO MUCH MONEY TO THIS NEGATIVE EXPECTATION GAME – (that’s what these “wonderful” people think)), who after a winning roll of six or eight, (whichever one he DID NOT have $$$ on), make a BIG deal to the stick that “Hey – you didn’t pay me my bet – I deserve to get paid for winning” – even when the stick tells them that they had no bet “Sir – YOU HAD NO BET” – they insist – “Get the pit boss – look at the tape – you can’t cheat me – ya-da, ya-da, ya-da” – in the meantime my $240 EACH 6/8 are crying out to me – “Please Porkchop – roll us – we WANT to pay you more and more” – alas this rinky dink turkey even turns down my offer to pay him $50 to shut up and let me roll, then by the time I finally get the dice – I, (and everyone else with ANY brains – pull every bet we can OFF), complete the roll with the expected result – THE FREAKING DEVIL
3. IF JUDGES WERE ALL POWER CRAPS SHOOTERS – THEY WOULD COMPLETELY DISMISS ALL CHARGES BROUGHT FROM BEATING THE HOLY HELL OUT OF THESE DING DONGS.
Heavy:
I call these superstitions. Some of them are – but others relate to incidents that break the shooter’s rhythm. All of these are pre-cursors to the seven.
1. Dice off the table
2. Dice in the wood
3. Shooter having to move
4. Shooter varying his set/routing
5. Anyone talking to shooter (wife, girlfriend, cocktail server)
6. Delay in getting dice to shooter
7. Dice passed to shooter with seven showing
8. Shooter balks – sets the dice down and places an additional bet before throwing the dice
9. Shooter hears the word “seven” called from an adjacent table or a player at the table
10. Shooter throws a hard ten, and eleven, or a twelve.
11. Stick change
12. Box changes the dice
13. Stick or box gives instructions to shooter on how to throw (hit back wall, etc)
14. New money on the table
15. Dice hit players or dealers hands
16. Dice hit the money and roll funny
Some additional observations:
1. Any bet called off will immediately lose when called back on.
2. Anyone wearing new overalls is a good shooter. New overalls with a white dress shirt – great shooter. New overalls, white dress shirt and a straw fedora – awesome shooter.
3. Female first-time shooters will have great rolls.
4. Male first-time shooters will have terrible rolls.
Dice Doctor:
Not really a superstition but whenever the 9 shows a horn number will follow and they follow in clumps. I did not believe this until I stood next to a guy on two separate occasions and watched him hit 80% of those bets. He claims an old box man taught him this years ago. Amazing how often it occurs.
