Opportunity is Right in Front Of You…

…and Right Beside You, and Across From You, and Also Right Behind You… 

I received a considerable amount of e-mail over the past six months regarding the The Fremont Hot-Table Method.  Beyond the kind words and kudos about this method that is at once SO SIMPLE, yet SO EFFECTIVE in finding and exploiting HOT tables; there was the recurring question about whether there is a similar method that a savvy player could employ at tables that don’t have those electronic roll-counters (which keep track of how many rolls the current shooter has thrown).

Happily, there is.

A Sideways Glance

Let’s say that you are standing at the outside middle table in a six-table pit where there are two sets of three tables lined up adjacent to each other.   While you may not be able to use the mirrors on the neighboring tables to see how many rolls have been thrown by a particular player (by way of those electronic roll-counters); you can still take a glance at the tables to your left and right, to see how much money is on the layout.  You can also do the same thing for the table that is across from you by way of those aforementioned table-mirrors.

At places like Gaughan’s Plaza or Casino Royale, you can use the angled surveillance mirrors on the ceiling to get an overhead view of what is happening at adjacent tables too.

Depending on your line-of-sight, whether you look across to another table or sideways to the ones nearest you, you’ll want to pay particular attention to the stacks of chips on the Place-bet numbers and the Hardways, and then to a lesser extent to the yellow-colored one-roll Prop-bet areas.  That way, you can do a fairly accurate appraisal as to how good or how bad a particular table is doing. 

Obviously you have to use common sense in judging the relative merits of leaving your current position to check out the action at another table, but if you see an increasing height of chip stacks or bigger denominations of cheques (chips) on the Place-numbers, then obviously it bears further watching, if not IMMEDIATE action.

Hot Hands Don’t Last Forever, But Opportunities Abound

While there is no guarantee that a hot roll will continue once it has started; people often stand there doing nothing and betting nothing as a hot-hand continues to burn.  Some players get paralyzed by the fear that “it can’t possibly continue for much longer, so I won’t even try to bet on it now”, only to end up shaking their head in disbelief as it just goes on and on and on for seemingly interminable minutes, and the dice continue to smolder on roll after roll.

The savvy gambler will tell you that hot rolls don’t come along very often, so when they do, you should bet into them; because it won’t be around forever, and it probably won’t come around again for awhile. 

If you can monitor two or three or four or even five tables, plus the one you are currently at; then you can effectively INCREASE your chances of being able to get into a hot hand BEFORE everyone else in the casino clues into it.  By that time, it is too late since all of the open spots at the hot table will be taken, and you are only able to stand by haplessly at your current spot to watch the world and your potential profit pass on by.  Instead, this passive observation method opens your eyes, and increases your opportunities.

Actively monitoring and observing what is happening at several tables at a time, will increase the likelihood that you’ll be PART of the action and not just an envious observer.

What to Look For…and How to UNDERSTAND What You’re Seeing 

For those seeking hot or at least warm-trending tables; if you see multiple higher-denomination bets on several of the Place-bet boxes, not just from one player, but from three or four at each end, and their stacks are higher than normal; well that’s a good indication that things are heating up. 

Similarly, if one or more of the Hardways numbers is covered with so many chips that the felt underneath it is barely visible, then it could be an indicator of good things that have been happening, and may continue to happen right now.

To a lesser extent, if you see piles of chips in the Horn area of the Prop-box; then it could indicate that the Props are flying, but be forewarned; the success on the Props is usually a VERY fleeting thing.  Two or three Horn-hits can bring a flurry of bets from players who are already at that table, but in most cases, by the time you get there, the opportunities for a lightning-strike on the Props may be LONG gone.

Again, what we are looking for is indicators of a hot repeating-number table.  A long hand filled with multiple repeating Box-numbers may give a good indication of a better, more sustainable, less risky betting opportunity than one or two Horn-numbers in a row.

Conversely, if you look over at another layout and you see a table full of players, yet there are only one or two PL-bets; then it may indicate that a Darkside-betting opportunity is in the offing.

Likewise, when you see a table where a steady stream of players are drifting away; then a DP/DC betting-prospect may also be presenting itself. 

The opportunities are out there.  You just have to see them, and then know what to do with them to exploit their profit potential.

Open Your Eyes and Expand Your Opportunities

To notice something that is “out of the ordinary” at another table, you first have to recognize what IS ordinary. 

The more you play, and the more you observe how other players bet (WHAT they bet on, and HOW MUCH they bet), the more you’ll be able to recognize when a number of them start deviating from their usual patterns.  If you see guys who normally bet a $6 Six and Eight suddenly wager one or more green chips ($25+) in action on a wider range of the Place-numbers; then SOMETHING IS UP, and a profit opportunity is in the offing. 

Yes, you can stand there at your current table and continue to watch the world (and the profit) go right on by; or you can do something about it.  Are you there to win or just pass the time?

Find the HOT Tables, and I’ll SHOW You the Money

In previous articles in this series, I briefly discussed the method that a handful of knowledgeable players use to look for and exploit hot tables in downtown Las Vegas. 

I want to share a closer look at exactly what it is they do, and how they do it, and why they end most of their days and nearly every one of their weeks on the positive side of the profit-ledger.

There are 40 tables under or near the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas.  For a review of those tables, check out my Keep Your Volcano and Pass the Dice series. 

There are a number of full-time gamblers who make it their business to cruise from casino to casino, STRICTLY looking for a hot table.  They have the patience, the money and the stamina to walk, wait and then pounce when they see an opportunity.

Let’s revisit how these Hot-Table guys do it:

• A number of them belong to an informal cellphone network of players.
• If one guy sees a good hand developing, he’ll get on the phone and alert a couple of his buddies.  They in turn, each call a few others on the list. 
• Soon thereafter, a horde of their buddies come a runnin’ with handfuls of ready-to-bet cash.
• If one of the guys gets into an open spot on the hot table, but no other places are available when the rest of the posse arrives; then they’ll simply have the active player piggy-back their bets on his wagers that are already in action.
• Since all of the Downtown LV casinos are so close together, they are quick and easy to pop into and out of.  
• If nothing is happening at the Horseshoe, they can cross the mall to check out the Golden Nugget or Four Queens.  If nothing is happening at Main Street Station, they’ll take a few steps over to The California or Gaughan’s Plaza. 
• With the casinos so close together, it makes “shopping” for hot tables much more convenient, especially when you have 40 of them to choose from.
• To get from the Las Vegas Club to Golden Gate Casino is about 45 FEET.  Compare that to going from the craps tables at Caesars Roman Forum Casino to the ones at its next-door neighbor Mirage, where the trip might take as long as 45 MINUTES.
• Cruising for HOT tables is as valid of a way to jump on the profit-wagon as any other NON-Precision-Shooting method, and these full-time gamblers make it their business to cruise from casino to casino looking solely for HOT tables, and hot tables ONLY. 
• These guys are savvy players who understand that the game is SO streaky that if you can catch the good streaks, and ignore all of the other ones; then you can make relatively large and predictable amounts of money nearly every single day of the year.

To a lesser degree, you can probably do the same thing too.  

You can walk from casino to casino while actively looking for a hot table.  No, you don’t have to be part of a wireless player “network”, and you won’t always find one in every casino that you walk into.  The fact is, you may have to hit several of them before you happen upon one that truly qualifies as a good opportunity, and that’s just fine; because with this approach, you only want to venture your hard-earned money on the hottest games in town.  

Remember, we are in a casino to WIN, not merely to gamble.

More Ways to Seek The Intensity of a HOT Roll

Let me share three more ways to find MORE hot tables, MORE often.

Stake-Out

A favored technique of patient players is to stake a place near a busy, multi-table craps pit in one of the mega-casinos.  It doesn’t matter whether you are in Atlantic City, Tunica, Biloxi, Las Vegas, Tahoe or Mashantucket; large casinos with many tables offer up plenty of multi-layout hunting opportunities. 

The patient player simply has to watch all of the action at the various tables, and wait until they see a discernable warm-trend start to develop into something that indicates an even higher temperature is in the offing.  That will “trigger” their betting action, or at least bring them to that particular table for a much closer look.

A Variation on the Fremont Method

As I mentioned in my The Fremont Hot-Table Method article, you can use the electronic roll-counter to watch and track numerous games at the same time.  I can also recommend a slight variation to it, where you keep an eye on other “proven” or previously qualified players, and track how they are doing during each of their current hands. 

I’ll tell you right now, that tracking other Precision-Shooters can be much more profitable than any other table-tracking or table-trending method, bar none! 

To a lesser degree, some random-rollers unintentionally fall into the “rhythm-roller” category (which we explored in my The Sweetest Roller This Side of Heaven article).   This too can present profit prospects that shouldn’t be ignored, but also SHOULD NOT be acted upon UNLESS and UNTIL they are squarely into a confirmable hot roll.   Always ask yourself, “Is he bet-worthy?”

Where’s The Dump Truck?

A question that you’ll often hear one hot-table seeker asking another like-minded player is, “Where’s the Dump Truck?”   That’s a simple inquiry about whether any particular tables or casinos are “dumping” (losing a lot of money to players).  Yes, there are savvy gamblers who actively seek them out.  I’m not a big advocate of this particular method, but some people swear that they can latch onto a table that just seems to keep losing and losing (for the casino), and just seems to stay warm enough to make a steady profit for days or even weeks at a time.

More Casinos + More Tables = More Opportunities

If most of your play is centered around one casino, then your prospects for some of the above-noted ideas may be limited, but not altogether invalid. 

A player who has to travel for a couple of hours to reach a gaming jurisdiction where there is only one casino and perhaps only one or two open tables; has much less choice than a player in one of the markets I mentioned above.  If on the other hand, that single casino has nearly two dozen open tables like Foxwoods; then it is a whole ‘nuther ball of wax.

The point is; multiple open tables give you more exposure to the wild swings and fluctuations that are inherent in the game.  The extreme outer-edges of that spectrum is where the most money can be made.   They are the bread-and-butter of Trend-Spotters. 

More tables simply means that you’ll see more Hot hands and more Cold hands, over the normal course of a day. 

It also means that you will see a whole lot more of the business-as-usual choppy conditions that are the middle ground, no-mans-land that is the bane of most players.  You’ll spend a lot of time just watching and waiting for a bettable streak to appear.  The more tables that you can observe at one time; the better your chances will be of finding and betting on those extreme fluctuations.

Of course, you have to be attuned to what is happening at as many of the other tables as possible to really see the big picture, and for you to be able to take advantage of the warm, hot, cool, or cold trends when they come along.   

Knowing that exploitable streaks and trends are happening, means NOTHING if you don’t know how to take maximum advantage of them.

Thhhaaatttsss All Folks…

This wraps up our current Streaks, Trends & Opportunities series, but we’re definitely not done with looking at ways to exploit them. In the near future, we’ll be exploring a few new ways to wring more profit and less risk out of each streak and every significant trend that comes along.  Until then,

Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables…and in Life.

Sincerely,

The Mad Professor