Something New in Shreveport

Next toss - seven out. I counted up, found myself something like $84 ahead, threw out $4 for the boys and girls and headed for the cage with an $80 win. Time in and out of the casino - twenty minutes. Back to the room to freshen up before dinner - reservations over at Jack's place for seven PM.

Halloween Session II

I rounded the family up and headed over to the Horseshoe for dinner at the Four Winds, compliments of Jack. Luck was with us as we found parking near the elevator. We were ten minutes early, but were seated immediately. This was our first time to eat at Four Winds – we normally do Jack’s Steak House – but the black belt daughter is a Chinese food junkie (she packs her own chopsticks in her purse) so we decided to give her a treat.

Based on Black Cloud’s recommendation I ordered a cup of the wonton soup. The rest of the crew did the hot and sour. Both were excellent. Since everyone wanted something different, we ordered four different dinners – then sampled of each other’s plates. Sweet and Sour Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Lemon Chicken, and a half chicken – deep fried. We’re not much into pork so we opted for the yard bird. Later we finished with fried bananas and mango ice cream. When the check was totaled we came in around twenty cents under our $100 comp. Looking over the check I noticed the waitress had left the desserts off the ticket. Intentional, no doubt, to keep us under the limit. I tipped her $25 for the service & bonus food.

We were back at Harrah’s by 8:30, and by 9:00 I was on the casino floor. There were two tables open – one $5 game and one $10. The $5 table was very crowded, and a couple of my favorite dealers were working the $10 game, so I bought in at the tenner. Mistake. Down $70 on the first three shooter. Three in a row and it’s time to go.

I spotted my friends Pat and Phil from Texarkana over at the $5 game, moved over and asked if I could squeeze in. Phil was shooting, having a relatively good roll, which continued for half a dozen more tosses. Pat let the dice pass – she never shoots when Phil shoots – and vice versa. The next two players sevened out in short order. Then the dice passed to a tall, black gentleman who took great care in setting and throwing the dice. This guy held the dice for well over a half hour, scoring many passes. Still playing with a very limited bankroll, though, I stuck with hit, regress, hit, press, hit regress moves – taking money off the table all the time but sticking with smaller bets – bypassing the come out and staying off the line bets. By the time he sevened out I was up around $200 – having recouped my earlier $70 hit. The dice moved quickly around the table after that, with a couple of immediate point-seven folks. Then the dice came to me.

Once again I tried the hardways working move – playing $10 on the line and placing the hard six and eight for a nickel each, working. My first toss was a nine, though. I can’t seem to stay away from that number. I immediately switched to my crossed-sixes set – but since I was shooting from straight out I did not use the stack – I set them up side by side. I immediately repeated on the nine.

I left the hardways working again, but added a $5 world bet to the mix this time – using the 1-6/1-6 hard eight set but got off axis and rolled a 3. Collected $11 on the world – replaced the line bet for a $1 gain, then tossed it again. This time I established a point of ten – the ten rolled hard and I didn’t have it. I played $10 odds behind the line bet, threw out a two-way hard ten bet plus $34 inside – high on the six and eight. I set the dice to the mini-V – hard four – one of the best sets for fours and tens – and proceeded to throw four consecutive eights. Then I started hitting fives, sixes and eights over and over. After twenty or so rolls of the dice the ten showed – hard. Dealers were eight and down. I pressed mine to a nickel and locked up three bucks, plus $30 for the line bet and odds. My chip rack was full of reds so I decided to start doing a $25 for 11 move should the roll continue much further – again, with the limited bankroll I kept my bets small, never getting above 3 units on anything.

I made a total of six passes before this shoot was over, holding the dice for 45 minutes plus. Eventually, I got tired of shooting. When I get into a groove like that I get my right foot firmly planted in a spot and don’t move it until the roll is over. But toward the end a cute little honey tried to squeeze in between Phil and I to buy in. Phil sent her packing and she moved behind me to squeeze in between me and the next player. He told her he’d let her in – but only if she promised not to crowd the shooter. Within two minutes she had those lumps in her shirt pressed against my back, though, and it was all over. My concentration broke and I moved over to give her a little room. Seven out. Line away. Think I’ll take a break from the action.

I colored up a $500 win – could have been triple that with more bankroll and more aggressive pressing – but conservative play is the way to go. Pat and Phil elected to go to dinner. I eased over to the roulette pit to chart the wheel for awhile and visit with a couple of pit friends. But no trends developed at the wheel and by the time I felt like getting back into the craps game the table had been boosted to $10, and the $10 game had gone to $15. It was just after midnight Halloween night. The witching hour.

I headed up to the room for a shower and six hours sleep.

Session III

I woke up Thursday morning with a sore throat and an improved bankroll.  Brush, gargle, spit.  Advise the crew I’m headed down to the tables, to be ready for breakfast in an hour.  

Linda – one of my favorite morning crew dealers – was right of box at a five dollar game.   I stepped up and bought in for three hundred, prepared to chart the shooters on the other end of the table.  Surprise.  Every one on the north end passed the dice.  Looks like I’m the shooter.  I tried the hardways working thing again, with five bucks on all the hards, a $20 line bet and a three-way craps.  Set them to 1-6/1-6 with the hard eight up and lobbed an eight – easy.  That cost me a quick eight bucks. 

I played $20 odds behind the line, replaced the hardway, bet $48 inside (3 units on the 5, 6, and 9) and set the dice to the flying V hard six.  Next roll – 5 and a $21 payoff.  I regressed the five and nine to five each – and made the six look like $12.  Next roll – eleven.  Next roll – ten easy.  I tossed a buck to the stick and told her to make my hardways look like four each.  Next roll – seven out.  I checked my rack.  Down $70 for the play.  There went most of yesterday’s first hit-and-run session profit. 

I bypassed the come out roll on the next shooter, who promptly threw a nine – my point last hand.  I remember telling Linda to remind me next time to hop the point back after seven outs.  Then I bet $51 inside – no nine – hoping again for a hit and regress opportunity.  Next roll – four.  Next roll – 3 craps.  Next roll – seven out.  Down $121 for two hands – and dangerously near my $150 loss limit.

Again I bypassed the come out roll – losing $2 on my hop nines play – no it still didn’t roll – and following that with $66 inside on a point of  ten.  Next roll – twelve.  Next roll – ten hard.  Point made. 

I got on the pass line for $5 and added a $5 world bet for grins.  Shooter rolled the eleven and I won twice.  I pressed the world to $10.  Come out roll – six.  I came down on the place six action and placed $15 odds behind the line.  Next roll – seven out.  Down $184.  Three in a row and it’s time to go.  Color me the hell up!

Back to the room to round up the family, then down to Pepper Rose for breakfast.  This was a minor problem since the host had written my breakfast comp for the buffet – which isn’t open for breakfast on weekdays.  Hmmmm.  Anyway, the hostess at Pepper Rose ran the comp ticket over to VIP to get it changed while we ordered.   Pecan waffles, eggs Benedict, ham and cheese omelets and a bowl of bananas and cream.  The food was good and the service fair. 

After breakfast, we decided to stay a second night if I could arrange an extension of the comp.   Back in the room I called VIP and was told it would be no problem.  Well, there was one problem.  We’d packed clothes for one night.  The additional night meant … you guessed it … the wife and daughters had to go shopping. 

So much for the rest of my winnings from day one.

This is why I prefer to take these trips alone.

We re-stocked the suitcases at Dillards, then headed back to the room.  We were taking the kids to the state fair at five o’clock, so I had around three hours to kill at the tables.  I walked downstairs only to find both tables operating at the $10 level.  Harrah’s is really missing the ball on this – as  it’s less than a 100 yard walk over to Hollywood – where there were three five dollar games open.  I decided to play downstairs because those tables are about two feet shorter than the ones on second level.  Started out straight out – and had one fair shoot from that end, scoring two passes over twenty or so tosses of the dice.  Then the spot next to stick opened and I moved over. 

The session quickly warmed up.  The kid standing next to me – a college student with a miniscule bankroll and enough knowledge of the game to be dangerous – got hung up throwing fives and nines.  He tossed the dice for maybe twenty minutes and the five and nine must have rolled twenty times.  Both of us were playing small, though – as I tried to protect what was left of my earlier wins.  Finally, after making two passes, he sevened out and the dice came to me. 

I quickly settled into the groove – reverting to the crossed sixes set on the come out – and modifying my “up” number based on the point.   For a point of six or eight I kept the five-three facing up.  For a point of five or nine I kept the five-four up.  Over the next half hour I made four passes – starting with $5 line bets with double odds plus $16 or $17 inside – going with the “same bet” until all of my action was “paid for” – then single unit pressing up to the four unit level before regressing – doing multiple regressions on each series.  By the time I sevened out I had recouperated all of the mornings losses plus another $200 or so. 

The next player sevened out in short order.  I took a guess that the trend had changed after back-to-back hot shooters, and switched to the don’ts – doing a $10 don’t pass plus 2 $10 don’t come numbers – and winning an additional sixty bucks or so over the next few shooters.  Then we came upon another dice setter.  I was already up on the DP before I noticed his set.  His point was five.  He was a stacker, with the 6/3 facing up and the 5/6 YO facing down table.  Thrown as he was stacking it, it was on the same axis as the mini-V hard four set.  Turned on it’s side – as he did from time to time – it became the side-by-side sixes/hardway set – which is seven intensive. 

I watched his throwing for a minute or two before getting up on any more action.  After he repeated the nine for the third time I placed thirty-four inside, and regressed to $17 in on the next hit.  One more hit on an inside number and I was in fat city.  Even leaving if I got knocked off the $10 don’t – I had a profit made for the shooter.

And getting knocked off the don’t is exactly what happened.  No problem.  I followed the trend and got on the line with him.  He throws . . . another nine.  He’s a proven nine shooter with that set of his.  I play $20 odds and start to aggressively press, building my bets up to $85 inside and preparing to regress when the unthinkable happens.  Seven out.  I’d locked up a couple of bucks on each place number hit – so I’d pretty well covered my line bet and odds – but all of the profit for this good shooter got raked. 

The next two shooters went point-seven in short order.  Then it was college boys time to shine again.  Recalling his last action, I hopped the fives and nines for a buck each.  He immediately throws the five, and I’m fifteen and down.   The dealer asked if I was sure I wanted to come down on that.  Absolutely, I said.   Next roll – five repeats and I get an “I told you so.”  Wonder boy gets up on a six next, and proceeds to have another serious roll of twenty minutes plus – scoring three passes in the process.  Still stinging from watching my winnings get raked a few minutes earlier, though, I engaged in very limited press and regress action – sticking with minimum bets until I’d ground out a decent profit once again.  Then it was seven out.

I checked the clock to see if I had time to shoot again.  It was 4:10 – we had to leave for the fair in about 40 minutes.  No problem.  I went right back to the same set I’d used last shoot – throwing to the same sweet spot on the table. This time I got hung up on hardways, fives and sixes.  After throwing my fourth hard six in a half dozen throws I ventured a buck on it, hit it a fifth time, parlayed it, then threw it back easy.  That ironic theory thing in action.  Even so, I had pressed my six up to the thirty dollar level, taking a couple of hits at $35 before regressing everything back down to one unit and starting over.  This time I made three passes before sevening out.  I checked my watch.  4:37.  Almost a half hour shoot. 

Color coming in.  I’d recouped my earlier losses and netted a $300 win – giving me a two-day total win of around $800.  Snagged a comp for the deli to be used the next day – then hooked them back to the hotel.

Session IV

Last night in town, feeling a little more secure with my bankroll, I ventured back to the tables at Harrah’s. There were two open, a $10 game and a $15 game. Neither was crowded. My friend Phil had adjourned to the slots. He’d hit an $1800 payout earlier and there was a local progressive carousel that was nearing it’s regular payout level, so he was working that angle. Pat was standing straight out, so I bought in and asked her for an evaluation of the players.

“Nobody can shoot worth a damn,” she said, pointing to her chips. “Two hundred and eighty left out of a thousand dollar marker.”

Ouch. I should have listened ...

But instead of playing the don’ts I by-passed the come out roll and played a little hit and down – locking up minor wins on the first two shooters before seeing it all wiped out by an immediate point-seven the next shooter. Then the dice came to me. I was standing in the exact same spot as when I’d had the monster roll the night before, but the magic wasn’t there this roll. Sometimes you just can’t break the trend. Three rolls, then seven out. Of course, I'd felt so confident after last night I loaded up my place action. Double ouch.

I decided to change positions and move down next to stick. The trend settled in with P-DP-P-DP-P-DP and the chop continued to erode my bankroll. Then we had a streak of three point-sevens and I decided to switch to the don’ts. At this point I was $30 away from my loss limit. I went with a $10 DP, lay single odds as a hedge to get a $10 DC out, remove the odds then play a second $10 DC. All the chips on the table. Seven out – I doubled my money.

I continued this strategy until I’d picked up $150 or so. Then, on that series, my third DC bet traveled to the four. I was exhausted and ready for bed. Do or die time. I tossed out $100 lay on the four plus a $10 hard four hedge. You guessed it. The four came back – easy.

A classic example of what I refer to as the Ironic Theory. In craps, there are times when, no matter what you do, it is wrong.

That’s enough for tonight boys. Color me up.

Session result: Down $210.

Trip result: Up $590.

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