Of Slumps and Such
  

Cycling up, focused practice, hit the books and articles (JP & MP) it all pays off.

Just got back from Mohegan Sun and my fifth consecutive winning session and seventh out of ten.  I’d been in a bit of a slump; inconsistent results, way too many point seven hands, plummeting bankroll, lost confidence, ugly stuff!  Mostly though, no good stories to tell the Mrs at suppertime. (She loves to hear the goings on at the tables!) Well with the Sept. 20^th seminar fast approaching I had to get out of this rut and get something going. 

So I did what the Irishsetter wrote about: I cycled up!  I started an intense series of really good, focused practice sessions.  No experimentation here! Just plain and simple basics! Revisit the sets, grip, stance, target and delivery method. And while I’m at it, break out JP and cram on betting strategies and bring it all together with the guidance of MP’s latest practicing articles.  And, I’ll be dipped! A turn around!! Hands that only lasted 7 rolls or less have grown into a steady diet in the teens with hands in the twenties and one recent outing that featured a roll count of 45 tosses.

Oddly enough, the transformation back into form started one night after the wife & I went to a concert at Foxwoods.  I had a $25 dollar winning session before hand and then dragged her to the tables with me after the concert.  She had never seen me throw and really didn’t want to be there, thinking she’d bring me bad luck.   So she just hung out behind me and didn’t say a thing! 

There were three or four no passes when the dice came to me!  Well I focused in, trusted the toss and banged out 28 rolls with three passes.  The guys to my immediate right and left did all my PR work for me. One shooter asked the wife, ”Whatever you’re feeding this guy, don’t stop!” We colored up after fifteen minutes +$125 Concert tickets and drinks paid for!!   It was a very pleasurable ride home.

Today I had two sessions at Mohegan Sun.  I had to play in the dark, Casino of the Earth to start with.  All but one of their tables is hard and bouncy.  That’s what I had to play on and to make matters worse, my best shooting position, SR2 was taken, and so I threw from straight out on the north side. 

First throw; using the crossed sixes, which is my most productive set from that distance, I threw a hard four.  Next shot was a 3/1 winner!  Ok, this looks good, then two throws and out! Hmm…  Next go around I changed the target and trajectory and wham, 18 throws with three passes! Color up +$30 which included a nice $50 come back from loses on my previous hand and bad bets on the RR’s.

It’s now 10AM and I’m off to the Casino of the Sky, which has six out of eight very good tables.  I open up on my favorite table of the bunch. Brand new, fresh, razor sharp dice! Yowzer!!  This time I’m at MY spot, SR2. I’m throwing a nice easy lob directly in front of the stick right over the back line of the PL box to a spot about 8” from the back wall where it straightens out from the hook. The dice left my hand feeling very good, but three throws later I’m done without making a pass. “Trust the toss, its no problem!” is what I’m muttering to myself. 

There are four no passes including my own, then a single pass and then two more no passes when I get the dice for my second go at it.  I come out the second time with two 7’s off the straight sixes and then three consecutive eights using the crossed sixes.  I stay with the X 6’s and make the second point of eight about ten throws later.  Third point is a nine.  I’m hitting every number but the nine. 

The dealers are piggybacked on the eight, which I’m hitting about every third roll.  I’ve slowly worked my bets up to $66 inside, with a nickel on the four and ten just for good measure.  On roll number twenty-five I regressed to $22 inside, no action on the 4 & 10.   Five rolls later: THE DEVIL. (I love it when a plan comes together!)  I colored up +$150 and boogie home.

OK so what’s going on?

I think the reason for my slump was a simple matter of getting lazy with my technique!  I got my game to a level where I must have subconsciously felt that I was on autopilot and could do no wrong!!  Well that’s about the time things started to unravel!  So, for me the solution was simple: Vacation is over, chuck the cocky attitude and get my butt back to work!

Everything our craps teachers here on the web have told us has been true.   This game can pay big dividends if you work hard at it.  The Mad Professor says to practice 10 hours for every one hour of casino time.  He’s right on the money, as usual.  So I got back to the practice table in earnest and focused in on the basics and after a number of long, concentrated sessions my missing consistency returned!   Hip, Hip, Hooray!

SO, the moral of this story is to never let your guard down.  The devil awaits you the moment you stop paying attention!  

May the Dice Always Bounce in Your Favor,

Mickey D.

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