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Getting
the Most Out of Your Practice Sessions In
Part I of this article, we talked about how
practicing right instills the right methods,
and practicing wrong just reinforces our
mistakes. We covered a few aspects on the
mechanical-side of our actual in-casino throwing that you may not have factored into your
at-home sessions. We
still have a few areas to cover so that you can get the most out of your practice
sessions. Today,
I want to deal with:
v
Warm-up
exercises
v
You
and your Practice Rig
v
An
Enlightened Exercise
v
What
to do right before you begin to practice
v
Setting
an ideal Practice-to-Play Ratio Warm-up
exercises One
of the ways to warm-up for a practice session is to NOT warm-up at all. In the casino, I dont know of any that will
permit you to have few practice tosses before you throw them for REAL. In
bowling you might be allowed to take a couple of practice shots, and maybe you can do that
before a snooker game, but in the casino, its money on the line before theyll
let you have a go at the cubes. Right from
the get-go, you have money on the line with your first throw. You might want to start your practice session
EXACTLY the same way. In a moment I am going
to give you a method to simulate that situation. Other
Warm-up exercises What
are some of the routines that you go through when you first get to the casino? Do you go to the washroom? If so, please remember to wash your hands. Do it for hygienic reasons, as well as
contributing to your dice-grip consistency. Wash
the insincerities of the world off of your hands. Clean
hands provide throwing consistency. Its
a good habit to get into, plus they wont be so sticky that way. You
can also keep your hands under the warm running water to relax them and loosen up your
finger muscles. You may want to try making a
few very tight fists with both hands, and then totally opening up your hands and fully
extending your fingers. If you get the blood
flowing to the extremities, it will increase dice feel and control. When
you get to the casino property, and you park the car or disembark the shuttle, is it a
fair journey or a long arduous expedition into the craps pit? When you arrive at the table, is your heart-rate
elevated? All of these factor into your first
throw of the dice. At home, you may be
relaxed and feel unhurried. At the casino, do
you feel the same way, or is your heart racing in anticipation? If you dont think that anticipation and
expectation has an effect on your ability to precisely throw the dice; then please think
again! I
also want you to use the pre-playing preparation time to wrap your mind around the fact
that you are going to be throwing the dice very soon.
Try to picture exactly how you would like to see the dice leave your hand. Picture your target area and their landing spot. Picture the outcome. Now you are a little better prepared for your
first throw. You should do this little
exercise both at home and in the casino. If
you mentally picture exactly how you are going to grip the dice, and where you are going
to aim them; you are preparing your mind for success.
Think in terms of how an athlete looks at the apparatus, or target, or goal
before taking a shot or mounting a gymnastic device.
The athlete sets up their mind as well as their body
in a perfect pre-launch position. If
you want consistent profit from this game; then set up
your mind as well as your body in a perfect pre-launch position. To
do less is to set yourself up for less than optimum results. Hey,
if your mind and body set-up is inconsistent; then your Precision-Shooting results will
also be inconsistent. We
want to replace HOPING for success
with PREPARING for success. The
closer your practice sessions replicate the casino experience, the closer your real-world
casino results will reflect your practice sessions. Let
me repeat that. The closer your practice
sessions replicate the casino experience, the closer your real-world casino results will
reflect your practice sessions. Similarly,
the more realistic all of your preparation gets to the real thing; you will find that when
the dice are passed to you in the casino, the less stressful it is. If youve read my article entitled,
Control the Dice, and your NERVES,
you know how eagerness to succeed and performance-anxiety can conspire against any
Precision-Shooting skill that you may have developed at home. By
realistically replicating the casino-experience at home, the more conditioned, accustomed
and acclimatized you will be for the real-thing. It
DOES make a difference, and the results should be readily apparent. You
and Your Practice Rig Let
me touch on this somewhat controversial subject. By now you probably think that I believe
every serious player should have an authentic mini-casino set up right in their basement. That isnt what I think
but then again
its not a bad idea either! Seriously,
while your practice sessions should be as realistic as possible, I know that for most
people, that is just not practical. So
heres my recommendation. Practice on
anything. As your shooting improves, make an
investment in yourself. There are some
excellent articles and how-to plans here on Irishsetters site. They are easy to follow, and they arent
very expensive. If you have to justify the
cost; then think of it in the form of lost wagers. How
much money have you lost on your last ten casino visits?
Take just 10% of that loss-figure, and you probably have the entire cost of a new
practice rig covered. I
can tell you this. With a decent practice
table, you should see at least a 10% to 30% improvement in your shooting within a very
short time. If you dont; then you are
doing something radically wrong. Well
talk about how to diagnose and fix shooting problems later, but for now lets stay on
the practice table subject for a moment longer. The
practice table permits us to:
ü
Learn
how to set the dice in the shortest, most nonchalant way.
ü
Experiment
with different dice-grips.
ü
Select
target areas on the table, and evaluate our sighting-accuracy.
ü
Develop
a NICE, SMOOTH, LOW-ENERGY arm-movement and release.
ü
Determine
how accurate our target-sighting is, and make corrections.
ü
Simulate
casino-betting methods.
ü
Determine
our own Signature Numbers.
ü
Adapt
our betting methods to reflect out current Signature Number trends.
ü
Evaluate
our stamina, breathing-patterns, and our mind-set as our rolls progress through each hand. The
practice table lets us do almost all of the same stuff that we do in the casino, but we
eliminate the bankroll-stress from the equation. That
way, we can concentrate on the physical aspects of our Precision-Shooting. The value that all that free
fine-tuning has is usually realized when we step up to the real-world casino table. The dividend that an at-home rig provides is
priceless. I only wish that I hadnt
waited so long to use one. Thanks to Ms. Mad
Professor, an early Christmas present of a real 14-footer, was exactly what Santa ordered. When Ms. MP was sitting on my lap, that
craps-table-Christmas-present idea was the second thing that
popped up! An
Enlightened Exercise Heres
an exercise that may prove as valuable as it is frustrating. It takes courage to try this. I know that some of you have already used this
approach, and found that it really shines a light on your current abilities. The
practice rig forces our ego to recognize our dice-throwing shortcomings. It is up to us whether we make the necessary
changes to our game-play, or whether we continue our money-losing betting methods in
hope that we will eventually improve. Your
betting-method has to reflect your current Precision-Shooting skill-level, not
the hope that it will improve and catch up with your betting methods and
crazy crapper bets. Heres
what I want you to do. Once
you have your practice rig set, use poker chips or various denomination coins to represent
what your real-world bets would be. You
can bet in real-time as your hand progresses. It
gives you a real feel of what actually happens in the casino when it is your first turn to
shoot the dice. If
you dont have poker chips, you can use everyday coins. Pennies represent $1 chip, while nickels and
quarters represent $5 and $25 chips respectively. Use
them as you would in the casino. The
results should be charted just as you would record them in the casino. Making these kinds of simulated bets has a way of
sharpening your focus. It should give you
plenty of ideas on where your game could be improved. It
does one more thing. If you usually start
each hand with some kind of high-cost, low-probability bet like a hopping Hard-8, or a $25
YO, it has a way of either validating the bet as a good one that has frequent
pay-offs, or it shows itself as a low-hit, profit-eroding superstition
that adds little or no value to your game. If
you dont want to be honest with yourself about either the profitability or
bankruptability of each of your bets; then you are probably shortchanging your
game plan. It also indicates that you are not
really as serious about making a consistent profit off of this game as you think you are. I
try to remove as much of the gamble out of casino gambling as possible. That is what Precision-Shooting is all about. If you want to gamble, Im sure there is a
keno lounge, lottery ticket booth, or endless row of slot machines that would love to suck
the life-blood right out of your bankroll. Precision-Shooting
is NOT about gambling, it is about generating CONSISTENT profit, while minimizing as much
risk as possible. Your practice rig is where
you perfect your craft. In
any event, it is important to start each session with a few money-on-the-line COLD
bets, because that is pretty much how it is in a casino. Start the tossing and see what develops. It is almost exactly what occurs in the casino. The dice come to you, and you have to bet. So throw the dice and see what happens. It is my firm belief that EVERY practice session
should start with this little exercise. Keep
track of the bets, and keep track of the outcomes. Like
I said earlier, this will form the basis for further improvement down the line. Right
Before You Play I
mentioned a while back, that if I only played craps one to three times a year, I could
say, without a doubt, that I would be the worst dicesetting-wanna-be in the entire world.
BAR NONE! With
that small amount of actual in-casino play, my enthusiasm would only be outstripped by my
anxiety to perform well. I know that I would get discouraged if my results didn't
live up to my expectations, and it would be hard for me to even get into the right frame
of mind. If I am away from a table for more than two or three days, it takes several full hands before I am back in a groove. When I first get to a new gaming destination, I dont immediately hit the tables. Instead, I unpack and usually have a bit of a rest. I realize that the eager-juices are flowing to get to the tables, but I have to temper that eagerness with patience and serenity. If my mind is calm, then my nerves are calm. The one thing that I always do before heading down to the casino-floor, is to take a few practice throws across our hotel room bed. If Ms. Mad Professor happens to still be in it well there always seems to be obstacles on the craps table too! It may take as little as one or two easy tosses to determine whether my shooting feels right. It sometimes takes a good ten or even twenty throws to get to that comfort level. Ill do it for as long or as short as it takes. Remember, we are going to be playing for REAL money, so practice your throw until you get it grooved in. Setting
an ideal Practice-to-Play Ratio So how much
time should you spend practicing? And what is the proper ratio of
practice hours-to-casino hours? Let
me put it this way. Your Practice-to-Play
ratios should match your current abilities. Under
"ideal" conditions, I would suggest at LEAST 10 hours of practice for every
1-hour of actual in-casino play. You should continue that regimen until your
CONSISTENCY catches up with both your per-roll profitability and to your
bankroll-discipline. Please re-read that sentence until it makes perfect sense
to you! Dismiss it at your own peril, because your bankroll will continue to suffer
until you do. On the other
hand, there is no proper ratio. Instead, you have to gauge the amount of
progress that your practice sessions are actually contributing to your in-casino
performance. Only
after you have achieved profitable-consistency, can you reduce your practice hours-to-real
casino-hours ratio. However, DO NOT BE FOOLED. If you do not intersperse your
practices with SHORT real-casino sessions; then you won't have enough real-world data and
notes in which to fine-tune your practice sessions. It's a real balancing act. The
practice rig forces our ego to recognize our dice-throwing shortcomings. It is up to us whether we make the necessary
changes to our game-play, or whether we continue our money-losing betting methods in hope
that we will improve. Your betting-method has
to reflect your current Precision-Shooting skill-level, not the hope
that it will improve and catch up with our betting methods and crazy
crapper bets. Oh,
before I forget, I want to mention that I have completed a series of articles entitled
The Mad Professor's Precision-Shooting Bible, it covers the
various sets, grips, throws, sweet-spots, and targets that I use. It covers pretty much every table situation and
craps table-surface known to man or beast. I
mention that now because well be taking a detailed look at how to make
actionable session notes that WILL make a difference to your performance. Remember,
the practice rig is where you fine-tune and align your game; the casino is where you make
your money. In
our continuing quest to get the most out of our Practice Sessions, Part Three
of this article will cover:
v
Using
a Craps-Roll Calculation Program
v
Other
Tracking and Practice Methods
v
and
much, much more. Until
then, Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in Lfe. Sincerely, The Mad Professor
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