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The
Mad Professor's Shooting Bible This
continuing series takes a look at craps from a professional Precision-Shooters point of
view
MINE. For
five or six hours a day, and five days each week, I play craps for about 44 weeks each and
every year
THIS is what I do. Ive
been using Precision-Shooting as my sole source of income for the past fourteen years, and
fortunately Ive gotten pretty good at it. My
game continues to evolve, and my profitability continues to improve to this very day. In this on-going series, Ill show you some
of the ways of HOW I do it. The
Basics Determine How FAR and How FAST You Go
To
get a good basic on-axis roll; it all starts with the Set and Grip; then culminates with
the Release. If
you can set and keep the dice together SEAMLESSLY, and hold them in a nice, comfortable,
FULLY-balanced grip; then release them so they maintain that near-seamless pairing
throughout their entire flight and landing; then you are likely to get them to come to a
stop at or near each other in a similar (as-set) outcome.
In a nutshell, THAT is how you end up with a steady and predictable
stream of on-axis, primary-face dice results. The
concept is easy; but the flawless execution is difficult.
This article is all about making the implementation and realization of that
goal much easier. I
am going to show you a number of things that MOST PLAYERS DO NOT KNOW. Then Ill show you how to incorporate them
into your game for improved, measurable, and more profitable results. We
are dealing with the basics here, but the impact that they have on the consistency
of your results, and your ability to make reliable profit is a long, LONG way
from basic. So
lets agree: Once
you get the dice to leave your hand together, fly through the air together, land together,
and come to a full and complete stop together; then the dice-results will usually end up
being on-axis in their primary-set, together. That
is what we define as the Holy Grail of Precision-Shooting. Once
you have a properly balanced grip, and you unleash the dice with a properly aligned
release; then youve mastered the first and most important aspect of
Precision-Shooting. The balance of
dicesetting success will flow from there. This
is basic stuff, but without it, your consistency will NEVER, EVER get to reliable
profitability. The
fundamental basics like Set, Grip and Release will generally determine HOW FAR and HOW
QUICKLY your Precision-Shooting advances. If
you master the basics, you can master the profit. Obviously
it also takes discipline, money-management, perseverance and dedication to achieve that;
but without mastering the basics, then youll never get into a position to master the
profit. So
lets start with one of my own methods to IMPROVE your on-axis percentage,
INCREASE the appearance of primary-face outcomes, AND REDUCE the number of double-pitch
7-Outs. Stand
Still
I
want you to stand up and let your arms RELAX by your side.
Really
relax then. Now
glance down at your shooting-hand, and notice that the palm of your hand actually faces
your leg. It does NOT face backward like it
does when you are shooting the dice. Notice
also that you can turn your hand so that the back of it faces forward and the palm faces
rearward, but as soon as you relax your arm and wrist muscles entirely; your palm
finds its way to facing your leg again. What
does that tell us? Well,
it indicates that the at-rest, relaxed neutral-position for the palm of our hand is that
it faces the side of our body, and when we turn it rearward, we do so under muscle
control; which is to say that we have to think about it to hold it in
that position. It also tells us that as soon
as we relax it entirely, our hand will return to its neutral position. Why
is it important to know that? Its
important because unless we are thinking about it, our hand and wrist tends
to favor a neutral position. The moment we
consciously stop thinking about it (or inputting brain signals that make it turn that
way), our hand starts to zero out or neutralize the inputs that we sent to
keep it in that position. Therefore, as soon
as we stop thinking about it (or our brain stops sending signals to it because it is
distracted by other more important or overriding signals) our hand tends to just naturally
return to its neutral position all on its own. So
lets agree on one more thing: our hand has a natural tendency to seek and return to
its neutral position. How
does this relate to dicesetting? When
we set and grip the dice, we TRY to align our arm, wrist, hand and fingers in the
same direction that we plan to send the dice down to the other end of the table. Since
the dice will be shot forward, most players reason that they should set the dice
and angle their arm/elbow/wrist/hand and fingers to line up with the backwall of the
table. Its not a natural type of
set-up, so we have to twist our hand and fingers (and to a lesser degree, our wrist, elbow
and shoulder) so that they hold the dice square to the backwall. Although it LOOKS right
in terms of lining our fingers up just so; in fact, it unintentionally misaligns
(because of torque) our arm, wrist and hand, and therefore our toss often ends up landing
totally misaligned. Oh
sure, SOMETIMES well get it right. When
we are really focused and the earth, moon and stars are all aligned, then our dice-toss is
too. Oft-times though, well get one or
two good tosses followed by a couple of off-axis results, and then a couple of
perfect on-axis throws, only to see the off-axis inconsistency return right before we get
the dice back on-axis for a perfect double-pitch 7-Out. This
problem plagues most aspiring dicesetters, and the solution is SO simple, yet the answer
appears to be VERY counter-intuitive. It
ALL Starts With The Grip
Regardless
of the grip that you use (see Irishsetters Grip page here), it is very
important to align the dice in such a way so that your MAJOR muscles (which control large
power movements) arent fighting against your MINOR muscles (which
control your fine-motor movements). We
know that the tendency is for the brain is to automatically re-align the hand, wrist and
arms to their more natural, relaxed state as soon as we stop sending the proper
signals to the nerves that control our fine-motor skills. In each case, our muscles fight against those
nerve-impulses because they cant wait to return to their more neutral and relaxed
state. In
one way, our muscles appear to be lazy. In
reality, they dont mind doing the work, however they just want to be comfortable as
they are doing it. They LOVE to be exercised,
but they want to be exerted in a natural, non-contorted way. In fact, the more comfortable your muscles are in
their under-pressure, but non-contorted state; the better you are at exerting MORE control
over what you asking them to do. How
does this muscle-group/brain-signal resistance affect our toss? It
means that either we have to maintain TOTAL muscle-control concentration during the entire
Set/Grip/Release process (which we should do anyway), OR we can reduce the AMOUNT
of control and concentration that we have to exert on the dice during the Set and Grip
portion of the process. That is, we
intentionally Set and Grip the dice in a more comfortable, more neutral and
more natural way BEFORE throwing the dice down to the other end of the table. Remember,
we are trying to increase on-axis, primary-face outcomes, and we are trying to reduce
on-axis double-pitches. One way is to set
your grip in such a way as to work WITH our fine-motor muscles, and not AGAINST them. Now
that you understand the way your body wants to return your muscles to their at-rest
position, lets use that knowledge to gain a bigger advantage (more control) over the
dice. A
more NATURAL grip on the dice means more NATURAL control over your muscles. More
NATURAL control over your TOSS brings more consistency to your PROFIT. So
lets take the next basic step in this process... The
Conventional Approach is NOT Always the BEST Approach
If
you read most gambling books, theyll tell you that a Pass-Line bet with Full-Odds,
followed by two Come-bets backed up with Full-Odds is the best way to play this game. On one hand (to the math-wiz side), it makes
perfect sense. On the other hand (to the
Holy Shit, where did my money go side), it isnt always the best
approach. Likewise,
with the way we set the dice, there is the conventional way; then there
is the better, more consistent results way. This
part of the discussion is NOT about which dice-set (3-V, 2-V, X-6, HW, S-6, P-6 or some
other variation) works better. What it
IS about is how you align the dice as you pick them up. Please
understand that I AM NOT GOING TO CHANGE YOUR GRIP. You
can continue using the grip that you currently use.
I AM going to show you a way to set your grip in a more natural way, so that
the small muscles in your fingers are not fighting against their larger counterparts in
your arm, shoulder, torso, and legs. Instead,
were going to make them work TOGETHER in the same way that we want the dice
to leave our hand together, fly through the air together, and end up together
in the same set that we first arranged them on. Now
stay with me on this one, because, as I said before, this is COUNTER-INTUITIVE, which
means it may not initially make sense to you; but your improved on-axis results WILL
bear me out. Most
people set up the dice side-by-side prior to picking them up. I agree with that.
What I DONT agree with is WHERE the dice are FACING when you set and
grip them. Most
people will align them side-by-side in the direction that they are going to be tossed. At first blush, that makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, it also forces you to usually grip
the dice in an unnatural, misaligned manner. Oh
sure there are LOTS of neat tricks you can employ to get your fingers to fit just so
over the dice-faces, but all the while, your muscles are fighting and straining against
what feels normal and comfortable to them.
Ø
Yes,
you can twist your hand and wrist.
Ø
Yes,
you can re-angle your upper arm, then elevate and point your elbow.
Ø
Yes,
you can contort your shoulder, rotate your forearm and twist your hips.
Ø
Yes,
you can align them all so that they are square to the backwall.
Ø
And
yes, sometimes the dice will remain on-axis after you throw them. Unfortunately
most players have an incredibly difficult time achieving, and then maintaining anywhere
close to a 50% on-axis result using this conventional Set and Grip method. Now
a 50% on-axis average is quite commendable. In
fact that is significantly better than the expected 44% on-axis results that youll
see from a random-roller. However, you CAN
do much better, and most importantly, you can do it MORE CONSISTENTLY with
just a few minor changes. Aligning
The Dice My Way
Lets
cut right to the chase. I
DO throw the dice side-by-side down to the far end of the table, HOWEVER, I align them as
though Im going to throw them side-by-side at the boxman (towards the other side of
the table if Im standing at SR-1). Why
in the world would I do that? Simply,
I grip them as my body is facing the far-end of the table, and while my hand is in a
neutral and relaxed state. My
set and grip STARTS OUT comfortable and natural, so it is MORE LIKELY TO STAY IN ALIGNMENT
when I turn and target them to the far end of the table.
Since
I havent gripped them in a contorted manner, my body (the major and minor
muscle-groups) fight less, and dont require additional brain-input to keep them in a
perfectly balanced alignment prior to their release.
That means I wont accidentally over-tighten my grip, or apply
uneven pressure through one or more of my fingers to either or both of the dice. Since
the grip is set in a more relaxed manner,, the dice leave my hand in the same relaxed and
controlled manner. That way, they are MUCH
more likely to have a nice, comfortable, unstressed, on-axis, mirror-image flight as well. A smooth release, a smooth flight, and a smooth
landing usually means a smooth, undisturbed (on-axis, primary-face) outcome. LESS
contorted-muscle stress equals MORE dice-control. Let
me put it another way. If
you try to align your fingers and grasp the dice while your muscles are under an
unnatural, contorted stress; then your muscles are more likely to rebel against the
grip rather than work with it. Remember
that the dice are lightweight objects that are quite sensitive to even minute differences
in force, pressure and torque. That often
leads to an unbalanced release and/or unequal forces on each dice as they leave your hand. Let
me tell you one more thing that most aspiring dicesetters dont realize. One
of the chief reasons for ONE dice going off-axis, while second one lands perfectly, is
because of uneven finger-pressure AND the side-twisting
(torque) forces that are caused by angling your fingers so that they APPEAR to be equal. While
your fingers may APPEAR to be equal, they are each exerting differing amounts of
pressure and torque against the dice. The
more you contort your arm, wrist, hand and fingers to LOOK right; the more likely you are
to accidentally apply differing amounts of pressure and unwanted torque to the two
separate dice. Your
body WANTS to do the right thing, so why fight its natural tendencies; use them to
your advantage. Instead of twisting and
over-torquing your small muscles; simply set the dice USING YOUR NORMAL GRIP, but do so
while your hand is in its totally relaxed state. To
do that, you simply stand, squarely facing the target-end of the table, and the dice are
side-by-side, facing ACROSS the table from you. You
set them beside each other (like a freight-train headed down the length of the table), and
grip them while your hand is relaxed and your arm, elbow and wrist are NOT contorted or
under stress. From there, you simply rotate
your wrist and throw the dice in the same manner that you always have. If
you start out right with a properly-balanced and comfortable grip, youll have a much
better shot at your dice-toss ending up with the right result too. If
you align them in a nice comfortable neutral grip from the start, there is a MUCH higher
likelihood that theyll leave your hand in the same way. When
there is LESS conflict and MORE cooperation between your MAJOR muscles, your MINOR
muscles, and the amount (intensity) of signals that your brain has to send (and continue
sending) throughout the entire Set, Grip and Release process; THE MORE CONTROL YOU WILL
HAVE. It
is based on simple concepts like this that I attribute the reliability of my own on-axis,
primary-face results. Pressure,
What Pressure?
Part
of the cause of double-pitch 7-Out results is caused by unequal grip-pressure on the two
dice. The
more you contort your hand and fingers to line them up properly; the more you
will have to apply differing amounts of grip-pressure to them. In
fact, the more contorted and unnatural your grip is; the higher the likelihood that each
finger and thumb will exert varying amounts of pressure and torque from toss to toss. The
more unnatural your grip and finger-alignment; the more that individual finger and thumb
pressure will CHANGE during the entire Set, Grip, Tossing-Motion and Release process. That
is one of the reasons we see so much variance from toss to toss. Your brain and your body WANTS to do the
right thing, but because nothing is working in harmony, it makes it more difficult for
them to work in concert and with consistent and reliable synchronization. More
contorting leads to more pressure-variance amongst your fingers and thumb; and the less
likely youll be able to maintain and exert the same balance of pressure from one
throw to the next. Setting
The Grip
Like
I said, I am NOT recommending that you change your grip.
Im
merely suggesting that you SET your grip in a neutral position (in relation to your body)
with the objective of KEEPING the dice in proper alignment, and to help you maintain a
more EQUAL pressure on both dice throughout the ENTIRE Set, Grip, and Release
motion
and then allows you to continue doing so with each and every
subsequent toss that you make. A
comfortable, neutral grip and alignment will do that; while an unnatural, unbalanced and
contorted one WILL NOT! I
simply set the dice so they are facing ACROSS the table from me, and NOT facing the
target-end of the table. Remember, my BODY is
facing the far-end of the table, so my palm naturally wants to face the side of my
leg. Okay, so I set the dice that way, and
use the naturalness of the grip to exert a more balanced, equal pressure on the dice. Once
I set them and grip them in a nice neutral, comfortable way; then I turn them in the
intended direction of my throw (to the far end of the table) and start my launch process
by using either a pendulum or from-the-table send-off. Like
I said, this may appear to go against current common-thinking, but in fact, it makes
perfect sense to your brain, to your major and minor muscles, and it will also make
perfect sense to you once you see the improved results.
At
first, my set and grip approach may seem unnatural too, because youve been setting
the dice to face the other end of the table for so long that you will need to retrain your
body and brain with this opportunity to do what it just naturally wants to do anyway. The retraining shouldnt take
long, and the worthwhile results should be noticeable very quickly. Give
your brain and your body a chance to work in HARMONY WITH the dice, and not
in CONFLICT AGAINST them. The results
are definitely worth the effort. Well
continue this discussion in Part VIII. Until
then, Good
Luck & Good Skill at the tables
and in Life. The
Mad Professor
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