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Mad Professor's Mini-Table Craps Tour with the Vegas Ghost- Part II In
Part I
of this article, we took a close look at both the Mini-Tub tables, and the smaller
sit-down type of Crapshoot tables. We looked
at why casinos install them, and how Precision-Shooters take advantage of them. We also
reviewed how a few casinos use certain counter-measures to nullify the efforts of
Precision-Shooting advantage-players. Okay,
so lets get into the actual tour. Knowing
that it would be a long day, I left my suite at NewYork NewYork, and stopped at the Il
Fornaios Panetteria to fill up on super-octane rocket-fuel (coffee). If you have had a chance to have one of their
beans-roasted-on-premises hand-pressed La Pavoni Italian coffees; then you know what I
mean when I say; rocket fuel.
I
had an 8:00 a.m. hook-up time set with Mel, so I started the short drive over to our
meeting spot. We
had agreed that the best place to start the Vegas Ghost tour of mini-tables should
rightfully be at the current Precision-Shooters shrine of mini-table profit: CASINO
ROYALE We
first explored this small, but super-vibrant casino in my
The Ground Zero of Opportunity article back in April of 2001. Little
has changed here over the past 18 months. This place is so incredibly easy to get into and out of when compared to any other casino on the Strip. There is a narrow driveway on the southern edge of the property. You pull into what starts out as Harrahs northern entrance, then you veer to the extreme left and follow the narrow lane, which leads into the Casino Royale multi-level garage. In fact, there is surface parking right behind the casino, so its a true drive-up, walk-in casino. Thats not something very many other casinos on the LV Strip can boast about. The nearest parking space to the main rear entrance is less than two steps away. Car-to-craps table distance is a whopping sixteen steps. No valet; just park, make a few strides, and stake out your place at the table. Total elapsed time, about fifteen seconds. No mammoth-mall to navigate through; no 3/8th mile people-mover sidewalk; no monorails or overhead cattle-chutes; just park, walk in, and voila, a crapshooters paradise.
Mel
and I confirmed that we would meet each other inside Casino Royale right at the tables. Whoever was first to arrive was to try to get two
seats at the 6-seat Crapshoot table. I was
sufficiently dosed-up on caffeine; I was the first to arrive, and I was looking forward to
a profitable day. I figured that if it
wasnt very profitable, at least it would be interesting having Mel along for the
tour. My confidence about profitability was
quite high. I mentally reviewed my
track-record on all of the mini-tables in Las Vegas, and I decided that a day or two, or
even three dedicated to the Mini-Tubs and Crapshoot tables should provide significant
profit opportunities. It
was a pleasant surprise to find only two other players in action at the small table. One of their 20-player mega-tables was open with 8
or 9 players. The two big tables
are usually set at either $1 or $2 minimums. On
the weekend, they sometimes boost one of the land-barges up to $3. In any event, the large tables allow 100x Odds,
while the sit-down Crapshoot table sports a $1 minimum and 10x Odds. One
other note about Casino Royale is that they allow PUT bets. If you dont know what they are, I would
invite you to read an excellent article that Heavy, Irishsetter and I assembled a while
back. It is entitled, On Put
Bets and Precision Shooting, A Roundtable Discussion with Heavy and The Mad Professor
. Mel
walked in through the back-door of the casino, and I saw a number of heads turn in his
direction. Even when he is not working, he
has the looks of one of Tony Sopranos boys (namely Pauly Walnuts) from
the HBO-series, The Sopranos. With his
trademark highly-tailored ultra-suede jackets, to his $300 hand-crafted Robert Talbott
Seven-Fold ties, and his $100 haircut, Mel looks all the part of a stereotypical
old-Vegas casino associate, if you get my drift. Now remember that Mel is a bit of a gambler, the
same way that Tiger Woods is a bit of a golfer.
Heres
a picture of Casino Royale when it is empty. I
think the last time it was this empty was in 92, when it opened. You can see the two huge tables, and just beyond,
to the extreme left, you will see a dealer standing at the Crapshoot table. Note the angled mirrors on the ceiling, which
enables a floor-supervisor to simultaneously view all of the table games at once. I
was already seated when Mel came over. I
handed him a java-filled Styrofoam present from Il Fornaio.
It was still hot when he peeled back the plastic lid. I bought-in for $200, and he did likewise. At
small casinos that have these smaller tables, you want to camouflage your play as much as
possible. The first step is not to bring
unusual attention to yourself. A large buy-in
at a small joint ALWAYS brings attention from the Pit.
Now remember that the dealer on the Crapshoot table also acts as the
box-man. You dont want him calling
out, Changing one-thousand to the nearest floor-supervisor for confirmation. Rather, keep your buy-in as small as most other
casual players and tourists do. I
handed in my Club Royale Players Card. Yes,
I do want to be rated here. However, it is
important to note that the comps-points are only good for the day you are actually
playing. Comp-value does not accrue, but they
do keep you in their computerized data-base. Well
talk about their free-offers in a while. You
hand in your Club Royale card at the beginning of play. The Pit Boss or Floor-Supervisor then keeps it at
the Pit Clerks desk until you are finished. When
you color-out, you then ask for it back. Its
a bit of an unusual arrangement, but the granting of food comps is fairly good. In addition, they have monthly mailers that
offer free rooms, free Subway sandwiches, and free TCBY frozen yogurt to even the smallest
of carded-players. Mel
commented about the fact that an 8:00 a.m. start finds the tables about as empty as
youre likely to ever find them during daylight hours.
I agreed. Just as I like frequent
shooting opportunities at regular-sized tables, so too do I like them at the smaller
tables as well, especially when my Precision-Shooting is really dialedin. The early time-slot provided just that kind of
opportunity. I
was sitting in the fourth-player position at the table if you count chairs starting at the
one on the extreme-left (facing the dealer). While
this is my favorite spot, I am pretty comfortable and successful from almost any spot at
this particular table. From this chair, it is
approximately 32-inches of shooting-distance to the far corner wall. Thats not a great distance in the great
scheme of things, but the acute angle does take some getting used to. The
dice were passed to me, and I made a $1 Pass Line bet.
On these types of tables, I forego my usual Come-Out
game-within-a-game betting-strategy and shooting-sets. Instead, I look to quickly establish a Point. The reason will become clear very shortly. I
hadnt played on a Crapshoot table for about a week or so. I was a little rusty with my range-finding, but a
random-5 was set as the Pass Line point. I
backed it up with full 10x Odds. I also
Put-Bet the 6, 8, & 9, for $1 each with 10x Odds.
Heres a comparison of the payouts between Put-Bets and Place-Bets:
v
A
$12 Place-Bet on 6 or 8 pays $14 = a 16.6% return on investment, but,
v
An
$11 Put-Bet ($1 flat with $10 in Odds) on 6 or 8 pays $13= an 18% return on investment.
v
A
$10 Place-Bet on 5 or 9 pays $14 = a 40% return on investment, but,
v
An
$11 Put-Bet on 5 or 9 pays $16= a 45% return on investment.
v
A
$10 Place-Bet on 4 or 10 pays $18 = an 80% return on investment, but,
v
An
$11 Put-Bet on 4 or 10 pays $21= a 91% return on investment. For
the Precision-Shooter, those percentages add up to extra dollars in your rack. It simply gives you more bang for your buck. Your Signature Numbers are the Place-Bet and/or
Put-Bet numbers where you should be focusing your betting attention. Just remember that your Signature Numbers on the
mini-tables may be different than your normal-length table-outcomes. For me, on the Crapshoot mini-table, my Signature
Numbers are customarily more concentrated and consistent than they are on a normal table. That means that the dominance of my 6, 8, and 9
are sometimes astounding, while the 4, 5, and 10 are not nearly as frequent. My
throwing was still not really reliable enough for my liking at that moment, but I threw a
quantity of 8s and 9s before my PL Point of 5 was repeated to produce a
winner. As each one of those Put-Bets hit, I
replaced them again, and I also bet a single dollar in the Come Box. As it traveled to the most recent Box Number, I
added $10 in Odds. Since
the game is a little slower, even with only four players, you can simply lean the $10 in
Odds over-top of the $1 Come bet, and the dealer will move the bet to the relevant Box
Number, or does an Off & On move with the Come-Bet payoff. My
confidence increased around the seventh or eighth hit on the 6 & 8. Once I re-established the 9 as my new
PL Point number, I decided to increase my flat Come-bets to $3. As I was contemplating whether the $30 that I had
used to take full advantage of the 10x-Odds was a good move, or whether I should ratchet
up my Odds a little more gradually, my thought-process was interrupted as I rolled the
winner-9. I still hadnt been
centering my full attention to the task of precisely shooting the dice. Normally my mind doesnt wander while I have
the dice, and I knew I had to calm my attentiveness. Mel
leaned in closer and said, atta boy, as the dealer paid the four of us
off. I sent in a nickel for Rob
our dealer, as a locked-in toke. He certainly
didnt seem to be expecting it, and he said his thanks. The
damn 9 came right back again as the PL Point.
I decided to add two bucks to
the Pass Line, so that I could increase my Odds to $30.
No, the 9 didnt come right back. In fact, it went on an extended holiday, and a
rash of 6s and 8s showed up in substantial clumps. They were interspersed with all of the other Box
Numbers except for the 9. I
wasnt frustrated, but it was interesting that even the Outside numbers of 4 and 10
were appearing with much greater regularity and intensity than they usually do. Both Mel and I were riding the wave of repeating
numbers, but along about the thirtieth roll or so, Mel asked with a puzzled look,
Are you sure theres still a 9 anywhere on those dice? I was pretty much thinking the same thing. I
continued to roll, and had put Rob the dealer on a couple of numbers as well. I told him, Ive got you On
as part of my Odds for the 4 and 10. He
had no problem understanding what I meant when I would throw a nickel his way when the 4
or 10 came in several more times. By
this juncture, my flat Come-bets were $5, with full 10x-Odds of $50 to back them up. We managed another nineteen paying-numbers before
I 7d-Out. I wont tell you what
the profit figure was for that hand because the infidels, the non-believers
who dont believe that anyone can make a good living off of this game will have their
tight little frilly cotton panties in a lathery bunch, but I will tell you that I KNEW at
that point that it would be a profitable day no matter what else transpired in any other
session during our tour. The
dice were passed to Mel, who unceremoniously had a real honeymoon type hand. Ill just tell you that it didnt last
very long, as in, This wont take long
did it. After
his 7-Out, Mel said that he felt like he had to contort his arm, wrist and shoulder to
shoot for the (now right-side) opposite corner of the table. I agreed that chair #3 (counting from the left)
was the most acute shooting angle for a right-handed shooter. I suggested a back-hand kind of toss instead of
trying to turn your hand over. He
shrugged and said that hed give it a try on the next go round. The next two players had quick and painful hands. Well, they were painful for them and their bets. I personally left my chips exactly where they
should be for every random-roller, except the luckiest or hottest of them; and that is
safely in my chip-rack. The
dice came back around to me in less than five minutes.
My favorite waitress was on duty, and just a quick nod to her automatically
brought orange juice and a bottle of water to the table.
Their cocktail waitresses are very efficient, and highly professional. Once they get to know you, it isnt unusual
for them to bring you your normal drink order as soon as you sit down to play. I
used the recessed drink-holders on either side of my table-spot. I quickly dried off my hand from the bottle
condensation. I normally dont handle my
drinks with my shooting-hand for just that reason, but with a full tray, and
no drink-rail, I relented. I am always sure
to wash my hands frequently. It is not only a
good hygienic habit to get into, but it sure eliminates a lot of dice-sticking-to-fingers
problems. I think you can trace a lot of
off-axis release problems to precisely that particular cause. I
set the 9 as my Point AGAIN! I
managed to string together a decent 34-roll hand, that saw a pretty even distribution of
all the Box Numbers EXCEPT the bloody 9.
I never did repeat the 9 at all in that hand, although there
were only three non-paying trash numbers that showed up. Mel
repositioned himself on the Crapshoot chair to get a better angle on the opposing
back-wall. It was to no avail as he managed
to actually under-perform his last effort. He
grumbled like a grizzly-bear with a bumble-bee lodged deeply in the shaft of his manhood. I told him to change table positions, but he was
in the middle of mid-bitch when another two players joined in to the right side of me. The
casino was filling up as the tourist-crowd population swelled. There arent too many Vegas-locals who play
here. If not for the great Crapshoot table, I
couldnt blame them. Casino Royale is
definitely not a palace, except perhaps to the residents of lovely downtown Kabul,
Afghanistan, but the profit sure tumbles forth when my Precision-Shooting is dialed-in. As
the random-rollers took their turn with the cubes, Mel and I talked about the history of
CR. He
said, When I first got to town in the 50s, Frank Musso had a great
restaurant on this property. Frank was
connected, and he ran some stuff out back, but it was never anything really
serious. Ill tell ya though,
sonofabitch brought in some great-tasting Midwest beef from Kansas and Nebraska, and the
joint was filled four nights a week. When the
boys came in from back-East, theyd come here for a good dinner. Ya gotta remember that places like Tony The
Ant Spillatros (Joe Pescis Nicky Santoro real-life character
in Casino) Leaning Tower restaurant (where the current Monte Carlo Hotel is)
didnt open till much later. So if the
boys wanted a good steak and pasta dinner like back home; then they came to
Mussos. I
asked Mel about this part of the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip at that time. Well,
you had the Sands in the early 60s, and Frank (Sinatra) and his posse (Dean
Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop) had made it famous with their
Summit meetings which were among the biggest whore-fests going. When they made Oceans 11,
people flocked to town to be a part of what the hip-cats knew was a very special,
once-in-a-lifetime sort of era. I mean there
was electricity in the air when Frank was in town. Its
not like today where we have easy access to movies, and DVDs, and three-million
satellite stations, and digital no-commercial customizable radio stations and MP-3s
and such. The star-maker machinery was
subtler. The glitz and glamour was real, not
contrived like a Ricky Martin or Madonna video. Mel
went on to say, The actual casinos on The Strip were pretty far apart. Like, you had the Flamingo, but they had something
like 200 rooms instead of the 3,600 that they have now.
Then you had a few restaurants and motels and stuff; and of course, The
Sands. Across the street you had the
Castaways Casino where the Mirage driveway-arch is now, but that was it. There was no Caesars, or Harrahs or Imperial
Palace or such back then. Mel
added that, Mussos kid, Joey, took over from the old man in the early
70s, and renovated the place pretty nice.
Frankie retired to Islamorada in the Florida Keys, but I lost track of him after
his kid sold the place. This property pretty
much stayed the same until around 79 or so when the Nob Hill Casino opened. That was on the southern end of the property and a
number of different restaurants operated in Mussos original place. The property that was right beside it was always a
motel of some kind. Usually, it was one of
those no-tell-motel kind of places. Then
a TraveLodge franchisee spruced it up a bit, and the Dennys chain took over the
restaurant. I
asked him to elaborate on the Nob Hill Casino that preceded Casino Royales current
operation. He replied: The
Nob Hill was a small casino. Even smaller
than Casino Royale is right now. It was
designed to look like a turn of the century Victorian-style casino like they had in San
Francisco in the late 1800s. They had
this open wrought-iron fretwork, and a lot of Americanized English-looking gewgaws. It actually looked pretty neat. If you think back to how Main Street Station
looked when Bob Snow (of Church Street Station fame in Orlando) opened MSS; well, Nob Hill
was kinda similar with architectural antiques. It
was a pretty classy looking place from the outside.
In fact, the crenulated-turrets and peaked roofs that you see on the Casino
Royale exterior were pretty much there when Nob Hill was open. They had this open-court style terraced balcony
that over-looked the casino floor. It was
reminiscent of an early 1900s San-Fran brothel, where the ladies could promenade and
promote their finer points without disturbing the poker playing gold-miners below.
Im pretty sure that the Nob Hill here in Vegas never attracted any gold-miners, but
we still have our share of gold-diggers in pretty much every casino now. Anyway, I think they closed-in the ceiling and the
terrace around late 91 or so. Mel
went on to say, If you look up now, youll see the reflective two-way
surveillance glass and the angled-mirrors where the balcony used to be. If you notice, the angled-ceiling mirrors are set
perfectly so that a floor-supervisor or Pit Boss can watch up to twelve full games at a
time. Even
from my seated position on the Crapshooter table, I could easily watch the card-action on
the blackjack table that was across from me. Ill
quickly add that if you are more interested in keeping an eye on one of the attractive
female players at another table, the ceiling mirrors accomplish the same feat
or at
least I heard that you could do that
The Mad Professor would never do anything so
lewd and chauvinistic
oh, wait a minute
yes, I would! By
this time, the dice had circulated their way around to me again. I had another decent
hand, and lo and behold, the 9 finally decided to show up with a lot more
regularity than on my previous hands. I made
six Pass-Line Points over about 34-rolls. It
was a good hand, but with a full 6-player table, the bet payout sequence is fairly slow. I
find that the level of focus and concentration to stay dialed-in is not as high as it is
on a longer table. I would think that the
shorter throwing distances account for that. On
the other hand, it is easier to become complacent and perhaps smug about your shooting
because the far wall appears to be SO close
you figure that its just GOT to be
easy money. But as Mels shooting
emphatically proved, its not as easy as it looks. One
thing that doesnt work well for me on this table is a high-trajectory throw. With a very short shooting range, there is a lot
of full parabolic-trajectory mechanics for the dice to go through in a very short
distance. Simply stated, if you throw with a
45-degree upward release, and aim for a target with a 45-degree landing angle; then the
dice have to go through their apogee (peak of their arc) in a very short distance. That being the case, your throwing energy has to
be dissipated over a much shorter distance. Its
surprising how little energy is required to propel the dice to the other side of the
table, so consistent shooting can be tricky even from ultra-short throwing distances. Mel
took another turn with the dice. Hey,
I said after he 7d-Out yet again, You got two tosses of the dice
one to
set the Point, and one to lose the Point. Are
you convinced that Precision-Shooting doesnt work yet? He then suggested that I perform an illegal act
with a certain type of barnyard animal. At
least I HOPE its illegal! We
each shot a few more times, and the outcomes were pretty much a carbon-copy of our
previous attempts. I would cooper up a
respectable hand, and Mel would immediately 7-Out with his tries. He was surprisingly calm about his lack of
success. Listen, he said,
As long as you continue to shoot like youre doin, I dont care if I
make a single number all day long. I
dont give a shit HOW I win, the important thing is that I DO win. I
was getting hungry, so he asked his Casino Manager friend who is ALWAYS patrolling the
casino floor, for a double-comp to Café Trilussa. As
he handed the comp to Mel, he said with a smile, I should make you guys pay for your
lunch with the way you cleaned us out this morning.
Mel replied, Yeah, my buddy got lucky, but I couldnt throw a
thing all morning. My Players Card was
returned to me, and we shook hands as he bade us an enjoyable lunch. As
we were walking upstairs to the restaurant, I told Mel that I used to ask for and receive
a comped Dennys Grand Slam breakfast when I regularly played the Casino Royale
Crapshoot table during the 4:00 a.m to 8:00 a.m. graveyard shift. Just as I like frequent shooting opportunities at
regular-sized tables, so too do I like them at the smaller tables as well, especially when
my Precision-Shooting is really dialedin. The
earlier you show up on a weekday morning, the better your chances for uncrowded playing
conditions. Otherwise, be prepared to camp
out and wait for a seat to become vacant at the mini-table.
I have even seen anxious players bribe or pay a seated player to give up
their spot. THAT is how busy it can get! We
had an unhurried lunch at Casino Royales Café Trilussa. The entire west side window of the restaurant
overlooks the Mirage Volcano/fountain. Its
a nice distraction, even during the non-erupting daylight hours. Mel
and I reviewed the list of casinos that were on our Mini-Tub Tour. They included CircusCircus, Imperial Palace,
Barleys Casino & Brew-Pub out in Henderson, Nevada Palace out on Boulder Highway, The
Speedway Casino up near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wild Wild West on Tropicana Blvd.
near The Orleans Hotel, The Boardwalk Casino beside the Monte Carlo Resort, and maybe even
the old Ernies Casino up on Rancho Drive. Ill let you know what we did next, in Part Three of this article. Until then, Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables and in Life. The Mad Professor
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