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The Great Northeast
Road Trip
(read part I
here, or part II
here or part III
here) Entering
the Province of Quebec is like entering a whole other world. Yes, its part of Canada, and yes they use
the same currency, but thats just about where all the similarity ends. While there is something strangely familiar about
the place, it all seems just a little bit foreign. French
is the official language here. Its on
all of the road signs, store signs, advertising and just about everyones lips. Most people also speak English. For me, thats a good thing, because in spite
of six years of French in school, I couldnt speak French to save my life, or even to
fill up the gas tank. In truth, I can place
more bets in Spanish than I can in French, but this trip gave me a good excuse to work on
improving that skill. Again, all the casino
dealers speak English, and I never encountered a problem placing bets or making myself
clearly understood. Our
first casino foray was at Casino de Hull, which is just across the Rideau River from
Canadas capital of Ottawa. We stayed at
the Hilton
Lac Leamys, which is attached to the ultra-modern casino. We
subsequently played at Casino de Montreal, which of course is located in city of Montreal,
on the former site of the Worlds Fair of 1967, Expo 67. In fact, the main casino is contained in the
building that used to house the pavilion from France 35 years ago. The casino is located on one of three man-made
islands in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. Its
easily accessible and parking is fairly good. By
the way, this is also where the Canadian Grand Prix is held every year. We
also played at Casino de Charlevois in the foothills of the Laurentian Mountains. Its a renovated turn-of-the-century set of
buildings that have been completely modernized. They
still have that early-Canadian charm, but with all of the modern conveniences that you
would expect at a world-class resort. All
three casinos are well-managed and provide some excellent table conditions. There arent too many Precision-Throwers
here; at least I didnt see any during our sessions there. But
you dont want a travelogue about fine-food, cosmopolitan lifestyles, or
French-separatists politics do you? You
want details of CRAPS play! Okay,
lets delve into those details right here and now. Lets
talk about dice grips. As
you know, my favorite one is the two-finger pincer.
By now you also know that I use many variations of that grip, depending on
the table conditions. I hesitated going into
further and greater detail about them because there is not ONE correct way to grip and
throw, at least there isnt one correct way to grip and throw for ME! I
find that table conditions vary so much, as do dice types, densities and age; that there
is not one universal one-size, one-grip, one-toss approach that works all the time for me. I use small and subtle variations of grip, release
and spin to compensate for those variations from table-to-table and casino-to-casino. Its all in an effort to overcome those
differences. The
other problem in writing about those variations is in the actual description of the subtle
differences. Ill give you an example. (i)
Theres
the deep-thumb, perfect-rotation pincer whereby the two dice will spin
perfectly freely between your thumb and fourth-finger.
Your fingernail length is critical. The
dice tumble side-by-side and on-axis with this grip, and a slow forward-spin is also the
hallmark. From medium shooting distances,
this throw touches down in the furthest parts of the Field, and rolls gently to the base
of the wall. Obviously, a clear chip-free
rolling lane is necessary for this one to work properly. (ii)
There
is the leading-edge, trailing-edge pincer, whereby the outer grip (thumb and
fourth finger) grip the upper rear corner of the dice, while the index and middle finger
lightly balance the leading edge of the dice. I
have about three release variations for this grip alone.
Why? Well, some tables require it. If
the table has a soft underlay, the dice take full advantage of the cushioning and they
simply refuse to pop or scatter when they touch down. I
know that some people will argue that I have suggested too many variations to learn and
perfect. Well, Ive got news for you my
friend. If you use just one grip, and one release and one target; THEN YOU WILL BE A ONE-TRICK PONY WHO ONLY RARELY AND INCONSISTENTLY SUCCEEDS. Okay
the cap-lock button is off, Ive stopped yelling, but I hope that you get the
message. Listen, one baseball pitch does not
strike everyone out. One golf club and one
swing does not conquer all golf courses. And
one dice grip and one toss does not get the job done when it comes to being successful at
the craps table. If you dont believe
that, then please believe this: keep your day
job because you are really going to need it now and until retirement. One
grip and one toss will not get you to great casino profit.
Oh it may help you make some additional money, and thats great, but
dont rely on it to pay the bills, buy the cars, and finance your retirement, cause
it aint gonna happen! Okay,
can I tell you about two more variations before I give you some trip results from this
particular part of our expedition? (iii)
I
call this one the lopsided dead-cat bounce.
I want you to think about one of those cheap beach-balls that dont
roll true because the air-nozzle patch adds too much weight which unbalances the ball? When you throw a ball like that, it kind of has a
looping rotation to it. Okay, thats
exactly how the dice react when you grip and throw them properly with this approach. Your thumb and fourth-finger actually grip the
dice very low on the sides and at the rear-most portion of the dice. Upon release, I give them a pronounced backspin. When they spin in the air, its like the dice
are unbalanced. When they land, they tend to
slam down hard on the felt. They usually
stop-dead right there. This is one of a few
variations on my dead-cat-bounce throws. My
aiming point is about 2 to 3 inches from the back wall.
This is usually close enough to qualify as a full-length roll. Sometimes one or both dice will flop forward one
or two additional rotations. This can be good
if its both of them, or VERY bad if only one dice rolls twice. Using the 3-V set, that almost always equals a
SEVEN! This grip and throw takes a lot of
practice, but when it works perfectly (about 25% to 30% of the time); its a
beautiful thing because of the predictability of the results. I get one additional rotation from one or both
dice about 55% to 65% of the time. Unfortunately,
the remaining balance of outcomes (5% to 20% of the time) results in that ugly bitch that
we call SEVEN. I also occasionally use the Hardways set for this toss, especially if there
is heavy action on the Hardways bets AND I have action on them too, AND the dealers have
money riding on them as well. (iv)
The
last variation that I want to tell you about today is the one-hop,
two-rollback toss. This is where the
thumb and fourth finger GENTLY force the leading-edge of the dice into the first joint of
the index and middle finger. A pronounced backspin is
imparted on release. I use this grip and toss
where I want to hop over a Pass-Line or Dont Pass bet that is near the intended
target area. The trajectory of this toss is a
little higher than normal. Its pretty
close to 45-degrees at both launch and touchdown. The
backspin aids in keeping the dice from rolling too far or with too much force. After hopping over the pile of chips, they usually
coast into the lower margin of the wall, and then rollback twice before stopping. This throw yields good, consistent results, and if
I was restricted to one universal toss that I was comfortable with while always hitting
the wall; then this would be the one. Now
heres the problem with all those descriptions that I just gave you. It will probably spark a thousand questions about
speed, trajectory, target areas, apogee, release points, etc. Well Ill get to all of those in the upcoming
reports, but lets absorb it one step at a time. So,
here are the results of the Quebec portion of our trip:
§
Sessions:
15
§
Total
Playing Time:
22.0 hours
§
My
hands:
72
§
My
Rolls:
ranged from a low of 2 to a high of 41
§
Sevens-Rolls-Ratio:
17.1:1
§
Total
profit:
$1780
§
Profit-per-Hour
$81.00 Heres
the MOST interesting fact of this trip so far. Im
keeping track of the amount of money that I lose on random-rollers. Even AFTER I have qualified them, my losses on
random-rollers is running close to $100 per hour. Yes,
that means that if I laid off of all but the hottest of random-rollers; then my profit
rate would have been in the $180 per hour range. Ill
let you know if this trend continues. Ive long known that less than 5% of my total income from craps is derived from random-rollers. This may provide some concrete proof as to just how much they actually COST me. That is, how much more money would I make if I didnt bet on any random-rollers. Im keeping a close watch on that particular set of numbers. Until next time, Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in
Life. The Mad Professor
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