Observations
or
Is Your Game in the Toilet?

It’s been several weeks since I last wrote an article, and I’ve been feeling a little bit of pressure!  I only write when I feel I can contribute to your enjoyment or knowledge of the game. But I also want to be an active contributor to the site, so when a few weeks go by and I don’t get a worthwhile thought in my head to convey, it bugs me.

The other odd thing is that I’m often amazed at when and why something occurs that prompts me to write. Well ladies and gents this is a first!  Tonight after dinner, my wife was in the bathroom, I was just outside the bathroom putting placemats in the washing machine.  The bathroom door was open. There was a roll of toilet paper on the vanity.

A significant portion of the  paper on this roll had been used such that the remaining roll was taller than it was wide.  (Get the picture?) My wife was cleaning the countertop of the sink when she accidentally knocked the toilet paper over. It fell off the countertop to the floor and wound up on its end, standing straight up!! A rare occurrence given the height to width ratio!! 

I immediately challenged her; “I’ll bet you couldn’t do that again if you tried it a dozen times!” Never willing to let a challenge go by, she gave it a try.   She gently pushed the roll towards the edge of the counter until it fell. It landed on its’ side. Another try and another sideways landing. Attempts three, four, five and six yielded the same results. Apparently her tactic was one of creating as little motion as possible to the falling projectile as it tumbled end over end to the tile floor below.  This, in her mind, would allow the roll to fall and land on its’ end as it did on the unwitting first attempt!

At this point I told her, “Just give it a quick smack!”  My thinking, after observing how the roll tumbled in her previous attempts, was to have the roll be in an upright orientation when it cleared the counter surface; the bottom of the roll parallel with the floor and no spinning action to disrupt the perpendicular relationship of the roll to the landing surface.

My hope was that it would then fall straight down and land on its end; a dead cat bounce, as we know it, and remain in its original upright position.  Well, she gave it a go and, as God as my witness, the roll hit the floor, as I envisioned, bounced over on its’ side and then right back in the upright position where it came to a stop, a small section of the paper fluttering in the ever so slight breeze created by the motion of the moving mass before it came to rest.   My wife’s only response was, “Wow!”

Not one to let a self-promoting event pass by unnoticed, I quickly announced, “Do you see what I’ve learned from my dice setting?”  “Oh God, and what might that be?” 

“The simple yet devastating power of OBSERVATION, my dear!”

“Yeah, well devastate that TP onto the holder for me !”

As wacky and as far out in right field as this example is, (and I swear to you that this actually happened!) it touched a very basic chord inside of me:  there is nothing that happens at a craps table that isn’t worth your attention.  And this is true whether it has to do with your throwing or that of the random rollers!  To be all that we can be, to steal a line from the Marine Corps advertisement, we need to be aware of what is going on around us. 

In our own throwing, we need to observe and understand how we’re doing with each segment of the dice-throwing repertoire.  Are we throwing too hard? Is the landing spot too close or too far away from the back wall?  How are the dice bouncing after they hit the tabletop?  What numbers are showing with this particular set?  Do I need to rotate one die a quarter turn to bring on the target numbers?

These are only some of the grip/toss issues that command our attention!  Each one, however, is a tremendously important toss characteristic that can make or break us!!  Fail to pay attention and you will pave a road to bankroll anorexia!!

The same powers of observation are equally important when betting on the RR’s.  Does this guy set the dice? Does he throw to a certain spot throw after throw?  What numbers does he repeat?  How many rolls are being thrown in between sevens? 

My friends, if we want to make a living at this discipline, we can’t let our guard down when we “come to the office!”  We must be aware of what is happening around us at all times and take the necessary steps to use that information.  Observation is one of the mental keys to success. Without it we are just one short step ahead of the Random rollers!

So, if your game is in the toilet,  Tune in to Win!!!

May the dice always bounce in your favor,