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I
Never Met Benjamin Franklin Either
While
I never met Ben Franklin, he sure had an effect on me.
His inventiveness, insight, ingenuity, and intuitiveness has inspired me
over a lifetime, and some of the outstanding success in my life can be attributed to the
character traits that he endorsed and encouraged.
Old
Ben said:
If
you dont want to be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten; then either write
things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.
I
Never Met Mickey_D Either
I
read recently that fellow Precision-Shooter, Mike (Mickey_D, Yoelevenman) Mokoid had
passed away. I never had the privilege or
pleasure of meeting Mike, but he sure had an effect on a lot of peoples
lives
including mine.
Shortly
after Irishsetter started the original geocities-based dicesetter website, I started
receiving e-mails from Mike asking questions about my dicesetting methods as he tried to
fine-tune his own Precision-Shooting.
His
Questions, His Approach
My Gain
His
pursuit of perfection was energetic, vociferous and quite commendable. I admired his systematic approach to the game
because it enabled him to focus in and concentrate on the most important elements of
success.
Mikes
questions and inquisitive nature required me to focus on each element of my
Precision-Shooting as I explained my approach in an analytical way that I hadnt done
previously.
By
asking the right questions and making insightful comment, he made me look at my routine
from a more technical angle. It especially
sharpened the way that I looked at each individual component that went into my own
in-casino success. It was even more
gratifying as he reported steady progress in his Precision-Shooting development.
His
questions gave me a new perspective on my own game.
Mikes
Writing
As
most of you know, he posted frequently on Irish's Message Board as well as a couple of
others. His ideas were always well thought
out and compelling, but the one thing that stands out about all of his writing was his
PASSION.
He
knew that the pursuit of excellence was indeed a journey and not just a destination. His writing spoke of that passionate journey, and
it transcended mere words.
Mike
inspired me and many others to even higher goals and subsequent accomplishments. He spoke with commitment and genuine passion in
all of his articles, Trip Reports, Roundtable Discussions and Message Board posts.
He
Said It Best
Mike
set out a clear Precision-Shooting path with his words.
It was clear because Mike had walked every step of it, and he knew each inch
of that path intimately.
I
want to share a few of his words:
The
Toss
I
dont care what anybody tells you, you wont make money on a consistent basis if
you dont make the toss of the dice your primary concern within this discipline. The toss is the delivery mechanism to get the
dice to the end of the table and come to rest in a favorable manner. This may sound overly simple but without a
repeatable, reliable method to get the dice on the felt, your time would be better spent
scrounging the streets for deposit bottles!
Taking
Notes
I put the date
and time on the sheet, I record all my Passes and all my seven-outs, hardways, bets and
payoffs, and SRR. Really bad seven-outs get
special attention! Short throw, Flat arc, Wobbled. Nothing is too unimportant to note.
The really good
stuff is scrawled in and around that 1½ margin!
What position was I throwing from, what was my stance, how did I hold the
dice, where were my fingers touching them. Was
I leaning forward or straight up? What was
the release point and follow-thru? How was the spin?
Any mirror images? What was the
pre-shot routine, where was the target, how high did the dice get during the toss.
Why be so
meticulous? The notes are for those days when
the touch leaves town, when feel goes on vacation, when I cant get past four throws
before the devil shows, when the dice feel like some foreign matter in my hand. This is
why I take all these notes. Especially
important is when I have a good series of throws in the 30s 40s or 50s
without the devil. When that happens, I
cant write enough. I want to know everything that could have possibly taken place
that allowed me to make all those numbers. Im
just like the chemists; I want to make sure the formula can be duplicated again and
again.
Attitude
Woe is the
person that stops at the word NEVER. How many experiences has that person been
cheated out of? And look at all the lost
opportunities. When
I
hear the word never, it signals a challenge, a new door to be opened and new
things to be learned, opportunities for enrichment, and advancement of skills.
If you want to be
the best you can be at this game, you have to jump in and get your feet wet, and that will
only happen if you never say never again!
Preparing for
Success
Id been in a
bit of a slump; inconsistent results, way too many point-seven hands, plummeting bankroll,
lost confidence, ugly stuff! Mostly though,
no good stories to tell the Mrs. at suppertime. (She loves to hear the goings on at the
tables!)
Well with the Sept.
20th seminar fast approaching, I had to get out of this rut and get something
going. So I did what the Irishsetter wrote
about: I cycled up!
I started an
intense series of really good, focused practice sessions.
No experimentation here! Just plain and simple basics! Revisit the sets,
grip, stance, target and delivery method. And while Im at it, break out JP (John
Patrick) and cram on betting strategies and bring it all together with the guidance of MPs (Mad
Professor) latest articles. And, Ill be
dipped! A turn around!! Hands that only lasted 7 rolls or less have grown into a steady
diet in the teens with hands in the twenties and one recent outing that featured a roll
count of 45 tosses.
Getting
out of Slumps
Everything our craps
teachers here on the web have told us has been true.
This game can pay big dividends if you work hard at it. The Mad Professor says to practice 10 hours for
every one hour of casino time. Hes
right on the money, as usual. So I got back
to the practice table in earnest and focused in on the basics and after a number of long,
concentrated sessions my missing consistency returned!
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
Beer,
Craps and Small Improvements
In brewing
beer Ive learned that you can create a lot of different styles and flavors by giving
a small tweak to a base recipe. You
start by developing a very repeatable basic formula. Then by adding a pinch of this or an
ounce of that you can change the color of the beer, its taste, the amount of carbonation,
just about anything you want.
It all works off of
a base set of ingredients just like our dice throw: a certain set, grip, velocity, arc,
spin and landing target. Once you develop a
good, reliable, basic throw, you can tweak it a bit, just like the beer recipe, and add
little arc or subtract a little spin to achieve the desired result. And just like brewing, it takes trial and error
to attain the desired results.
One type of beer is
excellent during the winter but just doesnt cut it in the summer. One beer tastes great with nachos, but cant
cut the mustard with pickled eggs. So, just
as no one beer is perfect for every need, so to is our dice toss. There is no one throw that will work on every
table. So if youre looking for that one
perfect throw, it doesnt exist!
But, if you know
what you can produce with a repeatable formula of set, grip, velocity, arc, spin and
landing target, you can (and should) bet your bottom dollar that youll be able to
alter the ingredients to achieve a winning recipe.
A
Final Word
Though I never met
Benjamin Franklin, his words had a positive effect on me.
While I never met Mike Mokoid either, his words had a positive effect on the
dicesetting community
and on me.
Well
Mike, you wrote things that were most assuredly worth reading, and you certainly did
things that were definitely worth the writing
and in doing so, you touched us all.
When
you are playing at the dice table up there, looking down on us mere mortals, I know that the dice will always
bounce in your favor.
Most sincerely and
with admiration,
The
Mad Professor
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