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New Dice, New Opportunity
This
guy went into the hospital for a circumcision, but because of a mix up, he ended up having
a complete sex change. All the doctors and
nurses had gathered around his bed as he was waking up so that they could give him the bad
news. Naturally, the poor guy went to pieces
and started crying when they explained what had happened to him. "Oh no!" he moaned, "This means
I'll never be able to experience an erection ever again!" "Of course you will," one of the doctors
soothed, it'll just have to be someone else's, thats all." Ah yes,
change isnt always a pleasant thing. A reader
wrote in a while back, and asked:
DCs
question about "new" dice is a good one. I too, have
run into the exact same problem and challenge. Those
"white powder fresh" dice do have the sharp edges that bite and dig in. The other thing is that they are more lively than
dice after they have been in use for three or four hours.
Have you ever seen a professional tennis player inspect several tennis balls
before choosing one to blast over the net? They
might throw one or two back to the ball-boy and nod for a couple of other ones to be
tossed over for additional inspection? Even
after moderate use, dice and tennis balls have less bounce than brand-new ones. On
tennis-balls, the "nap" or fuzz wears down.
On dice, the polished and hardened surface also wears down. This is especially prevalent on the edges first. As a
side-note, heres something to think about. Lets
say that old tennis balls and old dice dont bounce or roll like new balls or dice. Okay, so how old are the dice that you are using
at home to practice with. That may give a
further explanation as to why at-home practice sometimes yields very different results
than real-world in-casino experience. Im
not suggesting that you stop practicing; Im just giving you a little to think about. There are many factors that are different in the
casino as compared to your home, and dice-age may be one that you may have overlooked. One
thing that the casinos have pretty much outlawed in all of Nevada, Ontario, and New York
State, is "banging or burning the dice before you throw them". If you've ever
seen someone set the dice, and then bang them hard on the table before throwing them; this
is "banging". If you've ever see
someone set the dice and then rub the dice very rapidly on the felt table surface, this is
"burning". Both of those two acts have a VERY big effect on the wear and
randomness of the dice. If you don't believe me, just move your fingertips very
quickly, back and forth on the felt, the next time that you are in a casino. You'll
see that it is made from a very abrasive and static-creating material. If you
"burn" each dice on a pre-selected face, they feel that you can mill the dice
enough to affect the outcome. Ill have
an article on this subject in the near future. Okay,
here's what I do when Im faced with new dice. If I'm using the pincer-grip, I
grasp the dice "deeper" than normal. That is, my thumbnail for the
side-axis closest to me, and the middle-finger nail on the outer dice-axis, pinch the dice
slightly below the center point of the dice-sides. The target area that I aim for also moves slightly. If I have
dialed in a great sweet-spot while using the "old" dice, I re-target the initial
landing area about two inches further away, but still on the SAME parallel rolling-lane. Finally, I use a perceptibly softer pitch with the new dice. I
do not change the trajectory or loft. Rather, I concentrate on a smooth release, and
on just barely giving them enough forward momentum to get the dice to the initial landing
area. If the box-man or dealer says anything about a short roll, I usually quip that
"there's baby-powder or something on those new dice, they just slipped out of my
hand." I hope
that this is helpful for you next time that they put the old-dice into the
"penalty-box" drawer at the Pit Clerks desk, and bring out the new
"ice-dice". Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in
Life. The Mad Professor
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