My girlfriend has a problem with my Precision-Shooting articles. 

She’s got nothing against craps.  Her casino-earnings alone keep her in a Christmas-shopping mode virtually 364 days of the year.  In fact, she and Santa teamed up and had a brand-new 14-foot craps table from Paul-Son Gaming delivered to our home five days before Christmas.

She’s got nothing against websites in general, and in particular, she thinks that Irishsetter’s site is excellent.

So what’s the problem?  She says, “The problem with all of your articles is that they talk about throwing techniques, and betting methods and discipline, maturity and focus.  You write about lifestyle issues and travel experiences and all kinds of stuff, but I think that you are really missing a really important point!”

Well at least she didn’t say, “You are missing the main point, as ALWAYS!” so I’ll take that as some consolation.  I asked her to explain further. 

She said, “All the stuff that you write is great and terrific, but you are leaving out so many small, but important points, is it any wonder that so many people have so much trouble mastering Precision-Shooting?” 

She went on to say, “There’s so many things that you leave out, and I think they are critical for success.  You leave them out because they’ve become such an integral part of how you play, that you don’t even think about them at all.  It’s the stuff that has become “second nature” to you that probably means the difference between struggling to succeed, and actually getting consistent success at the tables.”

She continued, “You are leaving out the small nuances of winning.”

I must have had a bewildered, slack-jawed, dumbfounded look on my face, because she said she’d explain.

We sat down and she was able to list five items without even pausing for breath.  I’m sure I still had that quizzical, stupefied look on my face, because she said, “Ah, has the student taught the teacher something, Professor?”

Let’s take a look at the first couple of items on her list:

v     Appearing “normal”

v     Stance and launch

v     Breathing and relaxation

v     Finger-position variations

v     Masking Profit

I responded by saying that I had mentioned all of those items in at least some of my articles.  She just shook her head, and asked how long it had taken me to perfect my Precision-Shooting.  I said that it had been profitable for more than ten years, but I was always looking for ways to improve upon it.  I said that it took years upon years to actually develop it to the point it is at right now.  She agreed, and asked how long it had taken me to learn the subtleties of winning.  How long it took to fine-tune my game after I had realized that I could make a fine living off of craps.  My responses pretty much mirrored the first answer.  I said that it took a long time, but that I was still learning something new pretty much every week.

She said, “Okay, hear me out on this idea.  You’ve probably forgotten more about this game than most people will ever know about it.  You’ve made almost all of your actions so instinctive, that you forget to write about the tiny, but critically important details.  So you pass on all the major stuff, but it is all of that fine-tuning that really made this game into a real money-maker for you isn’t it?!”

Okay, credit one to Ms. Mad Professor for discovering the obvious.   In Part II of this article, we’ll explore each element, and perhaps together we can figure out how to codify each one.

Until then,