Precision To Win
By
The Professor
About ten years ago a student who
attended my Do’s and Don’t of Dice™ asked me if I had any knowledge of
dice control. About a week later he sent a package to me with a video
and a booklet with instructions. I was not impressed with the
instructions or the quality of the video, so I did not pursue dice
control at that time. A year later I ran across a new web site at the
time, Dicesetter.com, and I purchased “Dice Control for
Casino Craps - Gambling Disciples of God”, published by Yuri.
Although the title may seem a bit out of character, for the record, I
have played dice with God many times. God is a much better craps shooter
than he is a golfer.
With the information in Yuri’s book and
my extensive knowledge of anatomy and the musculature system, I began to
investigate the art of dice control in detail. I was already playing
craps weekly with consistent success, so I decided to make a
concentrated effort to see if dice control would add anything to my
game. I was living in Taos, New Mexico at the time and there were seven
casinos within a couple of hours drive from Taos.
I came to the conclusion that dice
control was worthy of the effort and I made the commitment to become a
skilled shooter. Being self taught is a bit like following the steps
needed to align a radial arm saw for precise cutting. I did not know for
sure if I was doing it all correctly. I was preoccupied with perfection
and looking for ways that I could improve. If there was a step missing
or needing correction, how was I to know? Although I was having fair
results, sometimes dice control did not work in the ways that I had read
about on-line, and that troubled me. I began to wonder how my results
compared to others. I also wanted to meet other dice controllers to see
how they played the game.
In my pursuit of information, one lead,
led to another, and one day I found myself in Las Vegas at a dice
control convention. I met some of the presenters and I was invited to
join two of them for a game at a downtown casino. The scheduled meeting
was at four o’clock in the morning. I am not one to go out of my way for
a dice game, still if I was going to see the experts of “dice control”
in action, I knew that I was going to miss some sleep.
At the designated casino, I met the
gentlemen that had invited me. They introduced me to another dice
controller whom I had seen the day before at the dice convention. It
felt like I was entering a secret club. I was instructed to enter the
game incognito. There were already three other dice control players at
the table.
The dice were passed to me just after my
buy-in. I became intensely aware of the strange stillness of the early
morning energy in the casino. I rolled a three point hand from table end
and felt small standing in the greatness of the “dice experts”. The next
“dice control” player got the dice. He took his time mulling over the
dice, like picking two puppies from a litter of six. Once the right pair
was selected, the game was on! The come out roll resulted in an outside
number. Chips were raining down from the players’ hands as place bets
were ordered left and right along and prop bets flying to the stickman’s
hand. A feeling of “Wow! This is going to be easy,”
overwhelmed me. It
felt like the fix was in and I was sitting in the easy chair. I held
that feeling the whole time even though the results were mostly
unremarkable. In fact, compared to any other dice game, it was not much
different. Cutting to the chase, after each “D.C.” player had a turn
with the dice, the game ended abruptly as one by one the dice
controllers colored up.
I was up 26 units after seven shooters
(16 from my hand) and I never saw a hand longer than my three point
hand. I remember feeling a little confused with the way the game
ended. At the cage, the discussion between the “D.C.” players went
something like, “Well that didn’t turn out so well. Whad’ya say we go
out to Green Valley Ranch?” I had just about doubled my buy-in, in about
an hour. I was dozy from a lack of sleep. I was not in the mood to chase
another game on the other side of Las Vegas, especially after a nice
win. I had seen enough in one short session to satisfy my quest for dice
controllers’ “intel”.
The two players I met also won but it
was less than what I had accomplished. They were as disappointed with
their results as I was thrilled by mine. No one playing in this game had
invested with a large sum of money and no one played units larger than
$10. Not a big deal really. I was only surprised by this because of the
illusions created on the web pages, chat forums, and newsletters which
seemed to produced a bigger than life image of dice controllers. I had
envisioned theses players with loads of cash, betting large, and winning
thousands. It was not the case. Another observation made was how the
alleged experts were not bankrolled for all the bets they were making.
At first I thought it was because they always won and as such, they only
needed a couple of hundred to start a game. I learned later that it was
more like “scared money”. I also came to realize that “controlling dice”
was just an expression. The setting and tossing techniques used by the
dice controllers was similar to that which I had read about in the
books. However, I did see ugly dice, a lot of “wild ducks” flying that
morning. Trying to be kind here, the dice controllers were anything but…
The most important confirmation was
recognizing that the dice strategies I had mastered in my years of
playing craps were superior to those being used by the players relying
heavily on “dice control.” Dice control is not a stand alone tactic.
Hoping to hit a hand, the dice control players gave up any advantage by
making risky high vig bets. Playing like a typical craps bettor, did not
make cents.(sic) I think some casinos are starting to understand this. I
feel it is the reason some casinos are beginning to get over their fear
of the dice controllers. After all, what’s there to be afraid of,
players wasting their money on proposition bets, and other high vig bets
with the hopes of hitting a long shot?
My trip to the dice convention in Las
Vegas was a great learning experience and an eye opener for me. I
learned to not doubt what I had come to know about the game. I learned
that when other dice players experience a bit of success, it can be
magnified, dare I say exaggerated. Careful attention is advised to what
you come to believe and take on as a part of your dice game.
Dice setting, dice control, dice
influencing, precession shooting, and any other words you wish to
include are labels attempting to add more to the game. As a skilled dice
influencer, there is so much more to it than just saying that you are
“one.” “Advantage Player” is the operative word and in order to have any
advantage as a dice influencer, the dice tactics must be valid and above
all, they must be adhered to with precision. Step one must be
accomplished correctly if any of the steps that follow are to have
success. If your set is okay but your dice separate because of a poor
grip, even with a perfect release, the dice will not rotate on axis.
They will split apart, left and right, and land randomly. Have you ever
purchased a device that required intricate and precise steps for
assembly? If a step is not properly completed, the device will not
function in the way that it was intended. Proper dice manipulation is
just like setting the adjustments for a precision tool. It is just as
important to have the correct order and precise steps in your dice
setting game; if you are seeking desirable results.
The game of craps is not so difficult
that anyone couldn’t walk up to a table and simply play. However, the
game of craps will be difficult to beat when the player is missing the
necessary tactics of advantage play with a precision to win.
Post Script: In this article I purposely
used “dice control” instead of what I would normally write, dice
influencing, dice setting or dice manipulation. Dice control is
misunderstood and over stated. However, when I think of it in specific
terms, yes, dice control is a viable description; not that anyone truly
has control of the resulting roll. However, where the control enters the
game is with the control the skilled player has over themselves and how
they make use of that control during the game. When shooting dice we are
in control of how quickly we are able to set the dice. We are in control
of the sets that we choose to use. We are in control of our grip, our
toss, the release, the way the dice hang together in flight, on axis,
(not wild ducks) the speed on the dice, the amount of rotation, (the
backspin) the arc, the landing zone, and making sure both dice rebound
from the back wall. This control does not come easily. It comes with a
hell of a lot of practice and a commitment to excellence with precision.
By the way, the real practice takes place in a live game, when and where
it really matters. See ya at the tables!
Copyright ©2009
Michael Vernon
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