I frequently get questions – both by e-mail and on the Axis Power Craps Forum, regarding what it takes to succeed as a dice influencer. Recently I sort of “went off” on an older gentleman who has been searching for the “secret” of precision shooting for several years, but still has not found it. Here are some of the highlights of my response to his question.
What we have here is a classic “can’t see the forest for the trees” situation. I know. Sometimes it’s tough. I remember in school I used to hate open-book tests because they were usually harder than the rote memorization stuff. But EVERYTHING you need to know to succeed at precision shooting has been covered in books, videos, and on-line forums – in many cases in much greater detail than required. Don’t over complicate things. Subscribe to the “KISS” theory and keep it simple.
The “all sevens” set with the intentional off-axis toss has been discussed many times on the on-line forums. I’ve seen the set up and toss both by students and coaches from the group that is touting it. I even took the time to practice it myself. Based on my personal observations, I think the concept is mostly BS. You are simply introducing a randomizing element into the toss mix that doesn’t need to be there. You say you tried it and had good luck? Guess what? That’s exactly what it was. Luck.
The ONLY ground-breaking work that’s been done in the dice control arena in the last ten years or so came from Maddog with the introduction of his BoneTracker program. His program has been VERY revealing. But the nitty gritty on dice influencing is NOT rocket science. You don’t have to dissect your toss results six ways from Sunday to figure out how and why it works – or doesn’t work. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You simply need to master the basics, practice until you develop some proficiency, learn how to bet your own hands, then look inside yourself to find the discipline not to stand there at the tables and LOSE. Are you practicing regularly but not improving? Then you are probably practicing INCORRECTLY. Find someone who can show you one-on-one how to fix your problem and fix it.
Of course, the problem the vast majority of the folks on the boards have is that they like to PLAY the game TOO MUCH. When it gets right down to it, these people are less interested in playing for keeps than in playing for fun. I read things on the board like “We had a great time. I played 16 hours and only lost $200″ and I can’t help but wonder “What the hell are you thinking?”
I don’t care HOW much discretionary income you have – going to the casino and losing is NOT my idea of FUN. Yet there are people on this board and mine (God bless ’em for being honest with us in their trip reports) who continue to post about losing sessions – and end their reports by saying they had a good time. Guys, if you continue to do what you’ve always done – you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got. If you want to play to win you have to get in – lock up a win – and get gone.
I KNOW this is a tough pill to swallow – especially if you are an AC player who rides the bus down from the city and has 8 – 10 hours to kill before the bus goes back. But if you get in the casino and get $500 ahead in your first hour of play, your ONLY logical choice if you want to KEEP that $500 is to lock up your buy in and win, spent ten bucks on a good paperback, then go sit in the lounge and wait for the bus ride home. You say you don’t want to sit on your butt for ten hours waiting for a bus? For fifty bucks an hour I’ll wait all night. In the end, that’s $500 the casino WON’T get back – and it makes for a hell of a lot more pleasant bus ride home.
Think about this. A study conducted by one of the major Nevada universities a few years back revealed that if a player wins $360 on a $500 buy-in and does not color up and LEAVE THE CASINO – roughly 97% of those players will give back the entire $360 – AND lose his entire buy in.
It’s the CRAP BETWEEN YOUR EARS that’s beating you. You can CHOOSE TO WIN or you can CHOOSE TO LOSE. It’s up to you.
