The Dice Institute


It really depends on my history with that particular table, and how recently I have played at it, and also how recently I have played craps at all.

To me, more than a three or four day layoff might as well be a month or two. If I've been away from the tables for more than two days, I WILL NOT play until I have thoroughly warmed-up in a non-gaming situation. 

Let's also assume that I'll be playing at one of my top three or four most lucrative table positions.  Obviously at an empty layout, table-position isn’t an issue.

➠ If it is a table I am very familiar with, and I have generally thrown well on it in the recent past, AND I have already thrown at another table (or warmed-up sufficiently outside of the casino); then I'll just start with my usual betting routine.

➠ If it is my first session of the day, and I haven't warmed up at home or in my hotel suite; then I'll start out with relatively low bets, but I'll still have Place-bet action on my most recently-dominant Signature Numbers, plus some light, low-dollar wagers on my two most dominant Hardway-numbers for the set that I am using.

➠ However, it is a RARE day when I’ll head to the casino without first doing a little at-home or in-suite warm-up.  The difference in the money that I can earn on my first hand when I do warm up versus what I might lose if I don’t do it ahead of time…just isn’t worth the risk.  Why pay for low-cost “practice” at the casino when my skills should be paying ME?!

➠ Many times my first-hand Come-Out roll will provide enough evidence that my shooting is properly dialed-in, so (based on that substantiation) my Point-cycle bets will start off at their normal level.  If my C-O tosses indicate that my shooting isn’t yet up to par; then my initial Point-cycle bet-sizing will also reflect that (and will therefore be quite a bit lower than normal).

➠ If it is on a table that I haven't played on before (even if I am sufficiently warmed-up), then I'll definitely start out low and slow with my wagering. I want to see how the dice are reacting to my throw on this unknown table. From there, I make adjustments to the toss (velocity, trajectory, spin, target, etc), which helps to adapt my throw to suit that table.  Once I have it dialed-in, which may (but hopefully won’t) take a couple of short-hand low-dollar 7-Outs to figure out; then I'll step up my bets to their usual level.

I’d also like to share an in-casino grip-release/toss-tweaking method that a close friend of mine (who I’ll simply refer to in upcoming articles as the QB from UT) uses if the dice aren’t leaving his hand smoothly and flying together in perfect level-flight mirror-formation harmony…

“QB” uses the baby diaper-change table that is often housed in the handicap washroom-stall in many casinos.  He unfolds the change-table (which he swears are all as new as the day they were installed); and uses that “slightly-padded layout” and a pair of dice that he carries with him at all times, to do a little between-rounds dice-tweaking.





He uses the diaper-change table as a flat-surface launch platform on which to set and grip the dice and then commence his toss.  This helps to verify that he’s keeping the dice locked together in perfect harmony from the moment he sets them to the moment he releases them.

Yeah I know this method sounds a little unusual…but so is the unusual amount of profit that somehow finds its way into QB’s pocket by the end of nearly all of his sessions.

To my mind, anything that reduces the first-hand-of-the-first-session volatility…is a VERY good thing.  Further, any mid-session tweaks that help to cure minor grip-flaws or release-alignment issues is an equally great thing.



Pacing Yourself

MP, how do you pace yourself over extended playing sessions day after day after day?  I find that I feel totally exhausted midway through the second day of any gambling vacation or dice-seminar.  If I stay for three or more days, I’m a total zombie and I know that can’t be good for my game.  By the time I get home, I need another vacation just to recover.

While most players want to stuff as much table-time into each trip as possible; the pace of trying to fit it all into such a short period; leaves them feeling out of sorts.

When you add the further effects of interruptions to your normal sleep/wake cycle, and meeting up with friends to do a little more socializing and imbibing than usual, and mix all of that with the anxiety of feeling like you have to perform on cue…or at least not let them down when you shoot; it can all add up to intensified mental and physical fatigue.

By putting in so much table-time and adding the stress of social-obligations on top of your normal shooting-anxiety; you are probably not giving yourself enough time to mentally and physically recuperate between each session.

Many players catch Vegas-fever (even when they’re in Biloxi, Reno, Tunica, A/C, Tahoe or on the Midwest boats) and don’t realize how fatigue can quietly sneak up on them.  Often the adrenalin charge of being in a city that parties (or at least plays) around the clock, obscures and disguises mental and physical weariness.  By the time most players realize just how exhausted they are (and that their decision-making powers and dice-influencing powers are reduced and diminished); the major bankroll-damage has already been done.

Since you are in a strange bed in a town that runs purely on adrenalin and money, you are probably NOT getting the amount or the QUALITY of sleep that you are used to.  Anxiety and excitement mixed with reduced sleep…in a casino environment, adds up to a highly toxic tranquilizer.

The casinos are full of wide-awake zombies whose minds have been anesthetized by that particular elixir.  There is never a shortage of fresh meat that is led to the casino’s money-grinder in precisely the same way.

➠ What you might want to consider is increasing the QUALITY of each session, and reducing the QUANTITY of sessions played, as well as reducing the DURATION of each session.

➠ As far as increasing the quality of each session, you might want to have a solid practice-session in your hotel room EACH TIME before you head out for the tables.  Don’t head out until your toss tells you that it is ready.

➠ Next, you might want to take a mental-inventory about how you are feeling before and after each session.  I learned this from Lyle Stuart a long time ago.  He would always record how he felt (and quantify on a scale of 1-to-10 how he measured up as far as his anxiety, fatigue, outlook, expectations, hopes, goals, energy-level, positive frame-of-mind, etc), both before and AFTER each session.

➠ Doing a mental-health-check-up provides you with a tangible record that you can look back on and “discover” that a low-energy/high-fatigue start often pre-indicates a dismal outcome (as well as providing insight about other key indicators that reliably predict how your mood, attitude and energy-level affect your results ahead of time).

➠ After a losing session, the worst thing you can do is to fail to “regroup” before your next session.  While it may seem inconvenient, consider going back to your hotel room and having yet another practice session AFTER you get in a little more rest, relaxation and reflection.  Your mind and body may be charged up with adrenalin, but your psyche may be quivering like a bowl of nervous Jello.  When your Precision-Shooting is dialed-in and your MIND IS EQUALLY DIALED-IN; then and only then, should you consider playing another session.

➠ In some cases, the physical act of absenting yourself from the casinos with a dedicated walk or drive back to your hotel will provide a much-needed break.  This interruption of activities is usually exactly what most players need.  The walk, the fresh air, and the time to reflect upon what just happened is just as important as the upcoming practice-session itself.

➠ After a loss, I like to go out to the batting-cages or driving-range to pound a few balls.  You’d be surprised at how three buckets of golf balls or a couple of hundred Major League bat-swings will do to clear your mind.  A good physical workout brings fresh perspective to your game, fresh oxygen to your brain, and considerable mental-distance between you and that loss.  It is important to retain the lesson that was learned, but to discard any negative feelings that were attached to it.

➠ By the way, you don’t have to sustain a loss as an excuse for a physical workout or practice session.  To my mind, physical fitness and mental acuity go hand in hand.  Many others don’t agree with that; but then again, they don’t play craps for a living.

Gambling-zombies make for easy-pickin’s as far as the casinos are concerned.  There’s never a good enough reason to needlessly surrender your bankroll to that kind of self-inflicted carnage.



Modern-Day Dice Sliders

Are there any modern day sliders out there, or do the bumps in the prop area prevent this?  Do the casinos have a problem if the dice fly across the prop area and then slide?

A: Yes, there are still a small number of adequately talented dice-sliding guys out there.

However, they usually wear out their welcome VERY quickly, and almost always end up leaving the gaming jurisdiction (the city they were in) quite quickly and with the authorities in hot pursuit, regardless of the various disguises that these rounders (cheaters) wear.

When I say “hot pursuit”, I simply mean that those players have their surveillance photos circulated around to all of the nearby casinos, so that once they’ve been identified they can’t ply their trade anywhere else in the same city.


On the other hand, I’ve been at tables where the most skillful of them get away with it for hours at a time.  Mostly though, they do a quick high-buck hit-and-run…often operating in not-always-easy-to-identify (disparate-looking) teams.  You would also be surprised at the number of tables across North America that DO NOT have the slide-defeating tripwires, dowels, or speed-bumps installed under or over their Prop areas, and be equally surprised at the number of Pacific Northwest Native Indian casinos where it’s not unusual at all to see skilled sliders openly doing their thing.

Generally, if the dice slide after they FLY through the air OVER the Prop-box, they call it a legal roll.


However, I would strongly urge you NOT to try sliding the dice. It could lead to being labeled by the casinos as a dice cheater, which could lead to your being banned in literally HUNDREDS of casinos throughout North America.



Testing Out New Betting-Methods

Hey Mad Professor, how do you test out different random-roller betting systems that are discussed on various Message Boards from time to time?  Some of them sound really tempting.

My approach to random-roller systems-testing is very similar to those used by Tinhorn Gambler and Irishsetter (as discussed in a very interesting Message Board thread some time ago).

➠ I first look at the overall idea or core-concept behind the method.

➠ If the fundamental approach looks solid, then there's a good chance that it will perform fairly well when put under the gaming-microscope.

➠ I also look at the possible applicability of it for my own shooting, or that of other Precision-Shooters. There are tons of absolutely horrible random-roller betting-systems out there that when applied to the skills of a talented Precision-Shooter, perform absolutely brilliantly (and absolutely PROFITABLY).

➠ Likewise, there are quite a few systems out there that, if applied to the RIGHT random-roller situation will perform quite admirably too. The difficult task of course is to properly choose the RIGHT betting-method for the RIGHT situation at the RIGHT time.

This is where I'm in lock-step with Irishsetter in betting with the general trend, but not getting hooked into believing that the last specific random roll has an influence on the very next random outcome.  Rather, by hitching my wagon to the predominating random-trend, there is a better likelihood that I'll catch at least one-of-many (by sticking with the prevailing trend), instead of hoping to catch one-of-a-few (the next exact roll).

➠ Clearly, we all agree that no betting-method works all the time, and that is ESPECIALLY TRUE when you are talking about betting on ANY random-rollers.

➠ On the other hand, some methods work most of the time; while several work so few of the times, that their proponents have long since left the craps scene (unless they have come up with additional systems to sell, or have found further ways to finance their betting-schemes from outside sources); because they sure aren't making their money at the tables using their highly-touted and sometimes highly-priced systems.

➠ If you ever find yourself wondering whatever happened to various systems-centric guys who used to post on the Message Boards with high regularity, (but also noticed that they faded away fairly quickly); chances are they were either felled by ill-health or more likely, their bankrolls were body-bagged by their relentless pursuit of the hare-brained betting-systems that they were initially so effusive over.

➠ If a betting-method or wagering-approach looks good on paper, then I'll run it through my own low-concept System-Shredder to see if it even warrants setting it up on WinCraps. Unfortunately, some methods (and most parlay-it-to-the-moon-before-you-collect R-R systems) don't have the legs to make it even that far.

➠ For example, if a betting-system requires a random-roller to hit every box-number (in precise order from 4 through 10) before it pays off; well, you can run computer simulations until your motherboard melts and Milli Vanilli has another hit record...but it still won't miraculously turn itself into a good, solid random-roller play.

➠ Likewise, if a random-betting method calls for you to do a power-press to the fifth or sixth or seventh hit on one specific number; then chances are that even the occasional big wins will not be enough to cover all the previous initial-bet losses.  If it did make economic sense, then you’d probably see more of the proponents and promoters of that and similar ideas camping out at the tables and raking in the green, black and purple ducats…and forsaking their day-jobs altogether.


On the other hand, I am always open to new ideas, although I have a high level of skepticism when it comes to making ANY bets, on ANY random-rollers, at ANY time, with ANY of my money.


I hope the reason for that stance is as obvious to you, as it was painfully obvious for me when learning that lesson over the last couple of decades.  It is INCREDIBLY difficult to eke out CONSISTENT winnings off of any random-rollers. So for me, it's got to be a GOOD and RELIABLE method that proves and validates itself with situationally-specific WinCraps simulations before I'm willing to stake it with my own money.

To that end, I've only come across three methods that passed my "sniff test" (to determine just how rotten or refreshing they might be in a real-world situation), before making it to my "I'm willing to dedicate a couple of thousand dollars to verify in real-world play what I just validated with WinCraps" stage.


Those three wagering-concepts are PerryB's Stepladder Method, the Modified Hedge-Hog Method, and my own Choppy-Table/Short-Leash Method. Of those three, only one of them (the Modified Hedge-Hog) failed to live up to its expected performance in real-world profitability when applied to the gaming situations they were specifically designed for (or to an even narrower set of situational circumstances where they demonstrated even better profitable suitability to that amalgam of conditions).

Very few players have the patience and discipline to use any of these methods only within the closely-defined parameters in which they perform the best.  When played on an every-shooter basis, EACH and EVERY random-roller betting-method will produce a long-term loss…bar NONE!

Like I said, I am always open to new ideas, although I have a high level of skepticism when it comes to making ANY bets, on ANY random-rollers, at ANY time, with ANY of my money.



Sahara Suites

Mad Professor, I just got a free room offer from the Sahara cause I gave them a few bucks of play the last time I was in Vegas.  It offers a Tangiers or Alexandria Suite.  Which one would you take?  After reading your Trip Reports and Road Show reviews, I know you’re a big fan of hotel balconies especially to have your morning coffee on.  Do you know if either of those suites have balconies, and can you tell me of any other casino-hotels that have balconies?

I like the Alexandria Tower suites at the Sahara Hotel because they have fully accessible balconies that are about 15-feet wide, and have at least two chairs, one chaise-lounge and one table and they are cleaned everyday so you don’t have to dust the airborne flotsam and jetsam of desert living off of them before your lady sits down.

The Alexandria suites are a little over 100 sq. ft. larger than the suites in the Tangiers Tower, so they offer a little more room to spread out and relax in.  Both types of suites have a full wet-bar and a Jacuzzi (unfortunately, not adjacent to one another), and are nowhere near as shop-worn as the regular run-of-the-mill Sahara rooms.

Please note that the regular rooms in the Tangiers Tower are in significantly better condition than the regular ones in the Alex-Tower.

Many players are pleasantly surprised when they find out that their normal level of action at a higher-rung LV resort (which barely qualifies for a comped ice-cream sundae much less a room at their regular place), will be offered top-of-the-line suites and the full RFB run of lower-rung joints like the Sahara.  It’s enough to make an ever-growing number of savvy players say, Keep Your Volcano and Pass The Dice.

As far as balconies are concerned:

➠ Stardust’s East Tower (that’s the old one) rooms, and their Lanai Suites all have balconies (or direct walk-outs to the pool area).

➠ Tropicana’s Garden Rooms have balconies, but you’ll only be a maximum of three stories off of ground-level (with a fine view of the parking-lot).

➠ MGM Grand Terrace rooms all have balconies, and the rooms themselves are fairly nice.

➠ The Riviera has many rooms with balconies, as do most of their high-end suites.  Keep in mind that a medium-roller at Caesars or Bellagio or Mandalay, is a WHALE to the pit-folks at The Riv.

➠ Almost all of the rooms at Imperial Palace have balconies.  Some of them overlook Harrah's Carnival Court (where the sometimes loud entertainment runs ‘til after 2 a.m.) while others have a side-angle view of Bellagio’s fountain.

➠ The Mardi Gras Tower pool-view rooms at Harrah's have balconies as well.

➠ Sam’s Town, Tuscany Hotel-Casino, plus the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas, JW Marriott/Rampart Casino, and in the from-one-extreme-to-the-other department; both the Ritz-Carlton/Casino MonteLago and the Nevada Palace each have balconies on most of their rooms.

➠ HardRock Hotel has small balconies which are profiled in my Home At The Hard Rock article.

➠ The New Frontier has two and three-room Players Suites on the ground-floor that overlook the pool area.  The balconies themselves are huge, but are sparsely furnished.  The top-floor Players Suites do not have balconies, but are in much better shape than the ones on the ground-floor.

➠ The top couple of floors in Bally's North Tower have what would marginally qualify as a balcony (in the same way that the Department of Education classifies ketchup as a vegetable in the National School Lunch Program), but they are really just sliding glass doors with a demi-balcony and a railing.

➠ The top-floor suites at El Cortez have small balconies.  The suites are maintained in surprisingly good condition, but being outdoors even at that height, engages you a little too intimately in the harsh urban grittiness of Fremont’s tenderloin.

➠ The downtown Gold Spike Hotel-Casino has balconies attached to their suites, but keep in mind it is the Gold Spike…so that means no craps table, but PLENTY of Mickey Spillane-type dumpster-rat characters.

➠ The Venetian has patios in their first-floor Terrazzo Suites which offer very limited views of the surrounding pool areas.

➠ The Greek Isles Hotel (the former Paddlewheel/Debbie Reynolds Casino-Hotel) has balconies on all of its room (but none of it’s suites).

➠ There were a number of run-of-the-house suites at Caesars that had balconies in the old Centurian Tower, but their most recent renovation eliminated almost all of them except for the rooftop/penthouse ones.

And speaking of balconies, Fitzgeralds has a neat public balcony above the spot where Mr. O’Lucky (that hideous green leprechaun) used to be mounted.  It offers a birds-eye view of the Fremont Street Experience that is still under the canopy but away from the madding crowds.  It makes for a great meeting-spot, or a place to relax for a between-session break.



San Remo Origins

Hey MP, one of my buddies from PARR said that the San Remo Casino-Hotel is the most renamed hotel in Las Vegas.  Any truth to that, and should I make a bet with him on that?

Hmm, good question.

I don’t know for sure if it is the MOST renamed casino-hotel in Vegas…but it sure looks like a strong front-runner in that race.  If you are looking strictly at the “property” (real land) instead of the actual bricks-and-mortar  “building”; then my money is on the Mirage (which has had ~21 technically different casino appellations on the same property before adopting it’s present cognomen).

➠ What we know as the San Remo Hotel today was built about 31 years ago and opened as a Howard Johnson's motel.  It is located beside the Tropicana Hotel and directly across the street from MGM Grand.

➠ As soon as they got a gaming-license, the name was changed to the Paradise Hotel-Casino, and then to the 20th Century Hotel.

➠ The property was subsequently acquired by some local low-level racketeers as the Treasury Hotel-Casino.  Even the come-on of 5-cent beer failed to save it from bankruptcy and a subsequent gaming-license revocation.

➠ Shortly thereafter, the Treasury’s property-title was transferred to a new set of guys fronting for the former regime but they ran into some unrelated legal problems in the Midwest and had to sell.

➠ At that point another ownership group took over and it became The Pacifica, and then morphed into the tiki-hut themed Polynesian Hotel-Casino.

➠ The Polynesian managed to stay below the gaming-regulators radar for a few years until its gaming-license was once again suspended.  Toyo Izumi and his Japanese partners in the Eastern and Western Hotel Corporation acquired it at a below-market price when a number of better-financed (and higher-bidding) suitors were disqualified from the process.

➠ Along with adopting the San Remo name, Izumi started to fiddle around with various marketing ideas including going after upscale Asian guests.  Unfortunately none of his strategies panned-out in a sustainable way.

➠ For 2006, the 711-room San Remo receives its eighth appellation as the new Hooters Casino-Hotel.  Their plans include a large Hooters Restaurant and a smaller Pete & Shorty’s Tavern, along with the Bait Shoppe Sushi Bar, Dan Marino’s Fine Food & Spirits (plus Marino’s Martini Bar), and of course a Hooters Beach Club Bar & Grille, along with refurbished rooms and a quadruple-expanded pool area.  Maybe their land-barge craps layout will be replaced at the same time…here’s to hoping.

Well folks, that’s all the mail that’s in the e-box this week.  Thanks for your continued good thoughts, ideas and questions.

Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables…and in Life.

Sincerely,

The Mad Professor