I hadn’t even been planning to play on this particular date, not because of some aversion to the number seven; but because I had planned to camp out in front of the big screen to watch the LiveEarth concert.
A 7-7-07 Trip Report
Frankly though, I was bored after the first couple of hours of watching; so when Ms. MP offered to tape it while editing out the lulls, I decided the siren call of the casino on such an auspicious date should not be ignored.
More often than not, my normal play when I am shooting at one of my home casinos, is to shoot as a Rightsider and extend the duration of each hand as long as possible.
Now I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t believe in any of the superstitious stuff that makes sane people make irrational decisions; but I thought that I’d use the actual 7-7-07 date as an in-casino excuse to change up my play a little bit…grab a chunk of casino gold…and still stay under the radar by appearing to adhere to most people’s groundless exuberance over this particular date.
On The Come-Out
Though I usually use a very aggressive Game-Within-A-Game strategy for Darkside shooting; for this session, I chose instead to establish the anti PL-Point as quickly as possible by using a minor-7 dice-set for the Come-Out cycle before switching over to a 7-dominant set for the Point-Cycle itself.
In this case, I used the traditionally arranged V-2 set for the Come-Out.
Now even though its on-axis outcomes evenly distribute the box-numbers right across the board (two 4’s, two 5’s, two 6’s, two 8’s, two 9’s, and two 10’s); I have found that it produces significantly more of the Darkside-desired Outside-numbers (4 and 10) than the other minor-7 sets do…but with the trade-off of producing less on-axis Come-Out winning 2’s and 12’s offered by the X-6 set.
To my mind, that trade-off for this kind of shooting was worth it.
Even though I was giving up some even-money wins from the 2 and 12 on the Come-Out (theoretically 12.5% of all on-axis X-6 Come-Out tosses versus 0% of the O/A V–2 tosses); I was more than making up for it by establishing easier-to-knock-off PL-Points of 4 or 10 more often (theoretically the on-axis V-2 should establish the 4 or 10 as the PL-Point about 28.6% of the time versus the on-axis X-6 set, which should establish the PL-Point of 4 or 10 about 16.6% of the time).
In practical fact however, when I use the V-2 for the C-O cycle, I do quite a bit better than the theoretical numbers would predicate…establishing either the 4 or 10 as PL-Point a tad over one-third (35.4%) of the time.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that establishing a tough-to-repeat PL-Point is one thing; but knocking it off with an intentional 7-Out can be something entirely different.
I’ll also be the first one to agree that knocking off your own Don’t Pass bet with a PL-winning repeater is not a pleasant thing; but then again neither is 7’ing-Out as a Rightsider either.
To my mind, if you do inadvertently repeat the PL-Point and lose your DP-wager; you still have the dice to give it another go, as opposed to the Rightsider who has to relinquish the dice to the next shooter.
To my way of thinking; getting the dice right back after shooting yourself in the foot, gives the skilled dice-influencer an opportunity to immediately redeem his shooting…and to turn a loss into a gain or at least to partially mitigate the first loss (instead of having to endure one more lap around the table until the dice are once again back in your advantaged hands).
Yes, there are many dice-influencers who can’t bring themselves to think about shooting from the Darkside for that very reason; however, they are potentially missing out on what is easily one of the most overlooked dice-influencing opportunities out there.
A Darkside Advantage-Play Perspective
In taking the strongest, most plentiful number on the dice (the 7) and mildly influencing it, instead of trying to exert a higher degree of influence over a more difficult, less plentiful number (any number other than the 7); means that a skilled shooters chances are not only less volatile, and more frequently occurring; but most importantly, it means that the advantage-player can focus ALL of his per-hand money on the one single number where he has the strongest edge over the house.
That's an advantage-play perspective that is too hard for the smart player to completely ignore.
For the Point-Cycle
My weapon of choice for the eliminating the PL-Point during the point-cycle switches back and forth between the S-6 (Straight-Sixes) set and the P-6 (Parallel-Sixes) set, depending on the PL-Point itself.
~If the PL-Point is a 4 or 10; then I use the All-Sevens permutation of the S-6 set.
~If the PL-Point is a 5 or 9; then I’ll also use the same A-7/S-6 arrangement.
~If the PL-Point is a 6 or 8; then I opt for the All-7's permutation of the Parallel-Sixes (P-6) because it only has one each on-axis 6 or 8 versus four O/A 7’s. I like the theoretical 3:1 on-axis advantage…which in practical terms of my own shooting nets out a little closer to 3.8:1 in actual outcomes when the PL-Point is 6 or 8.
The 7-7-07 Casino Landscape
I knew all of the $15 and $25 tables would be crowded, even by weekend standards; but I didn’t think the $50 and $100 tables would be quite so full as they were.
The $100 table had eleven players at it, while the $50 table only had six players…and one of my favorite shooting-spots was open at it; so that’s where I bought in.
All the dealers as well as the boxman commented when I put two quarters on the Don’t Pass line when the dice came around to me. They know me at this place as a die-hard Rightsider when it comes to my own shooting. In fact, it’s probably been about three years since I last shot from the Darkside here.
There were audible groans from my table-mates who were quick to point out that the table was already cold and had been for quite some time, so they didn’t think it was very nice of me to try to encourage the continuation of that cold spell. Of course they used much less flowery language in actually conveying their opinions in my direction.
I mentioned the 7-7-07 thing and they all nodded begrudgingly, but somewhat approvingly as to my obvious insight about such matters. I suppressed a silent smirk at the absurdity of it all so as not to blow the image of being just-another-superstitious-gambler (which is the same reason I tell them why I always set the dice too).
A Summary of My In-Casino Results
I didn’t throw that many hands, but 7-out-of-the-8 hands that I did throw turned out to be net-positive.
Total Hands Thrown:.................................8
Average Rolls to Establish PL-Point:..........1.3
Average Rolls to Disestablish PL-Point:......4.1 (including each hand-ending 7-Out, and including the 8-roll hand that included one PL-Point repeater)
Average Base-Bet:.................................$50 on Don’t Pass
Average DP-Odds:..................................$300 (6x-allowed on 3x/4x/5x-Odds table)
Average Win per 7-Out:...........................$250
Net-Win:...............................................$1850 (after adding a couple of C-O wins and subtracting a couple of C-O losers, plus the one point-cycle loss which was partially offset with a subsequent next-Point, same-hand, DP w/Odds win).
While the whole 7-7-07 thing may have been overblown a bit by the media and gamblers alike; it was nice to use it as an excuse to change things up on the shooting front a bit.
From a Darkside shooting perspective, I can definitely say that shooting for the 7 on 7-7-07, turned out to be a pretty good idea. Even at one of my home casinos, I don't think I'll wait quite so long before shooting from the Darkside again.
Good Luck and Good Skill at the Tables…and in Life.
The Mad Professor
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