At the Table with the Mad Professor

As a dice-influencer, the game only goes into positive-expectation mode when the dice are in your hands or in the hands of another skilled shooter. The game goes right back into negative-expectation mode as soon as the dice are back in the hands of random-rollers.

If you can influence the dice, even if it is in the most modest of ways; then it makes sense to increase the number of times you get to shoot the dice. That means coming up with ways for you to create more shooting opportunities.

Over the years I’ve shared some of the most obvious methods you can use, as well as some of my more furtive and secretive techniques that will put the dice into your hands more often.

With the growing number of new members among our D-I citizenship; a quick review of some of the things that we’ve already covered is in order:


Play During “Off” Hours

Prime time for most casinos is from 7 pm to 2 am. The range of those hours may vary somewhat from city to city, and casino to casino. However, we can generally agree that the tables are busiest at night, and emptiest in the very early morning from 5 am to 10 am. The other hours connecting those empty and busy periods are somewhere between the two extremes.



Play During “Off” Days

Tuesday and Wednesday are traditionally the lightest days for in-house traffic, while Friday, Saturday and Sunday are customarily the busiest.

During busy convention periods, major sporting events, and of course long weekends and holidays you can expect the biggest crowds. However, the two days BEFORE a long weekend, and the day AFTER a long weekend is traditionally the LIGHTEST.



Play during “Off Season” or “Off Weather”

That one should be self-explanatory, but suffice it to say that if you go when everyone else is going; then don’t expect your pick of table-position.

Avoid the crowds especially during promotional periods when they are giving away cars, boats, barbeques and Swiffer WetJets, as well as during any of the area’s festivals, and instead play when most other people don’t even want to venture out.



“If You Liked That, Then Let Me Shoot Again”

If your dice-influencing skills are good enough; then those nine little words will return the dice to you often enough.

Let me paint a little scenario for you:

~Let’s say that your average casino-day totals four sessions of one-hour each, and that you get to throw the dice twice during each one-hour session.

~We’ll estimate that in four hours of play, you’ll get to shoot the dice at total of eight times, and out of those eight shooting opportunities, you manage to have two excellent hands in the range of 20 to 40 rolls.

~At the end of an excellent hand like that, you’ll often see players high-fiving each other, and the entire crew applauding your success.

Now in that scenario, how often does someone suggest passing the dice right back to you so that you can shoot again?

Though the suggestion probably happens quite often, the ratio of someone SUGGESTING it, and the actual number of times when everyone AGREES to do it is usually a 50/50 proposition, at best.

You would be surprised at how you can increase your chances of everyone passing the dice right back to you if you speak up and say something along the lines of, ““If You Liked That, Then Let Me Shoot Again”.




Seek Out Turbo-Dice

Turbo-Dice is not a new video game that rivals Halo3; rather it is a term used to describe gaming-houses that move the dice as quickly as possible, thereby generating as many rolls per hour as achievable.

Casino-operators have long known that more decisions/hour translates into a higher house-win/hour.

Now obviously you have to have both your betting-regimen and your dice-setting skills down pat when you play in a store like that, otherwise you may have the stickman or the boxman hurrying you along as you fumble with the dice. However, the sooner the dice are out from the control of a random-roller and the quicker they come back to your power of influence; the more potential money you can make.



Change of Shift

Find out when the casino normally changes their dealer-shifts, and ask when they usually open additional tables. Traditionally Swing-shift will have the most open tables, while the graveyard-shift will have the least.

One way to take advantage of these shift changes is to find out if they usually open additional tables when they change shifts. That way you can schedule your play for when new table(s) are first opening.

Since you know that very few people like to “open” an empty table, you can usually be the first player to get the dice. Not only that, but you can usually be a solo shooter for a number of hands before other players clue in or drop their social-inhibitions.



Be a Cold Table Warmer

A professional D-I friend of mine jokes with the Pit Bosses that he is their “unpaid shill”, because he’ll happily start up a newly opened table, or resuscitate a “dead” game where the dealers are standing idle.

He loves playing at solo-tables, so he’ll gladly get the game started. Then as soon as four or five new players drift over and he completes his own hand, he’ll seek out the next empty table that requires his “attention”.

If there are no empty tables where he is currently playing; then he’ll check his casino-notes to determine which places will be opening new tables, or which casinos should be the emptiest at that particular hour of the day.

I’ve often seen where a TGS or Pit Boss will motion him over to get a game started. They too understand the reluctance of most players to step up to an empty table, so they tolerate his relatively modest, but consistent winnings.



Trade Excitement for Profit

Crowded tables may be exciting, but they diminish and inhibit your profit opportunities. Remember that open but empty tables are the curse of random-rollers but the blessing of Precision-Shooters.

If you are still stuck in the superstitious, “Oooooh, that table is trending cold for the random-roller, so I better not shoot on it” mode; then you are passing up all kinds of great money-making shooting opportunities. Leave the voodoo at home with the high-priestess, and come on into the 21st century.



Higher Minimum-Bet = Lower Table Population

If each of four craps tables in a dice pit have different minimum-bets; then generally the cheapest one will be the most crowded, while the more expensive one will usually be the least crowded.
While there is no guarantee that the more expensive tables will always be less populated; a price difference usually means a population difference.

When you are playing on “known” tables where you have shot SUCCESSFULLY before and where all the other cheaper tables are crowded, then the more expensive table may be a great choice, and not just a high-priced alternative.

One caution that I would add is that if the higher table-minimum is outside of your current comfort-level, and it will likely intensify your shooting-stress and anxiety; in which case I would recommend against making this unique move.



Higher Table-Minimums Often Lure Better Dice-Influencers

Although most players who frequent higher-denomination tables are not necessarily better shooters; in some gaming-jurisdictions where there are a number of skilled dice-influencers, that is often the case.

There are many, many excellent dice-influencers in the world; and like it or not, there is a natural selection process that takes place which separates the skilled dice-influencers from the ones who haven’t yet gotten their entire skill-set in order.

That natural selection process is helped along by the fact that skilled players will eventually seek out higher-denomination tables for the majority of their action.

As their bankrolls grow, they come to the same realization that I have.

That realization is that the more frequently they get the dice in their hands during a given session; the better their chances of walking away with a substantial profit.

Though I still like playing at some of the neutral-rolling and unfortunately, semi-crowded cheap tables; I often find myself immediately seeking another shooting opportunity as soon as I finish my hand, especially if I know it’s going to take quite a while for the dice to come back to me.

Frequently, I find that the next shooting opportunity is immediately available at a higher-denomination table right beside the low-buck one I just finished throwing at...and a growing number of skilled shooters are coming to the same conclusion.



Buying Shooting Opportunities

There are a number of highly accomplished players out there whom specifically ask the Pit Boss to RAISE the table-minimum simply to keep more of the low-rollers OFF of the table, and to ensure that the dice cycle around to their position quicker.

They always seek out the higher minimum-bet tables in any event, because they know that those layouts are usually less crowded. However, when all of the tables are busy, it doesn’t require a whole lot of arm-twisting to encourage the Pit Boss to raise the cost-of-play at any one particular table.

If they have a favorite table, they will specify which one they want the higher-minimum to be established at. Sometimes this can be a simple increase from the normal $5 or $10-minimum bumped up to a $15 or $25 level.

Of course, the higher the standard-bet in a particular casino is; then the higher it will have to be raised to gain more and more exclusivity. At some casinos, kicking it up a notch or two will mean bumping it up to the $25, $50 or $100 level.

Even at that higher benchmark, you may not get the solo-exclusivity that you were hoping for, but at least you’ll have to endure far fewer random-rollers than you would at the $5, $10, or $15 tables.



Call Ahead Recon

Another way to maximize the number of times that you get to shoot the dice, is to call ahead to your target-casino and ask for the craps pit (or the “dice pit” if you are on the East Coast) and ask the Pit Clerk:

 How many tables are open and what are the current bet-minimums at each table?

 How crowded are the tables right now, and and when will new tables will be opening?

Armed with that information, you can tailor your playing plans to more closely correspond with the ebb and flow of staffing levels and table-minimum adjustments that are made throughout the entire casino-day.



Call Ahead and Reserve


Call to reserve your spot or even to have them raise the table-limit to your liking. That way they can give proper notice to the players that are already at the table that the price of fun is going up. By the time you get there, the new bet-minimum should be just coming into effect and fresh spots should be opening up.



Be the First Shooter at Multiple Tables

A moment ago, I mentioned the idea of adapting your schedule to be at the tables just a few minutes before a dealer shift-change when more tables will open.

Let’s take that one step further:

 As a courtesy, especially if the crew knows you as a good tipper; they’ll often let you shoot first no matter where you are positioned at the table.

 If they open several tables at the same time, you could take a look at how quickly each table-crew is getting ready (as they count down the cheque-bank and unwrap fresh dice, etc), and choose the table that will be ready first.

 Then, after you’ve thrown your first hand at the newly opened layout, you could switch over to the one that is now just about ready to open (especially if the table you are at has filled up because of pent-up player demand).

 Again, if you are the first to arrive at the second table or you pre-reserve a spot at it with one of your extra Players Cards (by asking the crew to hold your spot, and saying that you’ll be back as soon as they’re ready to go); then they’ll likely let you be the first shooter at that table as well.

At some casinos where they open three or four new tables at the same time, you can use this method in order to shoot four straight hands in a row on four different layouts.

If your shooting is dialed-in, and you keep your wits about you; there is absolutely no reason why you can’t make money off of each of your hands, while concurrently avoiding an equal number of random-roller hands.

For a skilled player that still struggles with random-roller discipline, you can look at it in another way:

The more often that you shoot, the less time you’ll spend frittering away money on random-rollers. The money you save by avoiding random-rollers can be more intelligently redeployed on wagers where you have a validated edge over the casino; and that is when the dice are in YOUR hands.



Ask and Ye Shall Receive…Lowering Your Cost of Doing Business

If there aren’t any players at a high-denomination table whose bet-minimum you yourself would be uncomfortable in betting at, and the crew has been standing dead (idle) for some time since anyone played on it; then simply ask the Pit Boss if he will lower the bet-minimum.

If he agrees, you will probably be able to get in one or two complete hands before fellow players catch on to the fact that the former expensive table is now more reasonably priced.
In the meantime, get your good rolls in, and tell the stickman not to call out the “Pass-Line winners” too loudly. That helps to keep the mass-migration from occurring too quickly.

Let’s take that idea one step further…

Many times if you’re on good terms with the crew and the Pit-miesters, they’ll let you play at a lower-than-posted rate at the more expensive table until at least one or more players joins in; then you’ll either have to bet at the “posted” minimum, or move back the cheaper and more crowded layout.

 Since few mid-roller random-shooters like to play solo, there’s a likelihood that your action will bring more higher-limit (but reluctant-to-play-at-an-empty-table) players to the layout…and in doing so, you’ve done the Pit Boss a favor.

 By letting you play at a lower-than-posted bet-level until another player shows up, the Pit Boss has also done you a favor.

Doing stuff like this also tends to raise your stock-value as far as your worth to the casino (in the eyes of the Pit-guys that are filling out your Rating Card) is concerned. Besides, the worse they can say to your request about lowering the price of an empty table, or letting you play at it for a lesser amount until another player shows up…is “no”.



Ask For a HIGHER Limit Table…Part Three

I know we just got finished talking about asking for a lower limit, but I want to return to the whole subject of playing at higher-denomination tables, and specifically about intentionally getting the Pit Manager to raise the table-minimum of a cheap table even if you are the only player on it.

Asking for a higher table-minimum when you’ve got a cheap table all to yourself may sound counter-intuitive, but if you find a nice empty cheap table, you’ll often see players come out of the woodwork in droves as soon as you start to play. They may not have been around a moment ago; but as soon as you pick up the dice, they all swarm in like locusts.

If you find yourself on a table that is similarly-priced to all the other ones that are open, and you know from your own experience that most players will stay away if it was higher-priced; then it often makes sense to have the bet-minimum raised to the highest-limit that you yourself are comfortable with.
This method acts to limit the amount of player-migration from nearby tables.

The idea is to afford yourself the most frequent dice-throwing chances WITHOUT raising the bet-minimum past your own comfort-level (or your bankroll-affordability level).

It is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT that you remember that this whole more-shooting-opportunities concept is based on your validated Precision-Shooting advantage.

If your shooting shows a verified and consistent advantage, and your betting is properly matched to fully exploit that advantage; then it just makes good economic sense to get the dice in your paws as often as reasonably possible.



Eyes Open, Ears Tuned

In my seven-part Steaks, Trends and Opportunities series, we discussed various ways to “tune in” to what is happening at other nearby craps tables.

By doing that, you can anticipate when some tables will start to clear out due to their ‘coldness’ and you can then position yourself to get in your favorite shooting-spot as the table loses more and more players.

Keep your eyes open and your ears tuned to situations where you can put yourself into a position where you’ll be able to put your advantage-shooting to work for you.




Playing at More Than One Table at a Time

Scope out other tables that are emptying out because of cold trends. If even the liars are complaining and everyone is drifting away; then this is an ideal opportunity for you to step up to that table.

Park a chip in the rail at your current table to hold your spot (or use one of those plastic half-pipe chip-covers that more and more casinos are using these days), while you go over to that de-populated one.

As a side-note, it’s considered “impolite, but not illegal” to be playing at more than one table at a time. If you are known by the crew and the Pit-critters as a good-tipping player; then it usually buys you additional latitude as far as casino-management allowing you to do this sort of thing.

A reserved spot at two different tables where you can shuttle back and forth between them, means having twice as many shooting opportunities to work your advantage-play magic in the same amount of time.



In Part Six of this series I'll share some rather unusual ways that create even more shooting opportunities for your positive-expectation shooting.



In the meantime,


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

The Mad Professor
Copyright © 2007