Busman,

Funny things can happen even with the absolutely correct throw. It happens. Those pyramids will from time to time do their job—which is assist in making any throw random. It is simply part of the game. In practice yesterday, for what ever reason Doc had five 7’s in seven rolls of the dice. Was every roll perfect? Absolutely not. But all were pretty good and acceptable. Had I been playing in a casino most of the 7’s would have been come out 7’s and would have make money on those rolls.

HOWEVER–to answer your question are you doing something wrong–our guess is that yes something minor has worked its way slowly into some of the elements of your throw. It happens to all of us from time to time. Self critique can be important as you practice. In additional coming to a class weekend at the least once a year or more and taking a refresher class, a tune up or at the very least come to the open house for a quick critique, will be of great value.

We think that your problem is probably the grip. As one our favorite instructors/owners in GTC, Mr. Finesse, used to say, the only time you have 100% control of the dice is when the dice are in your hand. Once the dice roll off the tips of your 3 fingers the laws of physics and nature take over. We find that we get a lot of 6-1’s if our thumb is not centered without the same about of skin of each of the dice, as you will see a slight wiggle as the dice go through the air causing the dice to land on their corners and the dice will to all sort of crazy things. This is where you might start. Remember—grip, grip grip.

Secondly, make sure when the dice roll off the tips of your 3 fingers, your fingers are level to the table. If they are cocked a little, the dice will land on their corners and head to the right or left.

Start with these 2 ideas and see if that helps.

Hope to see you soon.

Rose and Doc

I’ll add this to Doc’s excellent advice: during your practice, to analyze your shot, how the dice got there is more important than how they ended. For example, if a 6-1 came up, both dice had to flip. The diamonds can do that. The same will happen if the dice don’t land flat. As Doc said, if the dice aren’t landing flat, then the finger position is usually the culprit. An off center thumb or any pressing on the dice by the ring and/or index finger will cause an oblique landing.

Less likely but possible is an irregularity in the layout material or wood underneath. At home, just feeling your landing zone will determine if that’s the problem. If your practice landing zone at home has pine plywood underneath, you’re going to often have that problem from both knots and natural grain. That’s why casinos use birch wood (solid or ply is fine). If this happens in a casino, you’ll have to move your landing zone. I was at one casino on the Gulf and felt ridges under the layout. No choice but to color up.

I have found it immensely helpful to video record my throws. I start by gripping my dice then holding it up to the camera, then make my throw. You need lots of light. On slow motion replay, any problem is immediately apparent.

I mentioned at one casino that they should record a craps game, just like they do at the World Poker Tournaments, where small inset cameras record the players’ hole cards for audience viewing when it’s later televised. In craps, cameras just under the rail would be able to record everything without showing more than the chips, layout, and hands. I said a number of craps players would like to get a copy of a good roll they have. The manager asked what I’d be willing to pay. I said $70 easy. I’m hoping it catches on.

Do you have any old dice ? Glue them and see how they look in the air before they hit . You may be surprised at how they look in the air .
Good Rolling.

My receiving table is one that you sell; so I don’t think that it would be the table. Even though I have recorded almost 3000 throws; I feel my throws are better but not perfect. Consistency is a problem. I guess I will work that out with time. I’ll work on the suggestions that was offered. Thanks to all.

Preacher had the right idea. Use your cell phone or Ipad to make a video of your through. You can have your wife, girl friend or buddy take the video. With the video you can detect all sorts of flaws to your throw and the dice as the dice fly thought the air. For free you can down load a good app called Slo Pro where you can slow down both your throw and the dice as they go through the air and detect all sorts of flaws to your throw. This is similar to what is done during an Elite Video, just not done with the great equipment used or the eagle eyes of No Field Five and Billy The Kid.

Give it a try. My only caution is don’t have your wife and girl friend film you at the same time. 😀 🙄

Rose and Doc

Shots that result in a lot of 6’s or 1’s, or both, indicate the dice are not rotating together on axis. The reason the 6’s and 1’s are appearing is the dice are not rotating together and on axis.
The cause of the issue is usually the grip or something happening when the dice are coming off of your fingers.

The grip must be correct. The dice should come out of your hand whenever centrifugal force pulls them out. If you are opening your hand or moving your thumb to make them come out they will have wobble and probably also not rotating in sync with each other.

Go back to basics with your grip, setup, and arm swing.

NFF

Try a piece of foil in your landing area. You will get a clear impression (snapshot) of how your dice landed on the table. Great way to determine if it was bad luck from the back wall, or (more likely) a flaw in your delivery.

Thanks to BTK for the suggestion!

All great stuff. Happy to be on this site.

High Arc