I like to review my session diary (little spiral notebook) after each trip, and highlight my successes or failures for the trip. For me this is an eye-opening look at what happened.

It is amazing to see the same mistakes crop up in multiple sessions during the trip. We tend to get blinded by the lights in the gambling environment and even though I would think about the day’s mistakes I made that cost me money, I did not see a pattern until the trip was over. Something about not seeing the forest for the trees I guess.

What follows is a synopsis of my week in Vegas from the mental and physical aspects of playing craps. This is not a trip report. I looked for things that I did correctly, or errors in judgement that cost me money. By proper evaluation and documentation I hope to not repeat these mistakes, and be able to repeat the positives next time.

LV Trip Notes 08/25 – 08/29/2003

Key to Trip – Discipline, or lack thereof

Negatives

Bet too much on Random Rollers.
Bet too much on myself when toss was not looking good.
Early on – tossing with too much energy

Positives

Had many nice tosses and hands over 20 rolls.
Had very few point 7 outs. (But when they happened, it hurt)
Left tables when annoyed.
Used the 5 count on all Random Rollers.

Played 31 Sessions in 5 days.

Down $500 in first 3 sessions. Why?
Played on some unfamiliar tables.
Toss had too much energy.
Bet too much on RR after 5 count.
Should have 5 counted myself until I found my consistency.
Dice not leaving my hand consistently.
Did not rest following plane ride. I went right to the tables.

Next Morning

Headed to Paris where I have had good results in past.
Won next 2 sessions. Notes – I had softened my toss and the results reflected it. (Note-Toss still had too much energy but less than before.

My Session Tendencies Historically:

1st Hand – Usually short – Maybe point 7, more than likely
will be 4 – 8 rolls.
2nd Hand – Normally my good roll. Usually 12 -25 rolls.
3rd Hand – Usually somewhere in between the first two hands.

Next session at Paris was a big loss. Why?? I broke my own shooting rule of 3 hands and no more without a break. Why? I was at an empty table, one other player came up who
passed the dice back to me.

I had my usual run for the first hand. In fact, it was point 7 (4-3 double pitch). I adjusted the toss and the next hand was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 tosses (4-3 double pitch). Dice were looking good, lots of 6 and 8’s. Dice passed back. Next hand was in the 12 – 15 range, still looking good overall, last toss the dice splayed and the right die caught the corner and flopped over for a 6-1. I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED THERE WITH A WIN!

Dice returned to me and I shot another hand. Dice were not leaving my hand consistently. What did I do? I bet $110 inside and 3 rolls later another flop (6-1) because of a bad toss. I should have regressed after one hit but did not.

Dice come back to me again. What did I do?

I bet $110 inside and 2 rolls later another flop (5-2) because of a bad toss. I should have regressed after one hit but did not. I SHOULD HAVE LEFT AFTER 3 HANDS BUT DID NOT!

After this session, I only shot more than 3 hands at a session once (It cost me!). Can you say "Hard Head"? Back at Paris later in the week. First two hands I dug myself into a hole because of throwing with too much energy. I shortened my back swing and with the third hand I made nice recovery with a roll count in the mid 20’s (Lot’s of 6 and 8’s). I then decided because the third hand was so good I would hang around for one more hand. Fourth hand results – Gave $50 back. Same song different verse

I SHOULD HAVE LEFT AFTER 3 HANDS BUT DID NOT!

I found the following in my session diary.

NOTE to SELF: Slow em down!! For a 12′ table still too much energy in dice.

Normally all I play are 12′ tables and I practice for 12 foot tables.I have never had much success on 14 footers. That is until today. I changed hotels from Bally’s to Harrah’s. Every session at Harrah’s was a 3 digit win for me on 14 foot tables no less. My tendency to have a bit too much energy for the 12 footers translated into a very good shot on the 14 footers. I wanted to play more at Harrah’s but the tables were almost always crowded and I was not going to lose on Random Rollers while waiting an hour for the dice to come around.

My biggest session losses – First Day Sessions at Terribles, Venetian, TI and above session at Paris on the second day.

Venetian, TI and Paris have good tables. What happened? I repeat, these places have good tables and I know it. Overconfidence in myself when the dice were not looking good, and broken self-discipline in the sessions cost me money.

My best decision of the trip was at Paris where I pulled up to a table with two other players. I took SL 1 and unfortunately the guy to my left reeked of vodka and was obnoxious. I did not realize this until I had begun to toss the dice. The dealers were edgy because of him, and the boxman was annoyed also. My first roll was 5 or 6 rolls. Once again, I had too much energy on the dice. I wanted another shot. The drunk guy went point 7 and so did the only other RR at the table. I got the dice again and had a 8 – 10 roll hand with a lot of crap numbers in the hand.

I was not comfortable. When I sevened out, I was down $1. The best move I made the entire week I made at that time. I got the hell away from that table. The negative energy from everyone there was very apparent and I picked up on it.

Played many different casinos. No heat to speak of. Tipping the dealers and hitting the back wall regularly takes care of the heat issue.

In summary, as usual if I had only bet on myself I would have brought home a profit for the trip.

I broke another rule of mine because I arrived in Vegas at noon. I normally go to the hotel, check in, and take a rest break before gambling. I could not get a room until 3:00pm so I did not get a rest. Thus, bad tosses and bad betting decisions set me back from the start.

I need to evaluate my tosses for consistency before betting big on myself (5 count). If the dice are coming off my hand properly and landing softly bet em up!

No more than 3 hands per session.

Overall good trip, do away with day one and it would have been a really good trip.

Daryl

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