(The following is excerpted from the book "Casino Craps: Shoot to Win!")

The 20 Commandments of Dice Control

1. Do not take longer than 10 seconds to set the dice, grab, grip, aim and throw the dice. If you take longer than 10 seconds the casinos will think you are slowing down the game and that will bring attention to you. The good dice controllers average about seven to eight seconds from start to finish on their rolls.

2. Always hit the back wall but when you don’t, please give an indication that you have screwed up. Don’t wait for casino personnel to yell at you. Apologize even before anyone can say anything to you. Do not argue with casino personnel – it is their place; you are the guest.

3. Do not discuss dice sets, dice throws, bounces, backspins or anything of any depth at the craps table. You can discuss philosophy, religion, history, literature, science or other trivial subjects, but stay away from any and all dice control talk. Weighty dice talk can bring down the weight of the casino upon you, something you don’t want.

4. Act as if you are a regular player at the tables. Don’t be snooty. If someone has a good roll, be he a chicken feeder or the best of the GTC shooters, or anyone in between, cheer when he hits his point. Feel free to yell out on random rollers, “Good shooting!” when they make numbers. The pit will see you are excited about a guy who really has no edge over the house. Make it look as if all shooters have the same chance to have great rolls and that you are rooting for all of them equally.

5. Do not give advice to anyone while the game is progressing. If a random roller asks you a question, refer him to the dealer with “Ask the dealers, they are the experts.” This makes you appear humble. Humble is good. Also praising the dealers never hurts. Everyone likes to be praised.

6. You might try to get in the line that your spouse or significant other or best friend is a slot nut who plays long hours when the two of you come together. It’s good to be looked at as one of a gambling couple, the second of which (your wife, friend, son, daughter, etc.) is a big loser.

7. When you are having a good roll, do not become an egomaniac. Even if your dice are so perfect that you can call your number, don’t do it. The time for showing off at the craps tables has ended. In the past, the great shooters could sometimes put on a show of skill (Dominator was the champion of such things) but that time is now over. Just act happy and excited, the way a normal craps player acts, when you hit your point – and groan when you seven out (which is actually quite easy to do).

8. If you are disputing a call, do so politely. Do not yell or speak sarcastically to casino personnel. You win no friends on the other side of the dice table by being obnoxious.

9. The dealers live on tips. Be generous with your tipping. You’d be surprised how stress-free most craps games are when the dealers think of you as a “George” – which means a guy who tips and is on their side. If you’re on their side, they’ll most likely be on your side.

10. Be friendly to the box persons and the pit personnel. Act like a regular gambler at the tables – except don’t bet foolishly the way they do. If you see a “yo” don’t bet the “yo” because that’s for ploppy yo-yo’s!

11. If you happen to like the casino you’re playing at, let the dealers, the box, and the pit know that you like them. That’s good PR and also encourages them to continue to act in a manner that you enjoy.

12. Do not take notes at the tables. We have seen students taking notes while we are shooting the dice to determine how many rolls we did or for whatever esoteric system they think they are employing. You can record rolls using chips from your rack. Some of you take notes to see a trend. There are no trends in craps on random rollers and GTC shooters have trends based on their sets – just bet as they do. (We know some dice controllers love to keep a record of their in-casino throws, not just how many which can be done with chips, but the actual faces. This is a bone of contention. We don’t like it; others do. We prefer just keeping totals.)

13. Do not do the fire drill at the table and fully switch positions back and forth. Again friends who are gamblers and are shooting together do not do this and you must not do this either. You can step back a little so your teammate can get a little closer to the back wall, but moving chips and changing positions will only draw attention to you. We draw attention to ourselves already because of the way we shoot. We don’t want to draw any more attention. By the way, some casinos do not like shooters to have their arm cross the Crazy Crapper bets in the center of the table so you might have to move back somewhat if you are in shooting position #2 so the #1 shooter can shoot from SL 1.5 or SR 1.5.

14. Do not ask other players to move their chips from your landing zone. Does a gambler ask someone to move chips to have a better place to land? NO! Neither should you. You must practice to be able to hit different spots at the tables. We once saw a shooter actually go to the opposite end of the table from where he was standing and asked someone to move their chips. How ridiculous is that? He broke his own concentration and you can guess what number came up with all eyes upon him! He became a laughing stock for the rest of the players.

15. Know how much you are going to get paid for a bet. Do not slow down a game because you are slow witted on payouts.

16. Know what you are going to do after you get paid on a winning bet.

17. Make your presses at the right time and not out of order.

18. Keep the game moving. Make your bets all at once – don’t wait until the last second to throw out a new bet. Never throw a bet out when the shooter has the dice or even when the dice are being pushed to the shooter. Even if the shooter is a random roller, it is a sign of respect not to jump in at these times.

19. Don’t constantly keep calling your bets on and off. This just angers the dealers and a gambler just doesn’t do this very often. Gamblers will occasionally call their bets off but it is not an ongoing practice. On random rollers, it doesn’t matter what numbers he hits – it’s random!

20. There is a final commandment that might be needed in the near future – or right now if you are reading this book several years after its publication. During the Come-Out roll, you might not want to set the dice at all. Since you can’t seven out, just gently roll the dice down the table and take your chances with the math on a random roll. You have a two-to-one edge on the Come-Out roll and this might be the time to act like a regular shooter. To give you more time at the tables, it might be necessary to act like a random shooter at times when doing so will not hurt you too badly.

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