Craps

Short Vegas Trip Report

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March 26, 27 and 28. Had a great time in Vegas with a couple of GTC grads/shooters. We all stayed downtown, which has some great places to play with zero heat. A couple of observations: The idea that you have a great chance to play at 4 or 5 a.m., appears to be mostly an urban myth. Almost everytime I"ve been to LV, I have found full tables in the pre-dawn hours and the participants are usually drunk, stupid kids. My new method is to wake up when I feel like it and try to find an open table. It can usually be done. Two or three CFs at a table are fine. Many more and it is too easy to cool off between rolls.
BTW, I had a personal best 39 roll hand at my favorite downtown location. Just one number away from club entry! It’ll happen. It was great to hear the other players giving me a round of applause. None of the beatches tipped me though! Bummer. One of the dealers even said it was a great hand and mentioned the fact that he had made three rotations by the time the Bitch appeared. So, about a 40 minute hand. Played a total of 5 sessions and had an 18 and a 23 among those, as well. Which brings me to a point: I am experimenting with finding a betting system that allows me to get up on a lot of numbers as fast as possible with as little BR risk as possible. It is still a work in progress. All I can say is that you don’t always make a killing when you roll a big hand. It was great fun, but at the end, I ended up down $3 in craps for the trip as a result of some bad decisions. My feeling about group play is that if you or a friend has a good roll, say something over 15 – 20 and you’ve made some money, it might be a good idea to walk away or go block without playing. Your buddies might equal or surpass that good roll, but personally, I’ll get a big hand about 1 out of 6 or 8 hands. Chances are you’ll lose your winnings hoping for an even bigger roll following an already healthy win. I am finding that a lot of GTC trained players stay too long and many make bad bets. If the 401G is going to grow, you’ve got to become a DISCIPLINED advantage player and not just someone with a skill who plays constantly. Controlled craps shooting is guerilla warfare not an all day campaign. If anybody has some schemes they use for getting up on the numbers quickly and relatively safely, I’d like to hear it. I’m not a 6-8 place bettor nor am I a $64 across shooter. I like to make two come bets with full odds and begin to spread out when wins in my rack equal the two bets on the layout. Safe, but doesn’t get a lot of numbers in play unless you win quickly and have a 15+ hand. At $10 tables, I’m considering making two $10 place bets as soon as the first bet with odds hits, thereby getting on 4#s pretty fast and pressing the place bets to $25 or $30 on the first hit. Second $30+ number that hits, get on the last 2 numbers for $10 each. Sometimes I’ve found that a number I don’t have repeats several times even during a 10- 15 roll hand. This morning in practice for example I had a 4 and a 9 as line and come numbers and proceeded to hit the 5 four times! Sevened out at 18 rolls without really getting much going. Made the point once, so the damage was minimal, but having that 5 for $10 and pressing it to $25 on the first hit would have resulted in $35 x 3 during that hand, plus the point getting made. Thoughts appreciated. Alamo


Replies:

Posted by: Pit Boss on April 3, 2012, 5:34 pm

AlamoTX:

Congrats on your 39 and a very wise post.

This is very well put

Chances are you’ll lose your winnings hoping for an even bigger roll following an already healthy win. I am finding that a lot of GTC trained players stay too long and many make bad bets.

There have been times where after a really big hand, I have called Southwest and changed flights and left.

On getting up on numbers faster… What if you place the 6-8 for $12 or $18 then make a come bet, this way if you are pounding a different number over and over, you are profiting from that.

Posted by: Cmcierra on April 3, 2012, 6:12 pm

I generally like to start with 3 comebets with minimal odds until the numbers hit. Then press the odds until max. If you have place bets up on a number and a come bet hits that number, then take down the place bet and use those chips to place odds. It works great for me and you get up on all numbers fast.
Cmcierra

Posted by: brothelman on April 4, 2012, 3:09 am

I know one thing you can not play affraid to bet, and you can not ;think you will get ahead every time, you shot three times maybe two if the dice look bad four if they look great and it is not at night so you are still fresh.

why people can not understand shoot two or three times then take a break then do it again is beyond me.

really with the way we throw the dice aka let them roll out of our ;hand it takes it toll after a couple of shots you are not fresh, go rest for a hour then come back.

Is there anyone out there that cvan say they are as freash as when they started an hour or two later?

Posted by: brothelman on April 4, 2012, 3:11 am

I know this opening your hand and watching the dice bounce all over the table is not a controlled throw.

The dice have to pull out of your hand and roll off your fingers you must keep it closed or your betting will not matter at all.

Posted by: Stealthman on April 4, 2012, 3:28 am

Hope to be added to your list in late June, Bman!

Interesting, 2 place bets (6,8) followed by some come bets!

Thoughts by others would be appreciated!

Posted by: Finisher on April 4, 2012, 5:29 am

Wish I would of made that come bet on a dp roller. All I did was place the 6 and 8 while he rolled the 9 10 or 12 times. The 6 and 8 came up enough that I was happy. After losing his DP BET 3 TIMES HE CHANGED TO PASS LINE.he did win 2 x before the 7 came.
Good Rolling. 😀

Posted by: Skinny on April 4, 2012, 5:52 am

"Finisher" wrote: Wish I would of made that come bet on a dp roller. All I did was place the 6 and 8 while he rolled the 9 10 or 12 times. The 6 and 8 came up enough that I was happy. After losing his DP BET 3 TIMES HE CHANGED TO PASS LINE.he did win 2 x before the 7 came.
Good Rolling. 😀

Right now at this very moment there is a dp roller someplace in the world who is rolling the 9, 10 or 12 times. You are not betting on him and you are not making any money on him. But more importantly, you are not LOSING any money on him either.

In order for you to have made money on THAT dp roller you would have to bet the 9 on every dp roller. Then comes the question of when do you bet the 9 on a dp roller? Do you go up on him right away? Do you wait for him to complete the five count? Do you wait for him to roll several 9’s first before betting the 9? How many 9’s do you wait? Do you go up after he rolls 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 nines?

Well I have the answer to all those questions that guarantees you will come out ahead in the future. Do NOT make any wagers on a random roller ever again. If you follow that advice I guarantee you will have more money in your pocket at the end of your gaming career than if you try to figure out when and how to bet on random rollers.

There is no upside to betting on a random roller. In the long run you will end up losing money no matter how many long rolls you catch.

Develop your controlled throw and make your money by betting on yourself. If you can not make money on your own throw, go back to the practice table and do not go into a casino until you can make money on yourself. If you can not get better with practice, take a tune up, video analysis or another refresher. Then go back and practice until you are good enough to make money on your own throw.

If you shoot with other GTC trained players, use the five count and bet on them in a cautious manner unless you know the player and know he is on his game. But your primary and only goal should be to make money on your own throw.

If you are not able to accomplish or develop the discipline to follow this advice then accept the fact that you are a gambler hoping to win in a losing game and in the end you will leave more money on the tables then you take off.

Finisher, I started this with advice for you and then got off track onto a general description for anyone who wants to follow the GTC guidelines. So this is not directed at you but it is meant as overall advice to everyone on the board.

Thank you for listening.

Posted by: Dr Crapology on April 4, 2012, 11:45 am

Skinny, is so right on. Where I get frustrated is when a CF’er’s is throwing and I am using the 5 count and watching him roll 2 or 3 eights or sixs before he completes the five count. I then make my 1 come bet with single odds and it too is a 6 or 8. AND he never hits my number before his 7 out–it may be 1 or 2 rolls or 15. I am frustrated but it happens and I must and do accept that. This is what I do on each and every random roller, no exceptions.

The beautitul Alligator Rose has a great throw and I do wait a little on her (as she does on me) and if her throw looks good (and I have seen enough in practice at home to know) then I may go to the come line a little earlier—on the 3 or 4 count–no odds until the 5 count is complete. Then I am ready with odds the 1st roll after the 5 count is complete. A little more aggressive but not much.

MAKE YOUR MONEY ON YOURSELF AND OTHER GTC PEOPLE THAT YOU KNOW. It is the only way.

Doc

Posted by: Agame on April 4, 2012, 12:28 pm

"brothelman" wrote: I know this opening your hand and watching the dice bounce all over the table is not a controlled throw.
The dice have to pull out of your hand and roll off your fingers you must keep it closed or your betting will not matter at all.

Brothelman, other than the above, which doesn’t seem to be a concern in the original post, and the issue of shooting when tired that you mentioned in your previous post and which the original post also advises against, do you have any betting observations? Are you a 6&8 and max odds guy? Or a come bettor? What would you suggest in order to get up on more numbers quickly but safely? Have you ever desired to have more numbers covered faster and acted on it? How did it go ❓ 🙂

AlamoTx, thanks for the report. I have no advice to offer, only frustration to share. I am also still trying to figure out the betting, especially because my signature numbers vary with each hand. Sometimes my three numbers keep hitting and are enough to keep me happy and profitable, other times one single number that I don’t have will hit 3 or maybe 4 or even 5 times!! I don’t believe in changing my bets around too much when I am shooting and I don’t like to be chasing numbers. I also don’t come bet very often. So yeah, I’m in the same boat as you. 😐

Posted by: The Griz on April 4, 2012, 2:35 pm

Ahh… The Holy Grail of betting… Maximizing your investment with minimal risk. A conundrum for sure. Agame is spot-on, sometimes your signature numbers will vary game by game, so what to do… What to do… I would guess that your come betting method would be the best answer. We need to field test this! Sounds like another road trip! Who’s in?
😎

Posted by: brothelman on April 4, 2012, 3:18 pm

betting advice i do not give.

I bet into my srr and what smart craps says i can handle

Posted by: AlamoTx on April 9, 2012, 12:29 pm

Regarding what might have been a bit of an offhand criticism of my throw here, I have this to say. None of us has a perfect throw. I’ve seen quick seven outs, watching some of the really famous ones on this forum, including the critic. Anyone who works at controlling the dice knows that we each have things we have to work on. Dice control is like golf. One small variance in technique can cause unsavory results, and like a golf swing, your dice throw begins the moment you pick up the cubes and ends the moment they come out of your hand. My particular issue seems to occur most often on the release where my fingertip tension is not always what I want it to be. A word of caution. Grip at the end of the arc is my issue to work on, so don’t take this as some kind of advice on how to better release the dice. In fact, ‘release’ is the wrong word. For me, if my finger tips are where they are supposed to be when the dice come out, I’ll feel the dice slip out from between the thumb and middle finger. If I don’t feel the dice leaving the thumb and middle finger, I’m probably letting my hand come open. Can I fix it during that particular turn with the dice? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s a lot easier to analyze and fix a technical problem in practice. But, bottom line is that, no matter who you are, when you have a short roll, you are either doing something incorrectly or you are having very bad luck. It might be grip. It might be alignment. It might be too high an arc, etc. You might be tired. You might be rattled by the crew. So, if any of you have a short hand, including any who have pointed out my throwing errors, and you point seven or exit in just a few rolls (as I saw happen to you in Vegas), you too are doing something wrong on one or more of the dozens of things that have to happen correctly in a controlled throw. You can go rest all you want, but if you’re missing something you’re doing wrong, you will continue to lose. That’s why it’ s important to quit after a few turns if it ain’t working. Because it ‘ain’t working’. You’ve got to quit and get a handlw on what is wrong. When I"m playing with another GTC person, especially a blocker, I like to ask that person to tell me what he or she is seeing. Part of being a good team player, IMO, is helping your teammates. If, for example, my fellow shooter is not seeing back spin on my dice, I know I am most probably not gripping the dice tight enough at the finish, and my hand is open at the end of the follow through. Shooting alone or with no watcher, I might not figure that out in time to save the hand. It is something I look for in my game, and each person has to know what to look for in his own game. In golf, you might be gripping the club too tightly, causing tension all the way up your body, affecting your entire swing. Most of this stuff is anecdoctal, of course, and not proved like a science. The one thing I know about myself is that I have now had rolls in the high thirties twice in Vegas and many in the teens and 20s. My game is improving all the time. When I was a random roller from 1982 until I began to study GTC methods I NEVER, EVER held the dice that long and I only saw one other person hold them for long rolls like that. So, whatever I"m doing is improving my game, and I will keep working on it. Constructive criticism, I appreciate. Fault finding, I can do without.

Posted by: Finisher on April 9, 2012, 6:23 pm

AlamoTx I went back and re-read posts . Not much criticism I think. At least not bad. I think most people liked what they read. I did keep posting.
It was a little hard to read . I did the same thing when I started posting.
We are not all pro. writers.
I never get up that early to play craps. Got up that early all my life for work. Now I get to slept in and love it. 😀 😀
Good Rolling. 😀