Nice post OMC!

I have had a similar journey in many ways yet each has a personal journey that is not like any other.

I am better than I used to be and still am committed to practice so look forward to continuing to improve as each year goes by.

Funny, in the beginning I wanted my toss to LOOK perfect—-and that would still be very nice— but I have learned that consistency is more important than perfection and making money in the casino of course is the ultimate goal. You outlined those points in your post very well I thought!

I think anyone who is new to DI should go back and read this post again. There is a lot of sage advice here!

Thanks again OMC for taking the time and interest to post this! 🙂

OMC great post and I would like to commend you on your honesty.

As everyone knows I am an advocate of practice and basics. Our toss begins with the grip and most students do not work on their grip by itself. and on the other hand many students can not use the 3 finger front grip because of a physical problem with their hand and or fingers. A lot of us develop problems as we age because of arthritis or injury so we must work even harder to overcome these handicaps. But be that problems as it may I think people must work on this as an individual and some seek assistance but most do not.

In the last couple of months I have mentally re committed myself to this game I enjoy so much. The mental stage we are in is probably 90% of this game. We can practice for hours at a time but I have never been an advocate of long practice sessions. I prefer to work on segment’s of the game for short periods of time. I will work on backswing, follow thru, setup and squaring, position of my feet and shoulders, even the height of my toss and also my landing spot.

The last thing I believe in and this is probably the majority of my throwing practice are casino sessions with chips and betting. We can do this for long periods of time and just keep throwing which I believe can kill our mental game because when it is a bad practice session it continues to get worse. I will by in and when I 7out I go sit down, watch tv, read a paper or a book but I do try to get that session out of my head. I do not throw the dice for at least 20 to 30 minutes. when we are in a casino how often do you get the dice right back, not very often.

Take a break and I think this will help the mental part.

As Dr. Crapology say’s, just my .02 cents worth.

I like this topic and I am sorry I was not online the day it was posted. I will enjoy others thoughts on this subject.

Thanks

Finesse, you are right on. Your advice is worth much more than $.02, perhaps in the $100 to $1000 range. Always work on the basics. Remember football and basketball practice in high school? I was not the most talented athlete on our basketball team but the coach was really big on some of the basic drills—which we practiced for hours each and every day. I hated many of them, but the coach was great in helping to make them fun. He drilled into my head that I needed them and I would not only do them in our regular practice sessions, but in the drive way at the goal my mother purchased for me. It paid off and I do much of this in my business and daily life as well some 55 years later. He had a big impact on my life.

I think I have been pretty successful over the years and I could not have been without his advice.

So my suggestion is get back to basics and by all means invest in some coaching (read GTC classes, video and tune ups) and you can’t go wrong.

I have raised the cost of my advice so this is my $.05 worth.

Doc

Here’s my .25 cents worth (i know, I always up the ante)

I try to throw 5 minutes everyday — some days I stay at 5 minutes …. some days I go to 30 minutes. When I know a big, long trip is ahead of me (either to AC or LV), i will mix in some one hour practice sessions consisting of all aspects of the throw. In those one-hour sessions, I will mix in a simulated game or two, just to get my focus dialed in.

It really works for me

Even the 5 minutes do wonders for my throw, the mind, and the needed focus.

Good luck to all !!!!

Another thought. Let’s say you are having a long practice session and things are not going well. Like many people you may simply keep on throwing hoping that things will get better but that doesn’t help. Why you many think? You are simply ingraining bad habits into your throw and trust me bad habits in your muscle memory are hard to correct.

So step back and give yourself some excellent self critiqued. Also you can enlist the help of a fellow GTC’er and/or make it a point to have some sort of instruction at least once or twice a year. Remember in the casino you are risking real money—probably much more that the cost of instruction as mentioned in a previous in this thread.

Hope that will help someone.

Doc and Rose

When I have a long session, my sessions last about 90 minutes and I don’t consider them long for me, if it goes badly I will try to analyze why during the practice. Many times I can figure it out and then the session will get much better or at least some better. Tonight I had to buy in a second time about 2/3’s
through. Finally figured it out for the last 20 or so rolls.

I promised myself that as Dom asked, "try it for 6 months before you give up" and I had gotten away from some of the changes I learned in the primer. I came up to my office and checked my notebook from class then went down and made the changes. It works. Stopped babying the toss. I had too many short rolls so
tossed a little more firmly to get both dice to the back wall. Only had one banana swing and it was a disaster.

My practice routine is interrupted this time of year to coach 7th-8th grade girls basketball. My granddaughter plays and it is a special time for me with her.
Priceless!! I miss Monday nights practice, get Tuesday then for now work on Wednesday with the Smart Craps program until Goldfinger and JBW return in March. Friday is the last for the week then head up the hill on Sunday afternoon to try again.

I caught myself diluting my bankroll and have now stopped. Tried a new casino, actually one I hadn’t played in in over 5 years. Bouncy table but I have been doing well there. My toss has softened up over the years. Much more control that way for sure. Five count and one come bet with odds on the randies. Doubled my buy in!
I had been playing 3 casinos a week splitting my weekly buy-in in thirds. Now I just play 2 casinos and make bigger bets on myself when I am rolling well.

I have been tracking for the last 3000+ rolls the first 4 rolls after a point is established to determine if I am betting to my best advantage. I was not. In
practice I hop the easy 6’s up to 4 times in a row. 60% of the time I roll a 6 in the 4 times. Sometimes I will roll two 6’s in the four plus having a place bet on the 6.
This pays well and I have been noting my in casino times as well but not betting this way yet.

Don’t forget that Colorado is a fun place to play so let’s get together when you are here.

OMC

One moon circle.

It has been a journey, no doubt about that. I to have practiced everyday I have been home for
4 1/2 years now, I could have easily gotten one or two more college degrees.
After my refresher I went to the casino that Sunday night and was pretty sure I was going to
extract a pound of flesh or more from the tables. Well there was a tad of flesh taken that
night, but after 24 3/4 or 4/3 in 42 rolls I decided I must be pretty good at dice control.

When I got home I went on a roll, the next year I had 5 50 or better rolls over 42, rolls
between 30-40. It was fun.

It has been over a year now since I had a decent roll, i almost quit playing with anyone here
because i cant take the disappointment in their face as i 7 out.

I have stuck more than enough money in dice control so if any of you have ever watched that
movie "Alamo" where Jim Bowie says to Travis " if you live a little longer you will be a great
man" and travis understanding the plight they were in said " i am afraid i will have to settle
for what i am right now" you will understand my position.

I am working daily on my shot, and i still love the practice and i feel i will be productive again.
But we have to be honest, we are not all built the same, are the same height, so we all
throw the dice differently, and works for one guy may have to be changed some what for
another.

I feel today as i did 4.5 years ago, the training you get from GTC is the basis for anything
you do or can do with the dice, but you have to find what works for you.

gman

I think you are right . I think that is one reason GTC does a good job at showing you different throws from different instructors . Basically the same but different . Some are tall and some are not .I myself am short so I find that I throw a little different and also have hand problem .
Have you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Good Rolling. 🙂 🙂