I returned from Biloxi last month – the craps mecca. I say craps mecca because of the great craps rules at 8 casinos and the great playing conditions, not to mention the food and entertainment.

In a nut shell, I played 15 sessions in an 18 day period. All but 1 session was on $5 tables with 2x odds on pass line and 1 come bet with 2x odds. Getting right to the point, I won $181 total for the 15 sessions, but gave $152 in tips resulting in a net winnings of $29. The $181 was about 2/3 of the theoretical win amount based on the player edge calculated by Smartcraps. I was pretty happy with that result considering that I was down about 13 times my spread after the first 3 sessions. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to recoup the losses during the rest of the trip much less come out ahead at the end.  My large initial losses were probably due to two things: (1) I hadn’t played in a casino in about 4 months – even though I practice daily.  I play from SL1 exclusively and I have a very upright swing which gets close to the stick person – particularly if they don’t stand back a little bit.  I let the presence of the stick person distract me and I think I have a tendency to throw around the stick person if they do not stand back a little which results in basically a random throw. and (2)  Initially I was betting more aggressively with some place and buy bets (In Biloxi, the vig on buy bets is on the win only – a “fig vig”).  For the last 12 sessions, I went back to primarily pass line and come bets.

Conclusions:

1. I need to bet more. The average tip was about $10 per session – not all that much. Since the lowest limit on odds in Biloxi is 10x, I should increase my odds on the pass line and come bets. In order to do this successfully, I need to grow my 401G considerably.
2. I had a great time and enjoyed the experience primarily because of good crews which is very important to me, and playable tables that were not crowded which is also important to me (I generally play early in the morning).
3. I need to learn to deal with the distraction of the stick person.  Maybe I need to get a mannequin or have someone stand in the stick position when I practice at home.

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The more I practice, the luckier I get.

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