Theory and reality of dice influencing.

Everybody who throws dice in craps is trying to influence the dice. The passline shooters try to make their point. The don't passline shooters try to 7-out. Some set their dice, some have a controlled throw, and some just hurl the dice and hope that their prayers will be answered.

In theory, dice influencing can work. The theory has been worked out by engineers, scientists, math experts, medical experts, and so forth. But theory only goes so far -- it's the execution that is the most difficult part of being a "dice influencer."

So what is the theory? The theory basically says that if you position two dice in a certain way and gently throw them with a minimal number of rolls and bounces till they reach the back wall, there is a good chance that the dice will come to rest on a certain group of numbers that you prefer to see. Notice I did not say the dice would come to rest on an exact number. No one who is credible can claim that you can set and roll dice to target and hit a particular number. Your best chance is a group of numbers favorable to you.

The problem of course is the art of the dice throw. Anyone can set two dice to show a particular combination of numbers. But keeping the dice in a particular formation and rolling gently while reaching the back wall and keeping that formation is the million dollar skill few if any one has.

The last time I was at a craps table there was a player who obviously put a lot of care and practice into his dice throwing. But he failed to have any influence on the dice because he could not master the execution of the throw.

This shooter carefully set the dice, carefully gripped them properly for finger tip control, carefully kept them in formation and on axis, but he failed when his dice did not gently roll to the back wall. His beautifully controlled throw of the two dice had them hit right at the base of the back wall where they splattered off the wall and went any which way. He had controlled the throw, but failed to account for how the dice would hit the back wall. In reality his careful delivery was no better than a random throw because the dice bounced wildly off the wall.

Only twice in my life I have been at a table where it appeared that someone "got it right" with dice influencing. These skilled shooters are not selling their "secrets." They are not part of the "dice influencing business" and are not promoters.

I think you can learn the theory of dice influencing. There are several good books that explain it. Having the muscle memory, the muscle control, the stability in your hand and fingers, the sense of motion and speed and depth and timing --- well, that's something you can't get out of a book or a course you pay for.

Wow Alan, that sounds almost impossible to do good enough to make you win. There's people who will train others on this, and are they already influencing the dice for profits? It seems difficult enough to hold them properly, aim them properly, then shoot them properly, never mind hitting those foam things where and how they want to. I'd say it would take another Michael Jordan to even have a chance of doing this right.

The "true" dice influencers don't actually hit those pyramids at the end of the wall. They are able to roll their dice so that they hit under the first row of pyramids.

Even if you do hit the pyramids it is possible to limit the randomizing effect that they have. Notice I say "limit" and not "remove." By hitting the pyramids very softly it is possible to limit their effect on the dice.

But what we are talking about here is a very fine art. I can't do it. And as I said, while it is possible to learn what it takes, doing what it takes is a totally different matter.

There are various courses and books that are offered about this. If you decide to pay for these books and courses because you are curious about how it all works, then go ahead and enjoy yourself. But don't expect to read a book or take a course and expect that you will be able to practice the theory.