How do you approach the game of craps?

[Alan Mendelson]

I got into this discussion over on the WizardofVegas forum, so I thought I would raise the question here as well.

How do you approach the game of craps?

Well, by definition craps is a negative expectation game and that leaves only two ways to beat the casino at it. Either you get lucky, or somehow -- someway -- you legally influence the dice to show the numbers you want to hit.

There is no math formula or betting scheme that can make you win at craps. There is no strategy. There are no voodoo dances that can make you win, though some consider dice setting and controlled throws a branch of voodoo.

For these reasons I approach the game of craps as a test of skill -- and I am the first to admit I don't know anyone who really has the skill to significantly make a difference. The "test of skill" is about influencing the dice.

So, since I approach this game as a test of skill, I would rather try to set to influence the dice, and I would rather try to control the spin and bounce -- even if it is bordering on voodoo.

To play craps any other way but to try to influence the outcome of the dice is nothing more than taking a position at the table and let the casino's vacuum suck up your money.

This is why I prefer to play with those who set the dice, and try to influence the dice or try to control the dice. It doesn't matter how they try to do it -- whether its a soft roll or a lofty lob with little rotation -- it's just that they try.

I would prefer that a shooter try to influence than just chuck the dice down the table and leave it all to luck or variance or the random bounce.

This is the same reason I prefer video poker over regular slots. While I think there is a great amount of luck involved in video poker, there is some skill and knowledge in video poker also which is why I enjoy that game so much.

Live poker is perhaps the best of all games as it involves all sorts of skills and knowledge -- along with a fair amount of luck -- plus you don't have to fight a house edge or a house advantage.

[regnis]

I agree with you as to softer shooters who at least try rather than those that just whip them as hard as they can. But I do believe in dice control and did previously have success with it. I was prohibited from throwing the dice in 1 casino here, and my friend and I did kill the casinos for about a year and a half before then. Oddly, no matter how much I tutored him, he could never learn to throw the dice and in fact almost always passed the dice rather than shoot.

However, when I started working again and stopped gambling regurlarly, I did lose my stroke. It is something that has to be done regularly.

Now, the casinos, particularly Caesars properties, have taken 2 extra precautions that make it impossible to control your throw. First, the tables are now extra bouncy--the softest throw will still bounce off the table. Second--they have left no space between the wall and the pass line. As such, the dice will always hit the chips on the odds or the pass line. Of course, neither I or the other big players play there anymore and it is a morgue of penny ante stiffs. The only casino that still has tables conducive to control ie the one where I was barred from shooting. They did tell me they would let me now--probably until I regained my stroke.