Throwing Dice Craps

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Setting the dice: If a pitcher wants to throw a curve ball, he places the ball just so in his hand, giving him the best chance that the ball will do what he wants it to. The initial dice-set that a shooter uses will, if the throw is dead-on accurate, determine which numbers are most likely to appear. Smoothly toss the dice, both at the same time, to the other side of the table so they hit the craps table felt first and then bounce against the back wall, which ensures you have no control over the outcome. Easiest way to lose at craps is by shaking the dice and throwing it down the craps table You've seen this in movies/tv a million times. The guy asks the pretty girl next to him to kiss the dice. Then for some reason he shakes the dice real good - making sure the dice are purely random.

Best Way To Throw Dice In Craps

Even the most analyzed dice setting grips won't help when throwing dice in a random manner. The dice will just end up bouncing all over the craps table. Even the best 'unbeatable craps strategy' will never work! Setting Analysis: The Union of Dice Control and Dice Setting Make sure to read my simple intro how to shoot craps on this site. According to the traditional theory, the craps dice setting can help players improve their control over the dice when they throw them and gives them the chance to boost their chances to win. There are hundreds of videos and tutorials about dice control in a craps dice game.


Craps seems like a totally random game. After all, you simply try to toss dice off a diamond-patterned wall.

And you don’t necessarily have to hit the wall. But casinos want you to make an attempt to ensure randomness.

These factors seemingly produce uncontrolled results. However, a small segment of the craps community believes you can influence your results with a certain technique.

This technique is referred to as “dice control” (a.k.a. controlled shooting). It involves the art of tossing dice in a manner that helps you control the winning numbers as you play real money craps.

Dice control sounds great in theory, but it’s actually a scam. I’ll explain more on this method along with why it’s a complete farce.

Basics of Dice Control

The term “dice control” says everything. You’re controlling how you toss the dice. But how do you pull this off?

Everything begins with how you “set” the dice. Setting refers to holding the cubes in a specific manner, with certain numbers covered and exposed.

The V-shape is one of the most classic sets. It involves holding the dice so that the threes form a V-shape. It’s supposed to reduce your odds of throwing a seven.

The next matter is to toss the dice in a consistent manner. You’re aiming to kiss them off the back wall and reduce randomness.

This feat certainly isn’t easy when considering the diamond-patterned wall. But then again, you don’t need to control the outcome very often to gain an edge.

Assuming you can reduce your “sevens rolls ratio” (RSR) by just a bit, then you can swing the odds in your favor. RSR alludes to the ratio of rolls that produce a seven against those that don’t.

Your odds of rolling a seven are one in six, or an RSR of 6:1 (16.67% of the time). But if you can improve to just 6.5:1, then you’re guaranteed profits over time as a “right” bettor (e.g. pass line). Do even better than this, and you’ll be rolling in the winnings.

You can’t expect to lower your RSR with a good set alone. Instead, you need to practice your toss to develop consistency.

Experts advise either buying a real craps table or rigging your own for practice purposes. The latter option is more feasible when considering the cost and space requirements of a real table.

These experts also claim that you must practice for months to develop a consistent toss. This seems reasonable when considering how impossible it is to actually control your throws.

You supposedly need to approach this method like a professional athlete hones their craft. A pro basketball player doesn’t just start out hitting 80% of their free throws. Instead, they need to work up to these skills.

The same is allegedly true of dice control in that practice makes perfect. Top craps players are said to toss dice for hours a day outside of the casino.

What’s the Promise of Dice Control?

Some of the biggest proponents of controlled shooting include Dominic LoRiggio, Chris Pawlicki, and Frank Scoblete.

These gambling authors claim that craps is a beatable game. They also contend that you can make a fortune over time with enough hard work.

Scoblete often writes about a late gambler who went by the nickname “The Captain.” He claims that The Captain regularly beat casinos out of big winnings.

Besides earning money, another benefit of dice control is that it flies under the casino’s radar. Staff members will turn a blind eye towards controlled shooters. Therefore, you can use this technique without being hassled.

One more benefit is that dice control is physical in nature. You’ll find that perfecting your dice toss is more fun than sitting around counting cards or trying to see the dealer’s hole card (a.k.a. hole carding).

You may even come to love the practice element. You can treat this matter like a fun game where you want to be the best.

Why Is Dice Control a Complete Scam?

The biggest question mark surrounding controlled shooting is that it’s not banned by casinos. Gambling venues normally don’t care if somebody sets the dice and throws with the same consistency every time.

Casinos are staunchly against allowing advantage gamblers to run over them. They harass and even ban successful card counters to prevent this from happening.

Yet they could care less when it comes to dice setters. Dealers allow these so-called advantage players to set dice within reason.

Now, the aforementioned gambling authors will tout how casinos do harass controlled shooters. They’ll conjure up stories about a dealer or pit boss trying to back off a dice controller.

But they’re not doing so out of fear of these gamblers beating them. Instead, casino staff members simply don’t want players slowing down games with complicated sets and pre-throw rituals.

Another problem with dice control is that there are no reliable examples of successful players. Scoblete’s examples of The Captain are the only stories we have to go off of. But Scoblete has no actual proof that The Captain truly beat casinos or even existed.

Contrast this to other advantage play techniques, like card counting or wheel bias. Both of these strategies have produced documented cases of big winners.

Perhaps another fishy sign is the dice control courses run by LoRiggio and Scoblete. The pair operate Golden Touch seminars, where they teach players controlled shooting for the low price of $1,500.

Of course, they claim that the lofty cost is due to them giving away such valuable information. However, paying $1,500 for an advantage gambling method that’s unproven is over the top.

Many craps enthusiasts want to believe that the game can be beaten through skill. But looking at the facts, things just don’t add up.

Is There a Reliable Way to Beat Craps?

I strongly contend that there’s no legal way to beat craps on a consistent basis. You actually can top the casinos through dice sliding. However, this technique doesn’t satisfy the legal requirement.

The only real way to win in craps is by making good bets and backing them with odds. You start this process by focusing on pass line, come, don’t pass line, and don’t come.

Pass line (made on come-out roll) and come (made after) both have a 1.41% house edge. Don’t pass line (made on come-out roll) and don’t come (made after) each have a 1.36% house advantage.

You can back any of the four aforementioned bets once a “point” number has been established. Betting bigger odds means that a larger portion of your wager won’t be subject to the casino house edge.

Here’s an example to illustrate how larger odds lower the overall house advantage on your wagers:

  • 2x odds pass line = 0.848% house edge
  • 2x odds don’t pass line = 0.682% house edge
  • 5x odds pass line = 0.326%
  • 5x odds don’t pass line = 0.227%
  • 10x odds pass line = 0.184%
  • 10x odds don’t pass line = 0.124%
  • 20x odds pass line = 0.099%
  • 20x odds don’t pass line = 0.065%

The problem with higher odds is two-fold:

  • You must be able to afford the bet.
  • Most casinos don’t offer 10x or 20x odds.

Regarding the first point, your odds bet needs to match its multiple in relation to the original wager. If you bet $10 on pass line and take 10x odds, for example, then you must wager an additional $100 ($110 total).

As for the second dilemma, you may not find a casino in your area that allows higher than 5x odds. But you can still benefit with odds ranging from 1x to 5x.

Conclusion

I seriously hope that you haven’t paid for any dice control courses or worked on your toss for long. If so, then you’ve been scammed!

Controlled shooting simply doesn’t work. Instead, it’s the invention of clever gambling authors who want you to believe that craps can be beaten for the right price.

If you’re serious enough to spend hours practicing your toss and, most importantly, pay $1,500 for a course, then you can win.

Dice

But this narrative is complete BS. You merely need look at how casinos couldn’t care less about controlled shooters to see the truth.

Casinos know the industry better than anybody. They understand what type of gamblers are to be feared and which ones are puffing on pure fantasy.

Dice setters fall into the latter category. Nobody can toss a pair of small cubes 12 to 14 feet down a table, hit a diamond-patterned wall, and expect consistent results.

You’re better off throwing your time into a real advantage play technique, like card counting or hole carding. Leave controlled shooting to the delusional crowd who believes that they can make long-term profits.

Assuming you like craps, then you can still give yourself a reasonable chance to win. All you need to do is make bets with the lowest house edges and back them with odds.

Throwing Dice Craps

You may not gain the upper hand on casinos this way. But at least you’ll have decent odds of winning, without blowing time and money on dice control.

Tracking Your Throws

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PorkChop has written a great Microsoft Excel based application for tracking your practice throws. The application tracks and analyzes a huge amount of data.

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Throwing Dice Craps Strategy

If you prefer on tracking your throws yourself....

Here's a simple way to track and evaluate whether you are altering the frequency table. It's easier if you use an Excel spreadsheet but you can also do it by hand. To get a reasonably valid statistical sample, you're going to throw the dice AT LEAST 540 times which is 15 sets of 36 rolls. I could take up to three hours to log in 540 rolls. Of course you could do this over the course of a few practice sessions. You should use one specific pre set for each practice session. It's even BETTER if you have someone noting the rolls for you, that way you can concentrate on your throwing mechanics. (My wife said NO!)

To track your rolls: Throw the dice, add 1 to whatever the previous total was in the corresponding Total Rolls column.

Dice

Roll

Total Rolls per numberWhat Roll Total Should Be (based on 540)

Running

Roll

Total

215=SUM(C1/36*1)
330=SUM(C1/36*2)
445=SUM(C1/36*3)
560=SUM(C1/36*4)
675=SUM(C1/36*5)
790=SUM(C1/36*6)
875=SUM(C1/36*5)
960=SUM(C1/36*4)
1045=SUM(C1/36*3)
1130=SUM(C1/36*2)
1215=SUM(C1/36*1)
540540540

If you are using Excel you can program it to sum the total rolls column automatically so you know when you've reached 540.

If you ARE using excel, you can also have a fourth column which calculates what the Roll Total Should Be based on how many times you've thrown the dice thus far. For instance, if your total rolls = 72 so far, then in the case of 2, you would have an equation: (total rolls divided by 36) times 1 normal occurrence). So after 72 throws, the 2 SHOULD have appeared 2 times. You would create a similar equation for all dice totals. At any time, you will be able to compare what you've thrown to what the normal probability table would expect to be thrown.

The Excel Function for the math to create the value in column four is provided below. The Excel Function is arrived at by dividing the Roll Total by 36 and then multiplying by the probability. First you need to determine the value of probability for each paired numbers. See table below. (Note 7 does not have a pair) The Excel Function will look something like: =Sum(C1/36*P), where C1 is the cell holding the Roll Total and P = probability.

The probability for the paired numbers, 5/9, is 4. If the total rolls is 72, then 72 divided by 36 = 2 times the probability of 4, which is 8. Eight is the total number of expected outcomes, using true math, possible with two dice.

Throwing

What if the total rolls is 90? 90/36*4 = 10. Ten is the total number of expected outcomes for a 5 or 9, true math, possible with two dice out of 90 random rolls.

Below is a table with the Excel Functions. The Excel Function is programmed into the cell in column four. It does not matter if your total roll is 36 times or 1,738 times. The function will mathematically represent the true math probability for any number of rolls for any number on two dice. In this way you can compare your results with dice influencing against probability.

Excel Functions for Probability and Roll Total

Roll

Probability out of 36

True Math

Excel Function

2/12

1 occurrence

Divide the roll total by 36 and multiply by the probability. 72/36*1 = 2

=SUM(C1/36*1)

3/11

2 occurrences

Divide the roll total by 36 and multiply by the probability. 72/36*2 = 4

=SUM(C1/36*2)

4/10

3 occurrences

Divide the roll total by 36 and multiply by the probability. 72/36*3 = 6

=SUM(C1/36*3)

5/9

4 occurrences

Divide the roll total by 36 and multiply by the probability. 72/36*4 = 8

=SUM(C1/36*4)

6/8

5 occurrences

Divide the roll total by 36 and multiply by the probability. 72/36*5 = 10

=SUM(C1/36*5)

7

six occurrences

Divide the roll total by 36 and multiply by the probability. 72/36*6 = 12

=SUM(C1/36*6)

If you are using a set for avoiding the seven (i.e. the crossed sixes), the 7 row should be significantly less than 90 (at least 13 less). If you threw the 7 only 77 times instead of 90, you have reduced the frequency table from a 16%* appearance rate (1 of 6) to a 14%* appearance rate (1 of 7). Inversely, if you've used the same set for the 540 throws, you've probably also altered the frequency table of the other numbers. If you used the crossed six for example, my guess would be that the appearance of the 5 and 9 would be significantly higher than the statistical norm.
*rounded

So you say, I shaved 2% off the appearance of the 7, big deal. It IS a big deal! With that small alteration of the frequency table, if you place bets with small house percentages, you have for all practical purposes erased the house edge! But take it one step further, not only have you reduced the number of appearances of the 7, but you also have an indicator of how you should be betting!

For me the crossed sixes set gives me a disproportionate amount of 5's and 9's. Your mechanics and style could have a different outcome. Only practice will tell. I know of someone who throws an extraordinary number of horn numbers. Usually this would be a poor betting strategy, but for him the house advantage on these bets has been reduced significantly because of his propensity to throw them.

Controlled Dice Throwing Craps

With every set that you practice, you should also keep a running total of hard way throws that you make. You'll probably find that certain pre sets will have an inordinate number of certain hard ways. All of this practice will arm you with the necessary information to develop a corresponding betting strategy to employ when it's your turn to throw the bones.

Throwing Dice Craps Strategy

No matter how proficient you become at setting and throwing the dice, there is no need to put money at undue risk. You will develop signature throwing trends that are unique to you. Do not put money at risk on numbers that you have not displayed an affinity to throw for the devil 7 will eventually come. In other words, KNOW THY SELF!

Craps Dice Setting Chart

Once you have your throwing mechanics down, and can REGULARLY alter the frequency table throwing the dice consecutively 540 times, the next step is to stop throwing for some period of time (10 minutes, overnight etc.) every time you throw a 7. The point of this is to break the rhythm you've gotten yourself into every time you 'seven out' and to simulate the fact that you have to recreate your rhythm every time you receive the dice.