Now there’s a question for you DI’s and DI wannabe’s. It’s a question I ask from time to time at the seminars we do – particularly when we’re planning live sessions at classes where we have a fair number of alumni attendees who are “proven” shooters from specific table positions. There are a couple of guys I ALWAYS want straight out. They’re great straight out shooters and are savvy blockers when the dice are coming their way. There are also guys I want at SL1 and 2 and SR1 and 2 if they happen to be in attendance at the classes. That frequently leaves the other students as well as yours truly and the other coaches in the hook or next to base – filling in at whatever positions are open – which is okay because the class is about the students – not the coaches. But the live sessions are about winning – not just throwing the dice.
Often, in the classes, we’ll go so far as to assign positions to players and tell them “if this position is open at the table you go there and buy in.” We’ll even run mock casino sessions at class with everyone in the position we hope to have them in at the casino. And yet, when we hit the doors of the casino the players tend to forget everything we discussed. It suddenly becomes the opening scene from “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” complete with a jail break scene with everyone running to the table to get their preferred position (not their assigned position) before anyone else can get there. And the coaches stroll in and say WTF?
This, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to explaining the bigger question – Why can’t skilled dice influencers win . . . win big . . . win bigger . . . or retire on their riches? That pretty much covers all of the options. And the answer is simple. Over the last two years I’ve literally seen thousands of GOOD dice influencers, hundreds of VERY good dice influencers and dozens of GREAT dice influencers. ANY of them could have supported themselves on their craps play alone. Several of them did for periods of time and a very few still do. But by and large guys who were winning $6000 – $12000 a year in 1999 are still winning $6000 – $12000 a year in 2019. Why hasn’t their income grown since they obviously have the skill to beat the game? Great question.
The answer to this is fairly simple. Two words. Greed and Pain. We’ll start with Greed. Greed is what makes players make stupid decisions. Instead of playing a $24 six and eight the player bets $18 on the six and eight plus $5 and $1 on the hard six and eight – piggybacking the buck for the boys. He’s given away $2 for no return and is risking another $10 on high vig bets. That same $12 added to his six and eight place bets will pay an additional $7 when each of those numbers hit – and do so with a low vig of just 1.51%. The savvy player gets a better return on his money and doesn’t waste money where there’s little or no return. In particular, he doesn’t waste his money on high vig prop bets. Greed makes you stupid because it blinds you to the cost of these bets and leads you to take chances that you would scoff at in your day to day life.
The other word is Pain. The Pain of losing does not exceed the Pleasure of the occasional win or the thrill of the roller coaster ride over the course of a long session. Many DI’s aren’t really thinking in terms of winning – they’re just looking for a better gamble for their money. They’s not advantage craps players at all. They’re serious recreational gamblers.
If YOU want to be an advantage craps player you need to ask yourself every time you walk into the casino – “Am I here to play – or am I here to win?” And if you’re walking in with a group of skilled DI’s you need to do a little self-evaluation and ask yourself “Am I here to toss the dice – or am I here to win?” Frankly, my ego doesn’t need stroking. I don’t care WHO tosses that big hand – as long as the shooter can toss eight to twelve repeaters on ANY number. Do that and I will scare the hell out of table max and fill my rack with black. I’m there to win.
