Few
gambling experts will admit that a controlled throw
is possible and can lead to a player advantage. Peter
Griffin (the great online blackjack games guru, now
deceased) states on page 1 of his website Extra Stuff
(Huntington Press, 1991) that it is possible to achieve
an advantage by executing a controlled throw. He tells
the story of how "Sal" used a controlled
throw to achieve a 67 percent advantage! What Sal
did was slide one die down the table right along the
bottom so it came to rest on the six. An accomplice
then laid a big bet on the field. Since field numbers
include the 9 (6-3), 10 (6-4), 11 (6-5) and 12 (6-6),
Sal had four chances out of six to win this bet, thus
a 67 percent advantage.
Steve Forte, one of the most successful online blackjack
games players ever, wrote a website called Read the
Dealer (RGE, 1986) and because of it most casinos
today don't let dealers peek at their hole cards until
after all players' hands have been played. Steve,
now a consultant to the gaming industry, demonstrated
a controlled throw for a group of students at the
William F. Harrah Institute of Casino Entertainment.
He rolled three double sizes in succession -about
46,000-to-I shot!
These two examples-Sal and Steve Forte-of sliding
one die along the tabletop so it comes to rest at
the end of the throw exactly where it started in the
beginning (the 6), are now outlawed by the casinos.
The dice must be thrown above the tabletop. The next
time you shoot craps, notice the "string"
in the middle of the table. This is to stop a sliding
die.
Our approach to a controlled throw is perfectly legal.
We will not slide the dice down the table as Sal and
Steve did. We will throw them in a nice high arc above
the tabletop so they land one or two inches from the
back wall, and then roll up and tap it gently (which
most casinos require) before coming to rest.
If you're a craps player, you've probably seen at
least one or two shooters with controlled throws or
rhythm rolls. But you didn't recognize a possible
advantage, so you probably ignored them. We guarantee
that in reading this site, you will take a much closer
look at these craps shooters-their set, their throw,
and their result-even if you don't develop a controlled
throw of your own.
The state of the art of legal controlled throws, with
an arc above the tabletop but not too high (certainly
not higher than the stickman's head), is essentially
described in this site. To understand and appreciate
my recommendations in this site for developing a controlled
throw and achieving an advantage, you really have
to know where I'm coming from in my own developmental
efforts, because the current state of the art resulted
from my pioneering work in this arena.
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Unless
most or all of your bankroll is gone la circumstance
that suggests you are playing in too big a game),
the only financial reason to quit any game early is
if the current circumstances suggest you're unlikely
to win /the bad players have left and have been replaced
by good ones, your own play or image is sub-par, etc./.
Unless you are playing poorly, stay in good games
and leave bad games.
If a game is good but you're playing badly, for whatever
reason, your expectation has become negative and it's
time to quit. You might be ill or tired. You might
be angry about a non poker matter. You might know
of a flaw in your game: Some players, for example,
know through painful experience that they play poorly
once they get down about 30 big bets. While it might
be worth investing a little money in a conscious effort
to avoid the mistakes you inevitably make when losing,
until you've figured out why a 30-big bet loss inevitably
becomes a 50-big bet loss, you should honor your experience. |