A story often heard or read about where players complain "Why Do I Bother To Toss The Dice???

Don't have a clue as to what to expect, what to bet on, how much or when. Don't like the stares

from other players, the bad vibes, even sometimes nasty remarks. Pit crew is constantly riding me,

Hey, please keep the dice on the table, don't bang the mirrors, or get both dice to the end of the

table. Just about the time I get around these hand cuffing rules, they come up with still more. Sir,

keep the dice below eye level. Sir, you just rolled come out craps, your pass line bet fell. Sir,

you can not use both hands on the dice, Sir, don't bang the dice on the table.

Wow, here I stand feeding these guys all this money and all I get in return is nasty attitudes and

rules. Why bother to pick up the blasted dice. Let someone else take the abuse. I get all this I want

at my job, but at least I get paid for it there. Could it be that maybe I don't know what I'm doing?

Guess what, there are a lot of unhappy players out there with similar situations. Maybe, just maybe

, my personal evolvement into the finer arts of this game will help others in their plight. Read on

disgruntled players, you have a lot of company. As this story unfolds, you will see that perseverance

does have its rewards!

Several years ago, our youngest son introduced my family to a game of craps. He came across the

game in a computer variety pack given to us by a friend. It's hard to imagine that a 3.5 inch plastic

disk could be responsible for so much delight as well as discomfort.

Upon acquiring a few basics from him, we gathered around the dining room table in a state of total

confusion. Starting with passline and come bets, we were all amazed at the prolific way our money

was compounding one roll after another.

Our playing surface was probably no greater than a 2 foot by 2 foot area. Naturally a random pickup

of the dice and abruptly dropping them was yielding a plethora of numbers to our dismay.

After a few weeks of this money making anomaly, we took a holiday trip to Kansas City to spend

some time with our oldest son and his family. Obviously he had to be enlightened. Fascinated with

his new found money making knowledge, he exclaims, Hey, there are 5 casinos no more than 45

minutes from home. You know what we had to do!

Yup, you guessed it. The exciting environment, the thrill of a few bucks easily won in a short time

had us all hooked. Then it happened. We lost. How can this be? Didn't happen at home this way.

Over a period of time, some drifted to slot play while others kept hammering at Craps. Lose, lose,

lose, nothing worked. Any of this sound familiar?

Conclusions were drawn. We knew we were very good at games as a rule. So it must be the other

players at the table causing the problem. We decided to take charge of the cubes and turn this thing

around.

Yup, you guessed it again. Lose, lose, lose. Being the upright head of the family, I got with my

wife and sons. We decided we had been bullied and intimidated by these insensitive cubes of

plastic long enough.

A make shift table was fabricated and the study of our dilemma began. Recording of rolls over

hours, days, weeks, months still wasn't producing positive results. Some trends and patterns were

observed, but nothing that was solid.

Being in a total state of frustration, the charting and dice tossing was abandoned for a time. Having

a tenacious nature, I decided I wasn't going to roll over and play dead. A fierce battle was

imminent and probably one of severe cost and length. There had to be a reason why roll out come

was so unpredictable.

Armed with a recliner, pen & paper, set of dice, calculator and more cups of coffee than I care to

mention, I began to see a faint light of understanding in the far off distance.

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

Reflecting back on many, many turns at the dice, a list of headaches started to form as follows:

point on then 7-out

6 or less rolls per throw on a good day

not being the master of my own fate

experiencing ridicule, embarrassment, disgust

as a result of being disgruntled, fear and intimidation of dice prevailed

random pick up and roll was producing random out come, usually unfavorable

Now, after many years of fighting my way up through the ranks and finally being rewarded with

retirement, my ego violently protested and demanded better treatment than this. After all, hadn't I

paid my dues? Still those non-compassionate dice wouldn't give an inch.

ENLIGHTENMENT

The time had come for me to more seriously ponder my being bullied and intimidated by the dice.

By fooling with them, rotating, looking at the multitude of arrangements another list was beginning

to form along with discoveries:

3 axis exist...L/H...R/H horizontal and vertical

36 dice combinations possible

each permutation [arrangement] contains 16 numbers [pairs]

24 permutations possible per single episode of dice sets

552 dice permutations ((36 * 16) -24) = 552

184 trash [craps, yo's, 7's] permutations [note: 1/3rd of total permutations]

368 number permutations [note: 2/3rd's of total permutations]

one episode that cannot recur (-8 on trash and -16 on numbers)

example: on a single die, you cannot acquire 3/3, 4/4, 6/1, 6/6 etc.

My youngest son being the math whiz he is, using findings, came up with formula and its contents

DISCOVERIES

With a random pickup and roll of dice, out come is always indicative of all 3 axis and 1 of 36

number possibilities. Dice rolled at random typically twist and spiral about these axis.

By setting dice and maintaining a single axis, out come hypothetically is 1 of 16 number

possibilities. Dividing 36 by 16, you have increased your outcome potential influence by a ratio of

2.25 to 1. Ahhhh.....the light gets brighter. You haven't established control over random outcome,

but you have severely limited exposure.

I discovered I needed to set the dice to promote my intent. For come out rolls, dice needed to be

on a plane that was rich in trash [craps, yo's, & 7's]. For numbers during point, dice needed to be

on a different plane that would promote lots of numbers. As I studied the dice patterns, these

sought after planes became rather obvious.

COMMONALTIES

Okay, now I know why some dice out comes occur, what can I use for indicators to choose sets?

Seeking out optimum occurrences and commonalties for use to our personal advantage takes us

back to forming another list as follows:

dice are designed to favor 7's

7's offer the greatest number of possibilities...6 ways

7's have potential as winners before the point

6/8's fall 2nd only to the 7's. 6/8's are the most popular bets with the possible occurrence of 5 ways

5/9 & 4/10 numbers have a probable occurrence of 4 ways

3/11 numbers have a probable occurrence of 2 ways

2/12 numbers have a probable occurrence of 1 way

all numbers based on 36 possible

A simplification of optimum dice sets comes from a 2 way observation.

Hard 6/8 on vertical plane for during point numbers. Always shows probability of 3 each 6/8's and 2

each 7's. Example: side by side...L/H die 4 up...6 looking at you, R/H die 4 up...5 looking at you.

Hard 6/8 on horizontal plane always shows 2 ea. 6/8's and 4 each 7's and are good for come out roll.

Example: side by side...L/H die 6 up...5 looking at you, R/H die 6 up...5 looking at you.

Well now, the light even though brighter is still at half intensity. I suppose now is the right time to

go back to the charting and practice table. This time earnestly looking for "THE SETS" armed with

confidence and knowledge. Believe it or not, know having knowledge of dice layout & geometry,

dice sets have come to me by the basket full. Some of which coincidentally are like those I see in

forums and used on the tables. You don't suppose others have fought this same battle???

When it comes to gambling, "Ignorance is not bliss". The more I learn, the more I realize "CRAPS"

is not just a game of excitement and not to be treated lightly. Your more likely to make money

playing a smarter game rather than just at random and yup, still have fun. A dice setter still

learning to be his very best.

              TABLE LAYOUT        &            AREA PLACEMENT OF BETS

  The graphics below hopefully will give a visual understanding of where each respective kind of

bet is physically located and their appropriate odds. Table lay out is similar to most you will see in

various Casinos. Understanding odds is extremely important and is instrumental in how you might

set up your approach of entry to a game. One half table is shown.

 Ever heard the expression "PLAY SIDE"? Let's look at a situation. Point is 9. Shooter throws a 5.

Stick avidly announces 5-feaver-five, looking for play side 9. What does a 5 have to do with a 9?

It's a simple association.

Looking at odds table above, you will notice that numbers are paired in numerous ways.

ODDS OF ROLLING THE NUMBERS

[All 3 Axis Considered and 36 Combinations]

Dice Com-

Chance

Express In

Express

binations

of Roll

Percent

In Odds

2 or 12

1 in 36

2.78%

35 to 1

3 or 11

2 in 36

5.56%

17 to 1

4 or 10

3 in 36

8.33%

11 to 1

5 or 9

4 in 36

11.11%

8 to 1

6 or 8

5 in 36

13.89%

6.2 to 1

7

6 in 36

16.67%

5 to 1

Now you can understand what the sticks SING-SONG was all about. Stick was simply telling the

players the paired number 5 showed [opposite] and looking for the point 9.

Look at the lay out number pairs that respectively carry the same odds. Keep number

pairs concept in your mind as a useful tool. Application can be found throughout the game.

                                                    COMFORT     &    TABLE POSITION

2

2. While settling into a table, issues need be dealt with. First and foremost, if one is to do a job

well, comfort in that endeavor is very important. A suggested list for starters:

1. clothing allowing freedom of motion

2. very comfortable shoes

3. an empty bladder

4. well rested

5. being totally aware and alert

6. positive attitude

7. high degree of confidence

Comfort is not only important to you as an individual, it strongly influences other players as well.

Knowing this, you can take advantage of other player’s comfort as part of your judgment of a

shooters profile. Once you have acclimated yourself to the table, there's still another scenario that

you would be well advised to pursue as follows:

1. appropriate buy-in

2. check player demeanor

3. check player chip trays

4. check out table staff

5. eye ball bet lay outs

Still yet, another list of what-to-do elements should be observed regarding patterns:

1. table climate...cold, choppy, hot

2. trends...right/wrong, passes

3. shooter styles...setters/mechanics, control, rhythm

4. 7-cycles

A final list of elements should be dealt with based on deciding a game plane evolved from

information previously gathered:

1. session stake need be established

2. determine Tier strategies [points of entry into game]

3. set level of betting based on circumstance...aggressive/conservative

4. set win/loss limits per session

Now we’re prepared to enjoy the game simply because we did our home work. See Mens Craper

for a handy "CRAPPERS FLOW CHART" by Free4 [Linaway]

Getting back to creature comfort, those of us being of the more mature persuasion, I didn’t say old,

tend to stiffen in the most unusual places. My dear spouse, being trained in such things, taught me

a few simple exercises that can be done while standing at the table. An occasional shoulder shrug

or rotation, rotating ankle and foot first in a clockwise and then counter-clockwise direction

periodically, I wouldn't recommend both feet rotation at the same time! Most importantly, from the

military, never lock your knee’s. It’s surprising the amount of relief you can obtained and still not

draw attention to yourself.

Enough of this, let’s get on with the game. Here comes an observation based on my personal

experiences. Look out, I’m going to throw another "1/3.....2/3rd’s" analogy out there to dwell on.

There are 16 table positions as charts reflect. Of those 16, 1/3rd are less than desirable in regard to

comfort, 2/3rd’s are optimum simply because of reasonable accessibility. The "STICKS" immediate

L/H...R/H have been omitted as being preferred because of their constant aimless wafting about of

the stick and their bulky presence as they go through their table business. These positions require

the shooter to literally become uncomfortable in an effort to throw around them! The North and

South dealers D1 and the "STICKS" North and South S4 have also been omitted because of traffic in

the form of chips, place, come, lay, DP, DC bets etc.. Your can’t maintain maximum out come

effectively in a high traffic area.

Monitoring numerous sessions over the years, has made it quite apparent to me, that of the 10

advocated best table positions, as being more consistently productive over time than the omitted 6

as spelled out. No matter what position is utilized, there are always negative factors that

overwhelm the outcome of a roll. Precession shooters utilizing control and rhythm quite often offset

these factors. Even if these advantages may only be in terms of small percentages, the

compounding of all these small incentives over time can be appreciable. There will be some that

claim the 6 omitted positions are most favorable to them. Okay, that’s how come we have different

strokes for different folks. I hope I have impressed on you the importance of "COMFORT" in all its

aspects.

Let’s delve into the table below to see what it means. New players or those unsure, I’d like to share

some information that is very important to all crap players.

The "SING-SONG...CADENCE...CHANTING" we all hear coming from the "PIT CREW" such as $5

Horn your 2nd or buy the 4/10 your 4th etc. has significant meaning to the "PIT CREW" and should

have to you as the person with money on the table.

These numbers they are singing out with personification are actual physical geographic positions

[addresses] laid out on the table. The crew is telling one another exactly who [what player] put how

much money on the table and where the bet should be made. Watching a number of sessions over

time has indicated to me that most players take this chatter with little concern and give no credence

to its meaning.

Should your mail man give your pay check or mail to the wrong address instead of your place of

residence, most of us would get pretty upset. Gotta tell ya, "CRAPS TABLE ADDRESSES" are no

different. If your table position is the "STICKS" 3rd left hand, you don’t want him to put up your bets

on some guy's address [position] standing 2 players to your left and so on. Knowing where your bets

are at all times is of the utmost importance. Knowledge of your exact position at the table allows

you at a glance to determine at any time to press, digress, or pull you bets down. Doesn't hurt the

crews feelings if you can better communicate with them. Quoting your exact address to a table

worker can also be helpful in resolving any wager or pay out issues.

Table has been identified as having a North and South end to assist in determining table workers L/H

and R/H. There are 16 positions shown. The arrowhead/dotted lines define a straight away toss of

the dice. The idea is that if you toss the dice on an angle or run them around the corner [hook], the

probability is that the dice will change by one or more axis. By tossing straight away, minimizes

the tumble, hopefully will maintain the pre-set axis.

                                                        CONSISTENCY

3.

 We’ve looked at COMPREHENSION, COMFORT, now a little about CONSISTENCY. Once the

above scenarios have been complied with, we must endeavor to persevere in our smarter

approach of how to play craps. Not unlike the "3 RS" , we might say we need to maintain just

as well the "3 C'S". A smarter, effective Methodism over and over again before long becomes