'Dice control' or 'dice setting' is an advantage play technique used in craps to set and throw the dice in such a way as to make the dice more likely to land on certain numbers. Dice control is a pariah subject in some circles of gambling authors and experts. The game of craps tends to attract more scam authors and 'system hawkers', who peddle betting methods and other voodoo to 'win'. Dice control is a pariah subject in some circles of gambling authors and experts. The game of craps tends to attract more scam authors and 'system hawkers', who peddle betting methods and other voodoo to.
It’s the notion that you can control the outcome of a dice roll to increase the likelihood of certain numbers appearing more or less often to reduce the house advantage. It comes in several varieties depending on how far the hustler wants to push the absurdity of the notion. Some scammers claim you can learn to roll certain numbers at will. Oct 04, 2018 Dice Control Advantage. The player advantage, assuming he can influence the dice.
Interview With The Greatest Dice Controller
By Henry Tamburin
Dom LoRiggio, known in craps circles as the “The Dice Dominator”, has turned the craps world upside down with his uncanny ability of being able to control the dice when he throws them. He was recently featured on the History Channel’s “Dice Dominator” and he has co-authored the new book, Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution! – Win at Craps Using a Controlled Throw.
- When and how did you get started playing craps?
Throughout the late 1980s and early 90s I was an advantage blackjack player. I got interested in craps after reading several dice books by Frank Scoblete about the Captain and the Arm and I was intrigued by the idea of getting the edge at craps using a controlled throw. In the late 90s I started to practice a controlled throw and then I took a poorly designed course in controlled shooting and that got me started. I worked on the throw for six months before I really had it down. A couple of years later I met Frank Scoblete who was researching a book and we went to the craps tables where he wanted to see me roll. Well, I wanted to see him roll too. I had a half hour roll. Scoblete was impressed. Then he came right back with a half hour roll himself. Boy was I impressed.
- Can you explain to readers how you can control the outcome of your rolls?
The game of craps is a game of probabilities inherent in two dice. In a random game, those probabilities are set in stone. However, what my fellow Golden Touch dice controllers and I do is influence which dice faces come up by setting the dice a certain way and throwing them our special way. We change the probabilities by reducing the number of sevens or increasing the appearance of other numbers.
- What are the steps in a controlled throw?
In dice control, you have to set the dice properly, stand at the right distance from the back wall, grab the dice properly, grip them properly, and throw them softly with the proper amount of backswing so they land softly on the layout, and then hit the back wall and die. It takes practice and discipline. It is a skill that most people can achieve if they work at it.
- The casinos require that you hit the back wall so doesn’t that make dice control impossible?
Not at all. The Golden Touch throw that Frank Scoblete and I teach and that is the subject of our new book, Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution!, must hit the back wall to be successful. If we miss the back wall the throw is usually random as one die is doing something completely different from the other die. When we miss the back wall, we grimace because now we must rely on luck for the seven not to show.
- How long would it take an average person to learn the Golden Touch dice control technique? How does a person practice?
I am an average person; so is Frank. It took me six months of practice before I knew I had an edge and was comfortable going into the casinos to play. I practiced almost every day on a craps station that I built. You don’t have to buy a craps table but you do have to simulate one so that you can practice your throw.
- How does a player know he is influencing the dice?
There are two methods that we use to ascertain and then calculate what our edge is. For new dice controllers, we recommend using the SRR formula – known as Sevens to Rolls Ratio. This is a way to show us in an easy formula if we are actually able to change the probabilities of the game. Using the Hardway set, which shows hardway numbers all around the dice set with the end pips being the 1 and the 6, we can see if we are reducing the appearance of the seven. The seven usually appears once every six rolls on average. If you do about five thousand rolls using the Hardway set and you find that the seven is appearing once every 6.5 rolls, then you are probably changing the game. At that point you then use the powerful software program, Smart Craps, to prove with statistical certainty that you are influencing the dice outcomes and how much of an edge you have over the casino.
- What sets do you recommend to a novice dice controller?
The Hardway set is the best for reducing the appearance of the seven. If you wish to set for the sevens, you use a set called the All Seven set that has sevens all around the dice. A more skilled shooter might wish to try the 3-V set where you have the threes together and sixes and eights all around the dice. These different dice sets are described in more detail with photographs in my new book.
- What bets do you make?
There are three aspects to dice control. You must practice your throw, know what your edge is, and then bet into that edge. Skilled shooters must make bets that they can overcome. If I have a five percent edge and I make bets where the casino’s initial edge is 1.5 percent, I will beat the house making those bets. If I make bad bets, like the Horn, then I am going to lose to the casino because the house edge is 12.5 percent. My edge can’t overcome the house edge. Too many would-be dice controllers are such poor bettors that they lose anyway.
- Do you increase your bets when you win?
If you are having a good roll and you have made a profit of maybe three or four times the amount you have bet on the layout then careful pressing at times can help. However, you should always bet into your advantage right from the beginning. That is how you establish your bankroll and your betting levels.
- What were some of your greatest dice sessions?
I had a 56 hand roll before the very first seven showed. I’ve had many hour-long rolls and a few hour and thirty-five minute rolls. With Frank playing, I went 30, 33 and 38 rolls back to back to back. Of course that day Frank Scoblete had an 89-hand roll. Even that great roll doesn’t compare to the Captain’s 147-roll hand or 100-roll hand as described in detail on www.goldentouchcraps.com. The History Channel showed me calling my numbers and that was a true account. There are times when I am so “on” that I can call what will land next. I did this six times in a row for a Travel Channel show that Frank wrote but the producer decided not to use that sequence. I am usually a very consistent and quiet shooter but there are times that I get into a zone when I am hot and I can get very loud and flamboyant. Frank says that I scare the younger stick people when I “go crazy.”
- How often does a skilled dice controller win?
The number of winning sessions is not as important as whether you are winning money overall. Most hands are not winners for a dice controller, just like most at bats are not hits for good hitters. If you have three winning hands every 10 turns with the dice you will make money. A player who establishes a point and sevens out can only lose his initial bets but those hot rolls can win multiple bets over and over so the good to great rolls will make you a lot of money.
- How accurate was the History Channel show (The Dice Dominator) about you?
The show put me in with a dice control team at the beginning of my career and that the classes they taught were actually to get members for their team. Not so. That team bet low stakes and I was never involved with them. Also, most of the players on that team were not really all that skilled so that was inaccurate. Both Frank Scoblete and I discussed the Captain, the man who started all this dice control stuff in the modern casino, and his partner the Arm for several hours with the producer but none of that appeared in the show. However, the show did portray accurately how I am in a casino and the work I put in to the developing of my skill. Frank Scoblete, unfortunately, was portrayed as someone who was a lowlife instead of someone with three master’s degrees who is a real gentleman.
- Why are your Golden Touch Craps dice control classes so popular?
It is better to play with an edge than without an edge. We have the best dice controllers teaching our classes. They have all gone through a rigorous training program and they have demonstrated their edge on Smart Craps and in the casinos. The word of mouth spreads and all our classes are sold out by the time we conduct them. We have a ratio of four or five students per teacher in our classes so you are paying for intense and I mean intense personal, hands-on training.
- What are the common mistakes dice controllers make?
Dice Control Sets
The first mistake is to overestimate your edge. The second mistake is to bet that overestimated edge, which means you will lose money or win very little money. The third mistake is to not practice. No skilled athlete goes into intense competition without practicing his skill. Pitchers warm up; hitters take batting practice almost every day.
- What words of advice do you have for players interested in becoming dice controllers?
First read Frank Scoblete and my book The Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution to see if you really have the discipline and stick-to-the-task attitude. If you are interested in learning the skill from great dice controllers then consider attending the Golden Touch Craps dice control class.
- Frank Scoblete rated you as one of the top four dice controllers he ever saw in a past issue of Casino Player. How do you see this?
Well, Frank is the best one I ever saw. Of course, I never saw the Arm or the Captain shoot, although I have talked with the Captain and our throw is modeled on his throw. There are great shooters in our Golden Touch group and our students get to see them shoot the dice when they take our class – that is an eye-opening. The bottom line is, once again, playing with an edge is better than playing without an edge.
Dice control in casinocraps is a controversial theory where proponents claim that individuals can learn to carefully toss the dice so as to influence the outcome. A small but dedicated community of dice shooters claim proof of dice influencing in casino conditions. The concept of such precision shooting claims to elevate craps from a random game of chance to a sport, like bowling, darts, or pool.[1] Many within the advantage gambling community still doubt if dice control can overcome the house advantage on craps.[2][3]
Controlled shooting[edit]
The concept of 'controlled shooting' goes beyond simply 'setting the dice' prior to shooting. It purports to involve limiting the rotational characteristics of the dice. The theory is that if the dice are properly gripped and tossed at the correct angle they will land just before the back wall of the craps table, then gently touch the wall, greatly increasing the probability of their remaining on the same axis. If executed properly and consistently this technique would be able to change the game's long-term odds from the house's favor to the player's favor.
Notable proponents of dice control[edit]
Chris Pawlicki (author of Get The Edge At Craps: How to Control the Dice) explains the math and science behind dice control. Stanford Wong, well-known advantage player and gaming author, also discusses dice control in his book Wong on Dice. Pawlicki and Jerry L. Patterson co-developed PARR (Patterson Rhythm Roll) in 1997, which claims to be the first course on how to set and control dice.[3][4]
Debate over dice control[edit]
Jim Klimesh, director of casino operations for Indiana's Empress Casino Hammond believes it is sometimes possible to control the dice with certain throws that do not hit the back wall of the craps table.[2] One example is the 'army blanket roll', named after the playing surface of the dice games of American servicemen during World War II. In the army blanket roll, a player sets the dice on an axis and gently rolls or slides them down the table. If the shooter is successful, the dice will not leave the axis they are rolled on and will come to rest before hitting the back wall. A successful shooter would affect the odds significantly.[5]
Dice Control
But most casinos require that the dice touch the wall in order for a throw to be valid. The chances of altering the odds when the dice bounce off a surface of rubber pyramids are much slimmer, no matter what axis the dice were on before they hit. Dice control proponents advocate a throw that gently bounces off of the back wall and comes to rest after barely touching it. Experiments have been conducted on the subject of dice control, with inconclusive results.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ abShackleford, Michael (2009-08-18). 'Dice Setting'. Wizard of Odds. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^ abBrokopp, John (1999-07-16). 'Dice Control - Fact or Fiction'. Casino City Times. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^ abApplebome, Peter (12 January 2005). 'How to Win at Dice Table? Write About It'. The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^Patterson, Jerry. 'History of PARR: The Original Dice Setting & Dice Control Course'. SharpShooterCraps. Archived from the original on 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^Patterson, Jerry L.'Dice Control - Setting the Dice'. Gambling Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-03.