Dealing with a grumpy pit boss

Dear Frank:

I have been reading your archives at www.goldentouchcraps.com and www.casinocitytimes.com the past month or so and they have provided me with a lot of good insight that I have been applying at the craps tables. Anyhow I have a couple questions for you.

First, when determining the sevens-to-rolls-ratio [SRR], do you count the come-out rolls? Figure everybody gets a free roll and not sure if that should be counted and like what if you hit a bunch of sevens, elevens, and craps before establishing a point and then seven-out right away . . . what would be counted?

Recently I have changed my come-out set to a sevens set and have been hitting a lot more sevens that way . . . so would that count towards controlled shooting?

My other question is regarding personal experience I've been having with some pit bosses and stickmen at the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. First, I would have to deal with some nasty pit bosses jumping my case if I didn't hit the back wall every once in a while the past year.

Then in the past month I have changed my dice sets and a few weeks ago I was rolling well, and the grumpy stickman points his stick at me and says something about a 6 second rule to throw the dice. Fine, I have seen others write you about experiencing similar issues. But in the past three weeks I have been standing stick right 1 [SR1] to become more of a controlled shooter after reading a bunch of your posts that make a lot of sense. So I have been rolling better with this grip and soft toss.

This weekend I was feeling in the zone. I hit two points pretty quickly after hitting a few sevens and elevens on the come out as well. This time the grumpy pit boss who had given me grief on previous occasions about not hitting the back wall came up with something new. He said my arm was crossing the stick and that I needed to back up. Consequently, I sevened-out right after that. Have you ever heard of this? Now I am hitting the back wall and they say I am too close to the stick?

I feel like I am being singled out because they see I can be a good shooter . . . as I noticed other shooters next to the stick seemingly throwing in front of it and not a word said to them. I would love to know your thoughts about this as I haven't seen it addressed in any of the archives I've read.

Thanks for your time, Frank!

Ben

Dear Ben:

Let's take a look at your situation.

In determining your SRR, your home practice is more important than your casino shooting, unless – as you have started doing – you are setting for those sevens on the come-out roll. You count every non-seven as a roll in practice.

You should be hitting the back wall with every throw. Yes, sometimes you won't. Now, the box person can say, "Please hit the back wall, sir," or he can say nothing if this only rarely happens on your throws. How he says it, though, tells you something about the individual's personality. If he is nasty, as opposed to cordial and professional, then, yes, you have a grump sitting in that seat.

Some casinos do frown on allowing a shooter's arm to go past the stickman and over the proposition bets in the middle of the table. These casinos believe that your arm might be preventing the stickman from seeing the dice in flight or that you might scoop up some of the prop bets in the middle of the table, a situation I have never seen in over two decades of playing regularly. So take a half step over and shoot from SR1.5 or SL1.5 and your arm will not pass the stickman's space. Again how the boxman tells you about this feature of their "rules" determines whether he is a grump or not.

The six-second rule? That has to be a joke! I did a study of shooters some years ago and the average length of rolls from beginning to end was around 10 seconds. I've seen shooters take decades to throw the dice. Some of them keep hitting them against the wall beneath them until they see the faces the want; some shake the dice for a century before releasing them. What I also found was that controlled shooters seemed to take longer with their throws even though the total time for the entire sequence from setting to the calling out of the number by the stickman was the same 10 seconds. Indeed, by taking care with you roll, it appears (and appears only) as if you are taking longer than the wingers.

Now at Golden Touch we teach you how to set those dice and release them within three seconds – half the time of the six-second rule. Make sure you are actually doing your set up in a speedy fashion.

Now, if this pit boss is really a grump, then try to play during another shift if you can. He might just have a creepy personality or problems in his personal life.

I am giving you a free 30-day subscription to my private members-only website at www.goldentouchcraps.com. We have over 5,000 members on this site and I think you will enjoy it.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank