Dice Control and Betting Strategies Go Hand-in-Hand

I received an email from JC, a student who had attended the Golden Touch Connecticut seminar, wanting to know what betting levels he should employ with a 401G of $2000 (A 401G is a bank account that is used strictly for gambling!) and what his session stake should be. I gave him a quick answer of "a $200 session stake and don't bet more than $24 on yourself and $12 on random rollers" that I want to flesh out now.

A bankroll of $2,000 may seem sufficient to play $5 table minimums of Pass/Come, double odds but in reality it is a short bankroll. If you are going to make a Pass line bet and one or two Come bets and if you want to take advantage of the odds, when you are fully exposed, you'll have between $30 and $45 at risk on a single roll of the dice. That's 15 percent to almost 20 percent of your $200 session stake. A few wipeouts and you're wiped out.

For a dice controller certain rules of thumb should apply:

1. Always use the 5-Count.
2. Bet lower on random rollers than you do on yourself.
3. Have a small bet to large session stake ratio.
4. Have a small session stake to large bankroll (401G) ratio.
5. Leave when you get tired
6. Leave when your session-stake can't sustain another round of bad shooters

Let's take these one at a time.

1. The 5-Count is a proven entity, not perfect, but the best method for avoiding awful rolls and 57 percent of the random rollers you'll encounter.

2. If you clearly have the edge, the ideal situation is to play alone or, in order to rest a little, with one or two other dice controllers at the same table. Even one or two random rollers will give you a much-needed break after you have sevened-out on a previous roll. Short of that, you have to swim with the sharks and play at tables with any number of people. (Dom, Howard, Billy the Kid and I played at a table in Wisconsin, a 12 footer, that crammed 16-18 players in!). Bet as low as possible on the random rollers who make it through the 5-Count. Now, I do realize that many of us just love the game of craps and we need a certain betting level to give us a thrill. Make it the lowest level possible, because every bet on a random roller is, after all, a long-term losing wager. If you are a $30 place bettor of the 6 and 8, then bet $12 sixes and eights on the random rollers. Or, if you can, $6 sixes and eights. If you usually take full odds on your Pass and Come on random rollers, consider going to double odds on the table minimum bet on random rollers.

On yourself, you can then bet that $30 six and eight, or even go to $42 on each as Dom advocates. By reducing the amount you wager on the random rollers, you can increase the amount you bet on yourself. But to do this, you must know that you have the ability to change the game in your favor when you roll. Our greatest enemy as advantage craps players is often ourselves. So be brutally honest with yourself as to where you stand on the skill hierarchy.

3. You want to have at least 10 potential wipeouts in your rack when you buy into a game. If you're going to make your spread across the number $60, then you should have at least $600 to play with. However, by only betting maximum spread on yourself, and the minimum on the random rollers, you can go with half that amount -- $300 for session. That would mean, you bet $60 on yourself; $12 on the random rollers.

4. I used to think that you needed at least 10 times your session stake as your total bankroll (401G) but I'm beginning to think you need at least double to four times that amount. With a skill such as dice control you need to be comfortable when you shoot; the more money in the bank, not at risk in a session, the more relaxed you're going to be. The more relaxed, the better chance your skill will make you more money. More money = the more relaxed = more money = …you get the picture.

5. Fatigue is the enemy of a controlled shooter. It doesn't necessarily make us cowardly as Vince Lombardi said it did of football players, but it makes us become mere chicken feeders. I've been there. It isn't pretty.

If things aren't going well at a session and you're down three-fourths of your session stake and there are a whole bunch of random rollers waiting to get their hot, sweaty, greasy hands on the dice, quit. You might not have enough to sustain a whole new round of shooters, especially if they get past the 5-Count and seven out on the 6-, 7-, or 8-counts. Save the money for tomorrow's session.