Machine craps and card counting

13 August 2013

By Frank Scoblete

FROM JACK: Some questions for you:

1. I see a lot of craps machines in the Vegas area called "aruze gaming shoot to win craps" please YouTube it if you never seen it before please, also another one from shuffle master I think and any other non-real table craps machines. The big question is any techniques that you can use to beat and win in the long run with those craps machines?

2. I just came to Vegas recently and want to try some blackjack counting and sharp-shooting craps but I'm very worried about either getting banned and maybe even getting arrested which casinos can I go to and not go to avoid getting banned or arrested?

3. Any chance you coming to the Vegas area in near future? I'm a big fan of yours and would love to meet you!

4. My hotel comps is running out from the total rewards Caesars casinos any tips on earning more hotel comps days the easy way with the lowest cost house edge anywhere in the Vegas area would be ok.

Thank you very very much for your time!

FRANK’S RESPONSE: Well, Jack, I can answer the first two of your questions and give a qualified answer on the fourth one.

1. You can’t beat the machine games of craps. It is merely a slot machine and you have no control of what will come up. Unlike real craps where some players can actually have influence over the dice, there is no way to do that with a machine.

2. Casinos don’t like card counters, period. Casinos don’t like real dice controllers, period. However, using your brains and skills to beat the games is not cheating. You can’t get arrested for that. That’s the good news. The bad news is the fact that the casino can tell you to leave and never come back or they will consider that trespassing. If you came back in that case you could be arrested, not for your playing but for trespassing.

3. Since I stopped teaching dice control classes, I have no regular routine of when I’ll be in Vegas. But you never know, we might meet someday at the tables.

4. Try going to locals’ casinos such as the Station properties, Sam’s Town and the like. I am guessing you will get more comps for your buck than you would on the Strip. This is just a guess on my part.

Finally, I think you should read some books on both craps and card counting. I have two I recommend (my own of course): “Casino Craps: Shoot to Win!” and “Beat Blackjack Now: The Easiest Way to Get the Edge.”

I am sending you a free copy of my new book “The Virgin Kiss” for your letter.


FROM RAYMOND: I am fairly new to the blackjack scene because I have only been counting and scouting my tables in the Midwest and south for about six years. I have even tried to teach a couple of people what I do so that I can start up a team.

It seems to me that all I find is no one seems motivated to learn this skill. My guess is that these people don't want to put the work into learning. They want to get money for nothing and it doesn't work that way. I tell them if they got this skill down perfectly they will find that it is still hard work but with no doubt better than working for someone else for a living.

I guess that is it from me now. I just wanted to say I am trying to keep the skill alive.

Hope all this makes sense and until next time I wish you lots of aces and faces.

FRANK’S RESPONSE: I am going to turn this on its head for a second. I don’t recommend making card counting the source of one’s primary income. As a side vocation, great; as a job, I think that is a bad idea.

Most casino gamblers don’t want to work at beating those games that can be beaten. There are 54 million casino gamblers in America. The percentage of those who play with an edge is probably around 10,000 or so. I agree with you, they just don’t want to work probably because they already work and consider going to the casinos a respite from the working grind.

But none of that should stop you. I have always believe ever since I coined this sentence that “Winning is the most fun!”

I am sending you a free copy of my book “The Virgin Kiss” for your letter.

Join me on my website at www.frankscoblete.com. If I publish a letter from you I will send you a free copy of my book "The Virgin Kiss."