The Quotable Captain: Mistakes

25 September 2018

By Frank Scoblete

(The late Captain was my mentor in gambling. I’ve written six books about him. This series contains some of his quotes, ideas and advice. This particular article concerns how the Captain views learning from mistakes.)

The Captain: “I made every mistake a gambler could make.” — The Captain’s Craps Revolution (1993)

The Captain believed that you learned from your mistakes as long as you took the time to think about them and try to rectify them. Even after I had written several books about him, he worked on what he advocated and he did indeed changed several of his ideas about playing. Yes, the Captain thought he had made some mistakes about his playing concepts. I have rectified these mistakes over the years.

The Supersystem no more
The Captain’s Supersystem which I wrote about in Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos (1991) and The Captain’s Craps Revolution (1993) came under intense scrutiny from him. He realized it was not the best way to bet. It was a doey-don’t system that actually gave the house a bigger edge than the better bets of Pass with odds and Come with odds.

He soon advocated the traditional best bets. He made no attempt to cover up that the Supersystem, which is not a terrible bet in any way, was still weaker than the better bets. I have now incorporated that in all my writing since the late 1990s.

Stop multiple betting on random rollers
Just about all craps shooters are strictly random rollers; in fact, many players who claim to be able to control (or influence) the dice can’t do so. When I first met the Captain, he believed you should make three bets on a shooter after the shooter made it through his 5-Count. (See I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps to learn about the 5-Count.)

In the early 2000s he changed his mind. “What’s the point of wasting money on a random roller?” he asked. Then he answered his own question, “It is not worth it. It is a losing proposition. The only reason you make any bet on a random roller is to look as if you are playing. Make a small bet on those rollers – one and only one small bet with odds – and let it be that.”

Yes, one bet per shooter. “If you are a rhythmic roller [dice controller] then you can make more bets on yourself.”

No place bets
Place bets, even the placing of the six and eight, are not as good as just going with pass or come bets with odds.

Tipping
The Captain used to tip at the end of his session but now he thinks the best way is to tip from the start. They don’t have to be large tips since you will be tipping all along the way. He generally thought you should tip when you shoot the dice. He also believed that you had to control the tip. You just have to say, “I control the bet.”

If the bet wins, you only give the win to the dealers and you keep the bet going. There are some casinos that don’t allow players to do that. Then just put the tip on top of your bet and if you win the bet give the win to the dealer and keep the tip on top of your bet.

Visit Frank’s website at www.frankscoblete.com. Frank’s latest books are Confessions of a Wayward Catholic, I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps and I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack. Available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores.