Hardway Set or 3V Set

Stickman,

I have read and enjoyed Frank Scoblete's books on craps as well as his and your articles for Casino City Times. I also enjoyed the videos on the eight physical elements of dice control on YouTube.

My question is, should I use the hardway set or the 3V set?

I have used the 3V set with some success.

Steve

Thank you for the comments. I will make an assumption that along with setting the dice you are also using the grip and throw that is shown in the books and videos on YouTube.

The advantage of using the hardway set is it takes a movement of two dice faces of one die relative to the other die in order to produce a 7. If the dice stay as they are or if there is only one face movement of one die relative to the other, you cannot get a 7. This is not true of any other set, including the 3V.

The 3V set is used to zero in on the 6 and the 8, which also happen to have the lowest house edge of any place bet. There is not as much protection against the appearance of the 7 however.

The purpose of the way we set and throw is to establish axis control on the dice. With the hardway set the 1 and 6 faces are out of play. If the dice stay on axis the 1 or 6 will not appear in the result.

The hardway set is the one to use while you are learning axis control as it provides the greatest protection against the appearance of a 7. Once you get better with axis control, you could consider the 3V set. Keep in mind the 3V set does not protect as well against the 7 so until you get very good with axis control, you will probably not do as well with the 3V set.

Frank Scoblete is, in my opinion, the best dice controller today. He is a master at zeroing in on the 6 and 8 by using the 3V set and makes consistent money even on shorter rolls because of his ability to hit these numbers. However even he will sometimes switch to the hardway set if things are not just perfect.

So, Steve, use the hardway set for now, read Frank's books - especially his latest Casino Craps: Shoot to Win - and watch the videos. And, if you are serious about dice control consider taking a Golden Touch Craps class.

All the best at the tables.

Jerry "Stickman"