Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     For my wife's birthday, coming up on September 27th, we plan to go Biloxi Mississippi for a trip. Of course, there's going to be gambling, and we plan to stay for 4 days. I felt it would be appropriate to have a short warm-up trip in Lake Charles first, for among other things, I want to try some new things, especially at the craps table, and I'd rather try them out in Lake Charles first. So that's what this trip is intented to be about.

     As of this first day, Mrs. MusicalDice and I have been together exactly 12 years and 2 months, of 146 months total. Mrs. MusicalDice was also looking forward to this getaway to Lake Charles. This time, we stayed at the Golden Nugget casino. After a long time to relax in the room, we went down to the casino.

     It was my intention to do a round of craps after playing blackjack here at Golden Nugget. But unfortunately, the blackjack session was so long that it ate up all the time I would have used for craps. Worse still, I lost $395 after a long drawn-out battke at the blackjack table. We only had time to get to L'Auberge to make our dinner reservation at the Ember Steakhouse, and we weren't about to miss that.

     Dinner at Ember Steakhouse was superb as always. Mrs. MusicalDice and I toasted to 146 months still being happily together, and the hope that this trip will turn profitable.

     After dinner, still at L'Auberge, I decided to gamble in the casino. The craps table looked full, so I played blackjack instead. This table was a complete opposite of the one at Golden Nugget. Almost all wins per round, including 4 blackjacks in very short time. I ended up winning $625 at that table. That pulled me out of the hole for the trip thus far. Hopefully, it'll stay that way. I didn't play craps this time either, for I didn't feel like jeopardizing such a nice 500 Club. I decided to do that at Golden Nugget.

     At Golden Nugget, I was determined to play craps first. I wouldn't have felt right if I didn't have at least one craps session today. I had very mixed results at the craps table. For one, I was experimenting with a new strategy I got from WagerMeThis, where I'd go 96 acrpss (I was on a $15 table), and take either the outer 2 bets or the outer 4 bets down after 3 hits. One shooter crapped out early, doing it this way. It worked with the other shooter. In between these shooters, I shot the dice once from Stick Left 1, using the Hardway dice set. I didn't do badly, shooting 10 times, only thst 6 of these rolls were either 7's or horn numbers. I did hit just enough box numbers to break even for my own shoot. I left $16 ahead, as I was starting to feel tired (the meal had finally hit me, I think). For the day, I ended up $246 ahead. Not bad, but I definitely plan to play more craps on this trip.

     This day, I was determined to play a lot more craps, and I was also determined not to play scared craps, meaning I was going to bet on more numbers than I'd been doing initially. How did all that turn out? Let's find out together!

     After breakfast at the Claim Jumper at Golden Nugget, I went into the casino to play craps. This time, I got in the game with an old guy who seemed to know what he was doing, was the shooter. I did my 96 across strategy, taking down the 4 and the 10 after 3 hits. The shooter had a long enough rally to win me $171. That was a nice start.

     Not long afterwards, my wife decided to do some shopping. After returning to our room, and coming back downstairs, we were both on our way. I went back into the casino to play some more craps. This time, however, the table was ice cold, with everybody crapping out early before I could do my regression on my 96 across strategy. My shooting was terrible too. I lost $464 before leaving the table.

     From there, I walked over to L'Auberge, where I first got into a blackjack game. For a while, it looked like this trip was really going to go south, as I got into trouble, having to go to a Round 2 buy-in ($1000 total), before getting my money back plus $25.

     From there, I went to the craps table, which was a $25 table. This time, I was standing on the right outer hook, compared to the right end, when I was at Golden Nugget. Here, instead of 96 across, it had to be 162 across (including 2 for the vigs on the 4 and 10). That got me into trouble at first, as the first shooter crapped out after the second hit. I tried it again on another shooter, just making enough to say I got ahead for the round (he crapped out just after I took down the 4 and the 10). Then came my shoot. Here, I took advantage of my position at the table, and reverted to a strategy I used on my last Lake Charles trip, using a Hardway dice set, shooting the dice at an angle so that they'd break up, so to speak. It worked sufficiently well, with my shooting 10 times, this time, most of them being box numbers. I made up for the early crap-out, and got my money back plus $38. A total casino win of $63, which actually was enough to get me back in the positive for the trip (albeit by only $16).

     From there, I returned to Golden Nugget, and returned to the craps table, yeah the same sh!tty table where I lost not even an hour earlier. This time, I was standing in the right inner hook, and I was not the shooter. It was a struggle here too, for the first shooter that I used the 96 across strategy on, crapped out early. From there, it was at least two shooters who crapped out shortly after my taking down the 4 and 10 Place bets, getting ahead for the round. Then came a shooter who had a bit of a longer rally. I not only got ahead for this shooter, but it looked like I might actually get my money back for this session. But after a string of rolls that were either horn rolls or 4's or 10's, I decided to take down my four inside Place bets too. Probably the smartest sh!t I did, for the shooter crapped out shortly thereafter. I wound up $39 ahead at the craps table. I added $75 to that at the blackjack table, for a total casino win of $114. Shortly after cashing in my chips, my wife came back from shopping, and we went to lunch together, off-property, at Olive Garden.

     I had one more gambling session, but it wasn't until after me and Mrs. MusicalDice returned from a late lunch, took a long nap, went swimming, and had a light dinner at Claim Jumper. Still at Golden Nugget, I played craps, this time at a different craps table, which was a $10 table. So instead of 96 across, I did it for only 64 across. It worked on two shooters for a total craps win of $52. These shooters were newbies who didn't know what they were doing, and were slowing the game down. By this time, it was getting late, and I wasn't in the mood for it.

     I managed to add $125 to that at the blackjack table, for a casino win of $177. That was enough to make up for the loss this morning, and wind up ahead for the day by $61. Overall, I'm now ahead $307 for the trip.

     No, I didn't play scared craps, but one could still argue that I was still playing scared because of the small wins that I mostly had today. I'd rather have the small wins than big losses. I think this is where a lot of gamblers go wrong, meaning that they don't quit when they're slightly ahead, thinking that it's not worth it, so they chase a bigger win, and their luck goes south, and they end up with a big loss instead. I don't think the loss was worth it, do you?

     We checked out and had lunch at Five Guys. Afterwards, we returned to Golden Nugget, where I played blackjack. Made $37.50, coloring up as they were about to change the cards. I planned to go to L'Auberge for one final assault.

     This last entry for the trip is going to sound like a contradiction because as you probably have noticed, I use this color when I win at least $100 but less than $500 at the craps table. Well, I did, but not before losing $950 at the blackjack table, enough to make me fall behind for the trip. At least I can say I won $120 at the craps table, using the 96 across, taking the 4 and 10 down after 3 hits. A net loss for the session of $830, and a total loss for the trip of $485.50. At least I can say I lost the least playing craps. Only $28 total at the craps tables. Hopefully, things will be better in Biloxi.

     For a long while, my wife and I weren't certain if we'd ever return to Biloxi MS, despite the fact that we both liked it a lot there. The problem was the harrowing experience traveling to and from there via Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston TX to Gulfport Airport, in Gulfport MS. First of all, Bush Airport is a zoo and a nightmare to deal with. Second of all, only small planes fly into Gulfport. And the small planes we rode to and from Gulfport were beyond cramped, and ANY bit of turbulence is felt on a small plane. But earlier this year, I thought of flying from Hobby Airport in Houston to New Orleans, and then take an Uber into Biloxi. It sounded like a lot less hassle, so that's the route we took into Biloxi for this trip. The main purpose of this trip was to celebrate my wife's birthday, which was on the 27th. Will I do better this time around? Let's find out together!

     After a relatively smooth trip into New Orleans, and then a two-hour Uber ride from there to Biloxi, we checked in early at the Golden Nugget casino. After a decent rest and lunch, we went downstairs to play.

     Craps didn't get off to such a smooth start, however. My 64 across strategy (for a 10-dollar table) kept getting sniped before I could make the regression into profit for the round. I even had a couple of decent rolls, 17 and 15 from Stick Left 1, using the Hardway dice set (after I kept crapping out early with the Yo-Yo dice set). I ended up down $258 when I left the table.

     I did get $102.50 of it back at the blackjack tables, for a loss of $155.50 for the session. Not the way I wanted to start, but it's a lot better than how I started last time I was here. BTW, Mrs. MusicalDice hit a jackpot on the slot machines, which netter her almost $1000 after taxes. At least one of us was winning!

     We had wanted to try at least one of the other casinos this first day. But the weather, which was overcast from the time we landed in New Orleans, only got worse throughout the rest of the day. In fact, it was thunderstorming in Biloxi by the time it got to dinner. We decided just to stick to home base at Golden Nugget until the next day.

     After dinner, we went into the casino room. I returned to the craps table, this time, shooting from the end. I struggled again at first, with short rolls. But then I decided to do my cross-table way of shooting the dice, using the Hardway dice set (something I don't usually do, shooting from the end). But surprise surprise, I got a decent shoot out of it, shooting 22 times, enough to make my Best Craps Shoots Hall Of Fame page, for the first time in 4½ months. Also worthy of note, I dared try a variation of the new Iron Cross 300+ Strategy, only that I only invested $200 here. It worked just long enough to make $100 off that roll before taking the bets down. The shooter crapped out before I could place a single bet afterwards (the dealers were going too fast). I left the table $51 ahead. Under the circumstances, I'll definitely take that.

     I did add $25 to that at the blackjack table, for a total session win of $76, and a total day loss of $79.50. I can definitely recover from this. Do I? The answer lies ahead in the rest of this trip report for Biloxi.

     We got off to a late start today, and we traveled to the Beau Rivage casino, where we first had breakfast, then after a long drawn-out battle at the blackjack table, winning $50, then I played craps. This was on a $25 table, and I did the Iron Cross 200 strategy, keeping the bets up there for 3 hits, then reducing them to 30 on the 6 and 8. This worked well enough to win $108 at the craps table.

     I was determined to play poker at this casino, for I'd heard of the poker room here, but last time we were in Biloxi, the poker room was closed. So I played poker there this time. Unfortunately, this was one of those long drawn-out sessions, and Mrs. MusicalDice, understandibly, wasn't for sitting up in a poker room for hours. She played slots for a while, apparently. We kept in contact at first via our cell phones, but there were problems. First of all, the reception in the poker room was terrible, so I had to step out of the poker room to call her. Second of all, after the first time, for some unknown reason when I called her, I kept getting this strange message saying that the customer is not available. It had been quite a while, and I hadn't seen or heard from her. Worse yet, my cell phone was running out of juice, and I was really getting worried about her. At length, I went to the front desk and requested that security look for her. All this was affecting my playing at the poker table, worse still. Ultimately, she was found at a slot machine just outside the poker room. I didn't know this until I returned to the poker, after I sent out an APB on her. That whole experience was really stressful, and I'm sure it played a factor in my losing $397 at the poker table, for a casino loss of $239. Apparently, Mrs. MusicalDice's cell phone had run into the same bad reception that mine did. Let's just say, we were both glad to get the hell out of there!

     After that experience, we were both ready for dinner. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that Mrs. MusicalDice was familiar with called Azteca's. I had a pretty strong drink. The food was decent, though not as good as two Mexican restaurants we frequent back in Houston. Mrs. MusicalDice told me that the ones back home are Tex-Mex restaurants, while the one we went to in Biloxi is authentic Mexican food. Whatever. It is what it is.

     We returned to Golden Nugget, and crashed in our room. We had every intention of playing later on, but then we got some news that really took the wind out of our sails. We had just learned that an old karaoke friend of ours, one who was born the exact same day that I was, had passed away due to cancer. I wrote about this on the Music Blog. We didn't feel like doing anything else today, after getting that news. So this is how Day 2 ended. I'm currently down $318.50 for the trip. Hopefully, I'll do better, and we'll be in better spirits, especially since tomorrow is Mrs. MusicalDice's birthday. I suspect that things will be better, given that.

     Today was Mrs. MusicalDice's birthday! How old is she? Hint: Our theme song "One In A Million You" by Larry Graham was in the top ten the week she was born. What year was that? Anyway, I planned a nice celebration for my wife. Hopefully, I was hoping to get some nice gambling wins to go along with it.

     We had breakfast at the Palace casino. It was a nice breakfast buffet. After which, I played craps there. I got into trouble early on, with me crapping out early, shooting from the end, using the Hardway dice set. But when I switched back to the Yo-Yo dice set, I shot 17 times, enough to get my money back plus $42. I added $32.50 at the blackjack table, for a total casino win of $74.50

     We then went to Harrah's. I wanted to play craps there, but only the crapless craps table was open. Ever since I first played crapless craps at Harrah's in Kansas City 10 years ago, I've had a very low opinion of crapless craps. Later for that. I played blackjack here instead, and the table was horrible! I lost $462.50. Would I have done better playing crapless craps? Who knows?

     We returned to Golden Nugget, where I got into a craps game. I was at the end once again. I first got into trouble, crapping out early, using the Yo-Yo dice set. Then I switched back to the Hardway dice set, and had a decent roll, though not enough to get it all back. Then when it came back to my turn, I stuck to the Hardway dice set, and crapped out early. I ended up buying in for an additional $500, and switching back to the Yo-Yo dice set, gripping the dice differently--focusing more on the index and ring fingers keeping the dice in place. This seemed to work, for I ended up going on a long rally, shooting 25 times, enough to just about get my money back. The roll did make my Best Craps Shoots Hall Of Fame page. What finally got me out of the hole was the following shooter, who had just long enough of a roll, with my using the Iron Cross 200 strategy for 3 hits, which got me $110, taking the bets down at that point, but not putting anything else out there until I had a chance to count my chips to make sure I was ahead. The shooter crapped out on the very next roll. I ended up $76 ahead. I added $27.50 to that at the blackjack table for a combined casino win of $103.50.

     Meanwhile, Mrs. MusicalDice had a nice $200+ win at the slot machines. I was very happy for her, for after all, it was her birthday.

     Now I was very willing to go to the mall and go shopping with my wife, and I thought that was what she'd wanted to do next, but surprisingly, she just wanted to chill out until it was time for our big dinner date. So that's what we did.

     Our big birthday dinner date was at Morton's Steakhouse. There, we had a very relaxing and elegant dinner, which included one of the best steaks we ever had. They even gave my wife a free dessert on the house. We both immensely enjoyed ourselves, and the service was top-notch.

     We couldn't find any places nearby who had karaoke this night, unlike last time we were in Biloxi. That would have been nice, me potentially singing "One In A Million You" for my lovely wife, and announcing that it was her birthday. But that was not meant to be.

     So instead, we went to the Boomtown casino. It's a smallish casino that we'd never been to before. However, we didn't play there, as all the blackjack tables were full, and the only thing there regarding craps were bubble craps machines. Now I know some of you love bubble craps, but I happen not to, as there's no way to set or shoot the dice on bubble craps. To me, bubble craps is just a big game of Trouble (with the pop-o-matic dome). So we left there without playing at all.

     We then traveled to the Hard Rock casino, a place where I'd done good the last time we were in Biloxi. However, any thought of possibly catching up for this trip, quickly went by the wayside. The dice were beyond not nice, they were downright nasty and frigid! Consecutive point-seven-outs marred my session. A Don't strategy might have helped, but I had felt so good about my shooting after the last Golden Nugget session, that I kept thinking I could turn things around. But no adjustment I made worked, whether it was changing dice sets, grips, or positions at the table. I lost $913 before calling it a night.

     We returned to Golden Nugget, not even thinking of playing anymore today. I already had more sessions today than I did for the first two days combined. I ended up losing $1197.50 for the day, and I'm currently down a total of $1516. Not good! Maybe tomorrow will be better.

     After breakfast, at home base, I played blackjack. It was a battle, but one I eventually won, winning $50. I was thinking about playing craps, but decided against that at that point and time, because after the disastrous Hard Rock craps session of the previous night, I felt I had to feel like a winner again. So I just locked up the win.

     We then traveled to a new casino for us, Treasure Bay. There, I played craps, standing at Stick Left 1. I was the only shooter for much of the time at the table. Unfortunately, my start mirrored what happeed at the Hard Rock the previous night. Three consecutive Point-Seven-Outs! And since I still refused to play scared craps, so those PSO's were quite costly. I first switched from the Hardway dice set to the Yo-Yo dice set. When that didn't work, I then switched to a Crossed Sixes (6/2-6/4) dice set. I also tried just simply rolling the dice with little to no toss, remembering a big roll I had at the Sunset Station several months earlier. This appeared to work, for my next shoot produced 18 rolls, during which I was able to parlay the 8 up to $90, and it hit, and I got to yell out "Bull-llackout!" once. I desperately needed to make this game fun again. Fortunately, it did become fun in spite of my not getting all my money back. For I had two bigger rolls after that, sticking to the same dice set and method of rolling the dice. I had a 23-roller and a 29-roller, both making my Best Craps Shoots Hall Of Fame page. If those were the only rolls following my 18-roller, I certainly would have gotten my money back. However, there were some short rolls mixed in as well. I stuck to this dice set and method of rolling the dice simply because nothing else was working. It was a long exhausting session, and I was the shooter for most of the time. Eventually, I left the table $145 down, which was a lot less of a deficit that it was after the three PSO's. In spite of it all, I felt like I really accomplished something, for I'd gotten some real long rolls out of the session, and possibly a way to more successfully shoot the dice.

     I shaved $50 off the deficit with a hard-fought win at the blackjack table. I left the casino only $95 down. I felt wiped out at that point, but I also felt a glimmer of hope that maybe this day won't end in red ink.

     After a relaxing late lunch and a very relaxing swim back at Golden Nugget, I felt rejuvenated enough to gamble some more. This time, we went to another new casino, per a recommendation from an Uber driver. We went to the Scarlet Pearl casino. There, I first won $62.50 at the blackjack table after another big battle (what's with these blackjack tables in Biloxi?), then I played craps. There, I stood at Stick Right 1, one of my least favorite positions at the craps table. When it was my turn to shoot, I decided to return to the Crossed Sixes dice set, and shooting the dice the same way as at Treasure Bay. I had another 18-roller, with a lot of the rolls being non-productive crap rolls. But it was enough to win $66 for a total casino win of $128.50. Nice.

     One more casino win came my way at the IP casino at the poker table. Having Pocket Rockets twice during the one hour that I played helped, but the biggest pot I won occurred when I had a king and a jack in my hand, and I made a straight on the river. I check-raised my opponent, who then got razzed by others at the table, saying that he lost to a guy who can't see. I then said that I can hear good. I won $213 at the poker table. I finished the day ahead $296.50. Finally, ONE day on this Biloxi trip that I finished ahead! Of course, I'm still in the red, now $1219.50 down, but that's still better than what I was after yesterday. In spite of it all, I still have had fun on this trip.

     My last gambling session came after my wife and I checked ou. At Golden Nugget, I first played blackjack, where I won $100. Lastly, I played craps, hoping to retain the dice-rolling magic I had yesterday. But nothing but quick seven-outs resulted. I decided to end things after I lost $311. I declared myself all gambled out after a net loss of $211, just about off-setting the poker win of last night.

     Overall, I ended up down $1430.50 for the trip. Not good. I was hoping for better, obviously, but I still had fun, regardless. Plus, I think I may have discovered (or re-discovered) a way to set and roll the dice that overall did me good. Four Hall-Of-Fame rolls on this trip too? What's not to like about that? Besides, I actually finished ahead for one of the games. Which one? Blackjack by $37.50, due to the very last session. That's all for now.