Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     After a very hectic start, we managed to check in early at the Plaza, and that's where I gambled first. It was a $10 table, and at first I was placing very little on the board in terms of Place bets--mainly just 6 and 8, and I started off with the hardway dice set (4/2-4/2 in my case) from stick left 1. After less than satisfactory results with that set, I switched to what I call the yo-yo set (6/5-5/6), the set that had worked out so well for me in January and March in Lake Charles. I was still playing scared craps with this dice set, but I ended shooting an 18, enough to get my money back plus $37.

     We went to the Wynn, partially so I can play there, and partially because my wife wanted to shop for a crucial clothing item she needed for the photo shoot. I thought I'd try a regression strategy that worked out for me in Lake Charles. That being doing 220 inside, regress the bets down to 81 across with 2x odds behind the Pass Line. But I kept point-sevening out! That table was more bouncy than at the Plaza. I lost $914 before I stopped playing craps. I won $62.50 back at the blackjack table, but that loss stung, especially since my wife and I were planning to have our anniversary dinner at SW Steakhouse, which is in the Wynn.

      Later in the day, after we got elegantly dressed for the steak dinner, we decided to get back to the casinos somewhat early. I first played at the Cromwell, a new casino for me. There, I decided to do the 220 inside, regressing down to 81 across. Fortunately, at the Cromwell, I had a great shoot, the best of the whole trip. I shot 21 times. If you ever get to see me play, you'll find out that when I'm shooting, I'm saying three different numbers, like in this case, after my last roll, I said "412 323 24." That's just my way of keeping track of what was rolled. The digits of the first number represent the number of times 4, 5, and 6 were rolled respectively, and the digits on the second number represent the # of rolls for the 8, 9, and 10 respectively. The digits of the last number represent the number of horn rolls and the number of 7's rolled respectively (I did have 3 come-out 7's in a row at one point). I press up the numbers as they are hit an even number of times (a variation on the Take And Press method). I ended up winning $300 at the Cromwell.

     Then we went back to the Wynn, an hour or so before our dinner reservation at SW Steakhouse. Once again, I got shot down early trying my regression strategy. But just before time to go to the steakhouse, I made an adjustment, shooting the dice at a lower angle. I got all but $69 back from that session. Then me and my wife had dinner (and it was delicious). Once we finished, we went back to the craps table, where I continues with this adjustment to how I was shooting the dice. I won $144 on that shoot, turning a $69 dollar loss into a $75 win. There would be no more gambling that day, for my wife and I had romantic things planned for our anniversary.

      I did an early morning session at home base. Since the table was a $10 table, I decided to do a lesser regression strategy, doing 154 inside (7 units each), as opposed to 220 inside, which I did at the Cromwell, on a $15 table. The strategy worked long enough to do the regression, plus get a few more rolls before crapping out. I finished $39 ahead.

     While my wife was still looking for this article of clothing she just had to have for the photo shoot later in the day, I played at the Excalibur. I tried the same strategy there that I did at the Plaza. But dammit, I ended up getting shot down again! And nothing I tried as far as adjustments, was working. When my wife met me at the Excalibur, after reaching her goal, we left, with me taking a $500 loss.

      Only one more gambling session happened on Day 2. This was at the Venetian, where the photographer would meet us for our photo shoot. The craps table there was the only one out of all the craps tables I'd played in Vegas where they had the plexiglass. I shot a couple of mediocre shoots, just barely enough to complete the 220 inside regression to 81 across. At this table, my mistake was betting too much on a shooter that I thought was a "control" shooter like myself. My wife, who epitomizes the term random shooter, was the better shooter, shooting SIX Pass Line winners in a row at one point, including three straight winner-sevens! She helped get most of my money back. We left the table with me losing $32 at the craps table, but making up for it plus $23 at the blackjack table.

     I started things off at the Golden Gate casino--I thought for some odd reason I was at the California casino. The Golden Gate had am extra long table, which really threw me off. I made an adjustment to my throw by using more of a pendulum swing than I usually do, plus I got better results using the hardway dice set from SL1. But these adjustments, resulting in three rolls in the teens, came too late to stop a loss, as I was really getting shot down initially, I left the table $735 down. I did win $117.50 of it back at the blackjack table.

     My wife suggested that I leave craps alone for a while, and focus on blackjack (I have a slightly higher win percentage at blackjack than I do with craps, but craps is much for fun in my opinion). I then won $105 at the Plaza playing blackjack, and that was the game I played when I won $125 at the Tropicana, $97.50 at the Green Valley Ranch, and $150 at the Fremont. I did win $25 at the Excalibur but that was only playing off another shooter for a little bit.

      I did play one more craps session that day, and that was at the Plaza. I did not do my regression strategy, but fortunately, held on to the dice long enough to get my money back. And my wife had a decent shoot too. Together, we won $104 to close out the day.

     Another early morning session at home base. I first won $75 at the blackjack table, then went to the craps table. I ended up shooting an 18, returning to my Yo-Yo dice set (6/5-5/6), playing from stick right 1 this time. However,half of those rolls were either 7's and horn numbers. Still, I won $86 at the craps table, booking a total win of $161 for the session.

     We returned to the Golden Gate, which turned out to be a mistake. Basically, nothing was working, and I lost $603 at the craps table, gaining $37.50 at the blackjack table, for a total loss of $565.50

     The rest of the day was a mixed bag of games that I played. I won $100 at the Tropicana playing blackjack, then won $110 at Caesar's Palace, with 10 of it being at craps (off someone else's shoot), and $100 playing poker. Without doing regression, I won $9 playing craps at the Linq, and another $60 playing blackjack. After relaxing in the observation tower at the Strat, I won $130 at the blackjack table. Then my wife and I returned to the Plaza, where I played one final craps session. By this time, it was Friday night, and a new craps table was open, and it was the bounciest craps table I'd ever seen. People were crapping out early right and left. Fortunately, I didn't bet on any of them. I did a very low angle throw, and did a 220 inside regression down to 81 across, for it was a $15 table. I shot long enough to regress down, but crapped out soon afterwards. I was surprised when they told me I'd won $90, but then I remembered that at the start of my shoot, I had piut $20 on the Pass Line, and did a $10 Whirl bet, which hit for an 11 on the comeout, making me $42 of that $90 profit.

      I stopped there, for it was getting late, and we had an early flight back to Houston. I ended up $794 down for the trip, but it didn't put too big a dent in my bankroll, plus we had a fantastic time.