Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     My wife and I went to Lake Charles with the hopes of starting the new year off in positive territory like we did last year.

     However, fate had other plans.

     My wife and I were staying at L'Auberge, like we usually do. But quite unusually, the gambling began at Golden Nugget. That was because the tables were full at L'Auberge. And things weren't much better at Golden Nugget. I was only able to get onto a craps table there in Stick Right 3, a very uncomfortable position for me. I shot twice, using my Yo-Yo dice set. But I had two early crap-outs. Ended up $192 down for the session. My favorite positions at the craps table are Stick Left 1, and either end. It's times like this that I wish I had more casinos and more craps tables to choose from (L'Auberge and Golden Nugget usually have only one craps table open at any given time, plus the Isle Of Capri casino has been out of commission since Hurricane Laura 1½ years ago).

     We returned to L'Auberge, where I quickly made up for the loss by winning $200 playing blackjack. $8 ahead I was at that point. But that would be the only time I'd be ahead for the trip.

     After having a very delicious steak dinner with a salad with plenty of real bacon bits, I went to the poker room. After 5 hours, I lost $800. Admittedly, I was tired, and I should have rested first. I ended up down $792 for the day.

     At about 5:30 in the morning, I went downstairs to the casino at L'Auberge to try to get into a craps game at a more comfortable position. In that, I succeeded, shooting from Stick Left 1. I shot an 11 using my Hardway dice set (4/2-4/2). I decided that a stronger throw, but not so hard was what was needed. I didn't use any regression strategy, and I hadn't for the past two months (ever since my disastrous trip in mid-November), plus I did bet some on other shooters (necessary at L'Auberge so I could shoot). End result: I won $13 at the craps table. But I did add $525 to that, playing blackjack. A 500 Club, as I call it, the first of the year. This session would be the highlight of the trip.

     After breakfast, I played a quick blackjack session, winning $50 at L'Auberge. Then my wife and I walked over to Golden Nugget, and it was there, it was like a bomb went off. Nothing turned out right over there. First, I got into a craps game, where I did manage to get to play from Stick Left 1. But my first two shoots were both PSO's (Point-Seven-Outs), using the Hardway dice set. For the next two shoots, I switched to my 3V dice set (4/6-4/2), and I shot 9 times both times. But since again, I was not using my regression strategy, opting to go with a 6/8 strategy, producing a lot of non-productive rolls, and my not having much luck betting on other shooters, I lost $454 at the craps table. The loss was compounded, losing $450 at the blackjack table, and another $426 at the poker table. $1330 for a loss. Not good! But I did notice that maybe adjusting dice sets for different tables may be in order (although I don't think the craps table at L'Auberge was much different from the one at Golden Nugget).

     Once my wife and I returned to L'Auberge, I got on to a craps table, standing at Stick Left 1. However, this time, the table was full with me there, and it was taking a long time for the dice to come my way. I bet on some of the other shooters, falling behind at first, but ended up winning $46. I enjoyed this craps session best of all on this trip, for I was cutting up with some of my antics. There was a couple standing just to my left that really enjoyed my antics. They were disappointed when I decided to leave the table before it was my turn to shoot. At that point and time, I felt it was important to just get back on the winning track again. I did add another $100 to that win at the blackjack table.

     After taking a rest from the gambling, my wife and I went back down to the casino at L'Auberge, and got on to a craps table. This time, I was shooting from the end. There I used my Yo-Yo dice set (6/5-5/6). I shot at 15, which would have been great, if I had more productive rolls. I was using a 6/8 strategy, which I'd previously called scared craps, and here, it wasn't doing me much good, as I was rolling 9's and 10's, and horn numbers. I think Bryan (Hawaii Craps Shooters)'s Quarter Pounder With Ease (a modified Iron Cross strategy) would have been much better here. I shot once more, and didn't do much well, observing that my Two-Hit Blackout strategy would have barely made it, had I used it, but again, I was playing scared craps. I would have stayed longer, had my wife and I weren't yelled at for only betting on our shoots, not anybody else's. I left the table $199 down. I did make up for that by a single dollar, by winning 200 at the blackjack table.

     After dinner at Golden Nugget, I got onto a craps table, this time at the end. Just like my last session at L'Auberge, I was playing scared craps on my shoot. I shot a 9 using my Yo-Yo dice set, but that wasn't enough to make up for other shooters that I bet on (I didn't want to get yelled at here, for only betting on myself). I lost $306 at the craps table. Things got worse, as I lost $447.50 playing blackjack, and an additional $501 playing poker. OUCH!!! That $1254.50 loss was all I could take for this trip. I declared myself all gambled out at that point, having lost a total of $2641.50.

     No gambling today, even though I did have enough left to give craps another run at it (which I almost did). But this day was designated for my wife and I to just hang out and enjoy each other's company. We've been together 8½ years, and that's one thing we do best.

     I decided on a few things for the next trip. One is that I'm going back to my regression strategy, or to use an Iron Cross-type strategy. If I'm going to lose this much money, I may as well do it using the strategies that I enjoy the best, and give me the best shot for winning, since scared craps isn't cutting it. Also, I'm going to focus less on poker, since I think the others have seen me play, and are familiar with how I play. And finally, I'm going to try to play at a place where I have more choices than just the two casinos at Lake Charles. Maybe a trip to Vegas, or maybe a place like Tunica Mississippi, which my wife suggested, after we got back home. Hmmm...At any rate, based on future adjustments to my game plan, I hope to build a better mousetrap for future blog entries.