Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     My wife and I found out after we made the reservations to go to Lake Charles that it was predicted thunderstorms each day we're there. But we decided to go anyway, due to our room at L'Auberge being comped. And yes, we ran into a big thunderstorm on the way there.

     Our room wasn't ready when we got there (and we were a half hour late due to the weather and other traffic delays). So I played blackjack for a short while, enough to win $52.50. After I finished, the room was ready.

     After some R & R, we decided to go swimming. But I insisted on getting a practice session first. But it took so long that the session had to be done in two parts, for I shot 19 times, and left the game unfinished until we got back from swimming (the pool was kinda cold for my wife's liking), when I shot 27 more times. A practice session of 46! I can only hope I have a REAL session that good!

     My first craps session of the trip ended in a positive note, although not really due to my shooting. I shot an 8 from the end, using my Yo-Yo dice set. But it was someone else's shoot that got me into the black, winning $151. As long as I win the money, I don't care who shoots.

     After a delicious dinner at the Ember Steakhouse, I went to Golden Nugget. I first played craps, winning $65 on someone else's shoot, tip-toeing into the game with a Field bet that hit. I decided not to shoot this time. opting for blackjack and poker instead. Boy was THAT a mistake! I lost $450 playing blackjack, and another $648 at the poker table, for a total loss of $1033. OUCH!!

     Just after breakfast, I played craps at L'Auberge. After being stuck about $100, I got my money back using my Yo-Yo dice set from the end. I shot an 11, using a modified version of my Two-Hit Blackout strategy, meaning in this case, 220 inside for three rolls before regressing. I ended up $28 ahead overall.

     We had gone back to our room, and were preparing to go to Golden Nugget, when I got a call from a supposed debt collector, whose name she said is Miranda Lambert. She claimed that I had an outstanding medical bill dating back 6½ years for $513. My wife talked to this person and asked what is the contact info for the debtor, and she didn't tell her. That made my wife think the call was suspicious. I'd already figured out as much. This person happened to call someone very knowledgeable in music, and who knows who Miranda Lambert really is. In fact, the one song by her that I like is "White Liar." My wife told her to send us the info, if this is legit, which of course it isn't. Yes I had a medical emergency 6½ years ago, but ALL medical bills regarding that were resolved years ago.

     Nonetheless, the call was still quite upsetting, and I think it affected things with my next gambling session. This was at Golden Nugget. I did win $62.50 at the blackjack table. Then I lost $196 at the craps table, doing my Hardway dice set from Stick Left 1. I PSO'ed on my shoot. Then I returned to the blackjack table, hoping to make up for that, but instead, lost $272.50 more there. I did win $48 at the poker table after 3 hours there. But the session was a net loss of $358.

     On the way back from Golden Nugget back to L'Auberge, it started to rain, destroying any thought of us going swimming like we originally planned. In fact, a big crashing jolt of lightning struck what looked like the top of the L'Auberge hotel and casino. My wife freaked out a bit. The only reason why I didn't was because I'd seen the flash of lightning a split second earlier. We hurried up and got inside before the rain got real bad.

     After a late lunch at a sports betting bar in L'Auberge, I played at a craps table, which was only a $10 table. Only thing was, only Stick Right 1 was available. Well okay, I decided to try a grip I hadn't really used in nearly seven years. I used the Ice Tong grip, gripping the dice with only my thumb and middle fingers, on the outsides of the dice. Well, surprise, surprise, in conjunction with the Hardway dice set, this worked! After falling behind prior to my roll, and my not playing any regression strategy, I only won $125 despite rolling 22 times. It was enough to make my Best Shoots page, however. And hey, a win's a win.

     After a long break from the action, my wife and I went back downstairs to play some more. I first won $150 at a blackjack table. Then, I went to a craps table. I had a mediocre shoot, but since I wasn't playing any regression strategy, when I crapped out, I had lost money on my shoot. Fortunately, there was another shooter who did good, good enough to get my money back. Interesting feature here was that I was playing the Hardways, and 10 came hard three separate times. Yes, I, three times, yelled out "Snowflakes!" Ended up winning $60 at the table. I added another $100 at another blackjack table. I was so determined to get a 500 Club on this trip (and keep my monthly streak for this year alive) that after we had dinner, still at L'Auberge, we went back into the casino, and to yet another blackjack table, and I won $200, and got the hell out of there, $510 ahead for the total session. At this point, I was still down, but only by $524.50.

     After my wife and I checked out, I was on a mission to try to get the rest of that money back. My quest began at the blackjack table at L'Auberge, where I won $50. Then we went over to Golden Nugget. I tried to get onto a craps table, but it was full. Same with the poker table. I did manage $102.50 at the blackjack table. Interestingly enough, as I was cashing in my chips, a cute black girl in a blue spandex outfit talked to us, remembering me from that craps session last night (apparently, my yelling out "Snowflakes!" had gotten her attention). She asked if I was going to be playing craps again, and I said that I plan to. Truth of the matter was, I am reminded of why I've been trying to find alternative places to play besides Lake Charles. It's because there really aren't that many choices I have here regarding places to play craps, as they usually have only one table open at both Golden Nugget and L'Auberge.

     Upon returning to L'Auberge, I was surprised to see that the sports bar was already open. So I decided to go there to play craps, since it was a $10 table yesterday. Today, it was only a $5 table. I tried to take advantage of that, doing a scaled-down version of my Two-Hit Blackout strategy, doing 110 inside with the intention of taking those bets down after two hits, regressing to 27 across. Instead, I PSO'ed. I was shooting from the end, using my Yo-Yo dice set. Then I decided to switch to my Crossed Sixes (6/2-6/4) dice set. If only I'd done a similar betting strategy this time, for I ended up shooting 21 times with this set. But the amount I made wasn't quite enough to get my money back, as there were a lot of non-productive rolls (9 of them were horn rolls). So I decided to use a 220-inside strategy for the next time I rolled, using the same dice set. My intent was to take those bets down after two hits, regressing to 54 across. I got past the first hit, but crapped out before the second hit. I ended up losing $310 at that table.

     I tried to get that back at the blackjack table, again, returning to the scene of the crime (where I'd completed my 500 Club last night), but only succeeded in losing $530 there. I lost $840 for the session. I finished the trip down $1212.

     Overall, my shooting wasn't bad at all (I even have two new entries on my Best Shoots page). I can take some comfort that by far, I lost the least amount of money on this trip playing craps ($77, compared to $535 playing blackjack, and $600 playing poker), but I really have to work on my timing, regarding placing those big bets.