Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     It still is hot out in Lake Charles with the predicted highs to be about 90°. So my wife and I decided to use this time to come out to Lake Charles with the intention of going swimming at least once. Of course, there's going to be some gambling along the way...

     When we arrived at L'Auberge, where we're staying for two nights, we discovered that our room wasn't ready. So I decided to play some in the meantime. My first table was a $25 craps table. I basically adopted the same strategy that I did at Caesar's Palace in Vegas last month--betting $60 on the 6 and 8, reducing those bets to $30 each, then taking and expanding to the other numbers from there. It worked for a few rolls after the first hit. Then I saw a friend of mine at another craps table, and I decided to transfer over there, leaving the $25 table $55 ahead. At the other table, which was a $15 table, things got off to a rocky atart. with nobody, including myself, being able to shoot much. My system even fell to a couple of early seven-outs before a 6 or an 8 was rolled. But I trusted the math, and stuck with it, which was more than I could say for my friend, unfortunately. He is one of those craps players who flies by the seat of his pants, going all-out in the beginning. It's either feast or famine for him. This craps session showed that a slower steadier way of playing was what was needed here, for it was only after a little while that a good shooter came along, and got my money back. This time, the $60 6 and 8 strategy was used in such a way that after the refression, the next two subsequent hits on the 6 and 8 were used to branch out to the 5 and 9, and then the 4 and 10 for 15 each. In this manner, I ended up $97 ahead at this table, for a total session win of $152.

     That took roughly an hour, and by the time I finished, the room was ready. But instead of going swimming, we both laid in the bed and watched football, as we both were really too tired to do anything else at that point. We saw the Texans beat the Nills at the close of regulation, plus we saw the Rams (my favorite football team) take the lead over the Packers, only to later lose to them.

     We had a most delicious steak and salad meal at the Ember Steakhouse, still at L'Auberge.

     From there, we went to the Horseshoe. My initial intention was to play poker, since I was told the poker room was open on Sundays. But when we got there, I found out that even with all the extra people that are there at the casinos on Sundays, they weren't able to get a game going, so by the time me and Mrs. MusicalDice got to the Horseshoe, the poker room was closed early. Argh!

     From there, it was to a craps table. Unfortunately, my strategy that had worked out so well at Caesar's Palace, and sufficiently well at L'Auberge, was a bust at the Horseshoe, for there were many early seven-outs. And to further add insult to injury, when I did switch to the Don'ts, most of them got sniped. It seemed like a session that was doomed from the start (I admit I wasn't as patient as I should have been). I left the table down $633

     From there, we went back to L'Auberge. I first decided to play blackjack. But the only $25 table available was one where blackjack paid only 6 to 5 as opposed to the proper 3 to 2. I won $70, but observed that that would have been $100 on a normal table, as I'd had two blackjacks before I left the table.

     From there, I went to the craps table. By this time, the only one that was available was the $25 table. And once again, I got off to a rocky start. I invested a total of $900 this time around. The only reason why I stayed at this table, was because it was fun, unlike the somber atmosphere at the Horseshoe craps table. And from time to time, there were decent shooters which slowly helped get my money back. I had a couple of mediocre shoots from Stich Left 2 using the Hardway dice set -- rolling a 6 on one shoot, and an 8 on the other shoot. Using my $60 6 and 8 method mostly, I got my money back plus $31, for a total session win of $101.

     That was it for the first day. Overall, I ended up down $380 for the day. Of course, I've done better, but I've also done a lot worse. I'm not terribly unhappy. Hopefully, things will be better tomorrow.

     I was hoping to knock down this $380 deficit today. Would I succeed?

     Just after breakfast at L'Auberge, I played craps. There, I got off to a very rocky start my $60 6 and 8 strategy getting sniped with early seven-outs. A decent shooter eventually came along, and got most of my money back, but it was too little too late. I ended up losing $196

     We went back to our room, freshened up, and came back down to the casino floor, still at L'Auberge. There, I played blackjack, thinking this is my best game, and my best shot at getting my money back and maybe even getting a 500 Club for this month. To say the least, that didn't happen at this table. The cards were horrible! I lost $950 before I gave up. Now I'm down over $1500 for this trip without a hope in hell of coming back.

     Maybe it would have been better for us to go swimming at that time, but it was somewhat windy, and I hadn't tried Golden Nugget yet. So we went over there instead. I first got into a craps game, where I stood at Stick Left 1. I fell a little behind, but I'm glad to say that I was able to get my money back on my shoot. I used the Hardway dice set. I focused on a different landing zone, aiming for the dice to kind of break apart unevenly on the initial bounce. That didn't always succeed, with both dice rolling to the back wall together at an angle. After 9 rolls, I crapped out, but it was enough to win $31. I think I also need to work on keeping the dice parallel to the back wall.

     I added $137.50 to that at the blackjack table. From there, I tried to get that big win at the poker table (first time I played poker at Golden Nugget in months). But I ran into a bunch of pros, and lost $277, turning a $168.50 win into a $108.50 loss.

     About this time, it was time for dinner, and I wanted to take my wife to the Charthouse, on property at the Golden Nugget. But it was in a rather hidden spot on property, and nobody seemed to know where it was. After a long amount of walking, we did find the place, but dammit, it's closed on Sundays and Mondays! Mrs. MusicalDice had really become aggravated. I wanted to a steak and lobster dinner there too! We ended up going to Vic & Anthony's for that. The dinner was great.

     After dinner, I played blackjack, still at Golden Nugget. It was a major struggle to get that money back, but I did get it back plus $7.50. At least it's a win, dammit!

     That was all the gambling done for the day. I figured out that I lost the least playing craps, "only" losing $165 total, compared to $277 playing poker and $805 playing blackjack. After we got back to L'Auberge, we went back to our room, and watched TV, and that was it for the day.

     After breakfast and checking out of our room, I played one last time. I wasn't even trying to get all my money back. I wanted to play a little more aggressively. I first went to the craps table where I played at Stick Right 2. I did my Hardway dice set, and on my shoot, I did 220 inside, taking the bets down to 110 inside after 2 hits. That worked just long enough to get out of the hand, winning $26 before leaving the table.

     At this point, I was once again thinking that blackjack would be the way to get that elusive 500 Club, so that's why I played blackjack. Once again, I got into trouble, having to buy in for a total of $1000. However, after a long battle, this time, I got it back plus $25.

     At this point, I was so mentally exhausted that a better play for me was to declare myself all gambled out befor returning to the craps table. This time, I even got to shoot at Stick Left 1. But my rolls were short 6-rollers, not enough to do anything much, and there were more bad rolls than good ones. I think I need to concentrate also on keeping the dice in line with the back wall. On some of Hawaii Craps Shooters' live videos, I see some of the shootere turn their wrists in some as a way of keeping the dice straight. Maybe I ought to try that. Anyway, I lost $273 before leaving the table. A total session loss of $222.

     At this point, I did declare myself all gambled out, with a net loss of $1849 for the trip. At least it wasn't as bad as my Reno trip, where I'd lost nearly twice as much. And I think I'm starting to get my shoot back, although I have some stuff to work on before the next trip.

     And speaking of the next trip, how did I come up with the title for today? After booking this trip's stay at L'Auberge, with both nights comped, we learned that Golden Nugget has a similar offer for the month of October. I told Mrs. MusicalDice that if I didn't get a 500 Club on this trip, then the Golden Nugget offer will become an option. So clearly that now is an option. However, this is going to be a very busy month for both of us, and finding the time to head back to Lake Charles is a challenge in itself. It probably won't happen until after October 27th. If you're wondering whet else we have planned for this month, email me at musicaldice323@gmail.com, and I'll be glad to tell you. But that's all for now.

     Obviously, I was disappointed with my last Lake Charles trip, as I couldn't get a 500 Club for this month. However Mrs. MusicalDice and I decided to take one more chance at Lake Charles, in an attempt to get that elusive 500 Club for this month. Would I succeed? Let's find out...

     As was the case last time, we took advantage of two complimentart nights at the L'Auberge casino. This time, when we arrived at our usual time at about 11:30 a.m., the room was ready, so we were able to check in, and get some good relaxation before heading down to the casino floor

     After seeing that the blackjack tables were all full, I went to the craps table which was a $15 table. There, things got off to a slow but slightly profitable start, with my playing my $60 6 and 8 strategy, regressing down to $30 on each after one hit. For the first two shooters, they crapped out shortly after getting the one hit, only being able to branch out to the 5 and 9 on one of the shooters, due to a second hit on the 6 and 8. On my shoot, I decided to try a new strategy advocated by Mark The Point, which I call the 49er Takedown strategy, where bets on all the Place bets are made, such that the payout on each number would be $49. On the 4 and 10, that would be $25 bets each. On the 5 amd 9. that would be $35 each, and on the 6 and 8, that would be $42 each. The strategy would be that for the first two hits, I would then take down the number that was hit, and on the third hit, I would re-distribute the remaining bets to 110 inside (my own twist to Mark's strategy), resulting in a $37 profit, upon getting out of the hand. HOWEVER, I PSO'ed. But for some reason, I was virtually unfazed by this setback--maybe I was thinking, it was too early to panic. Anyway, I was considering a re-buy at first, but something told me not to do that. That was because I then decided not to bet on the next two shooters, then I tried the $60 6 and 8 on a shooter at the end, one of the shooters that it worked just long enough to get out of the hand. This worked out a little better. When it became my turn to shoot again, I stayed with the Hardway dice set, as I was standing at Stick Left 1. I concentrated more on my landing zone, and keeping the dice parallel with the back wall, and I rolled a 10. This got a little more of my money back. Then it got back to the shooter at the opposite end, and I tried the $60 6 and 8 strategy again. This time, it took him so long to roll one of those numbers, that I had taken down those bets just ahead of his making the point, which was 8. However, he was not through yrt. I also had a $20 Pass Line bet out there, which had hit. Then on the come-out, I did my usual $10 Whirl bet, which netted me some extra money with a 7-winner, and a yo. I used the proceeds from these come-out winners to make some Place bets. Then they statyed hitting, and I slowly branched out to all the Place bets. Apparently, this shooter had gone out on a monster roll, for my Place bets were eventually parlayed up to levels, where I started receiving triple-digit payouts for those rolls that hit. There were several times that I was yelling out "BULL-LLACKOUT!!" In fact, one of the dealers had to tell me to relax the first time I yelled that (I only wish the rest of the table was in a partying mood, like I was). The roll lasted about 45 minutes, and I did leave the dealers a $20 tip. I ended up leaving the table $1281 ahead, not only easily achieving that elusive 500 Club for this month, but also making this win my biggest of the year!!! Not only that, I found out that that win was one of my ten best of all-time (#10). What a way to start off the trip!!!

     However, that would be the only gambling I'd do this first day. I wanted to just savor this huge win for a while, so my wife and I went back to our room and relaxed some more. We had a very nice relaxing steak dinner at the Ember Steakhouse, then watched the World Series, where the Yankees remained in the series with a win over the Dodgers. In a way, that mirrors my getting that win to stay in it, regarding my quest to get 500 Clubs in every single month of the year, something I hadn't quite been able to do in previous years. Now I only have November and December to worry about. Will it happen? Stay tuned to this blog. In the meantime, that's all for today. I do plan to have more tomorrow and Thursday...

     By the the end of all the entries for this day, you'll see what I'm talking, regarding the title for this day.

     We got a late start to Day 2. we walked over to Golden Nugget. where I got into a craps game. Not much to report on this one, except I may have played it a bit overly cautious, leading to my falling behind some, and it taking a while to get out of the hole, for I didn't do any of my regression betting. But I did end up $33 ahead. I added $77.50 at the blackjack table, for a session win of $110.50

     After we had lunch off-property at Chick Fil-A, Mrs. MusicalDice wanted to do some shopping at Hobby Lobby and Michaels. So I returned to Golden Nugget to play poker while she did that. My initial intention was to do that at the Horseshoe, but they only had 2 people on an interest list for a game, and it was already about 2 p.m. I didn't think they'd be able to get a game started over there. Didn't really matter, for it seemed, whatever magic I had for poker earlier is clearly gone now, for once again, I lost, this time $500. However, I wasn't terribly upset about it, for I was still $891.50 ahead for the trip.

     Fortunately, I'd be able to make up for that loss with the help of two subsequent sessions at L'Auberge.

     By the time the poker session ended, Mrs. MusicalDice was already back at L'Auberge in the room. So I returned to L'Auberge, but before going back up to the room, I played blackjack, and came close to getting a 500 Club, but when I tried to make that move that would have gotten me there, I lost those bets, but ended up $227.50 ahead for the session. Cool. Back into 4 digits for my profit margin for this trip,

     After relaxing for a while, and after dinner off-property again, this time at Arby's, I played again at L'Auberge, just before we were due to watch the baseball game. Again, I came close to getting a 500 Club at the blackjack table, but instead, left $250 ahead. With those last two wins, plus the initial one of the day, at this point, I was $88 ahead for the day, despite the loss. I was thinking that that was going to be it, regarding gambling for the day. If that was the case, I was thinking I'd be ahead $1369, which I happen to know, is 37 squared. That would have been cool in itself.

     However, fate had other plans.

     We were both so fired up after the Yankees lost the final game of the World Series, that instead of going to bed, like one would have expected, since it was after 10:30 p.m., we went back downstairs to play some more. I really wanted to get in another craps session for the day, and that's what I did. This time, it was at a $25 table. I got in after a short while, on what appeared to be a good shooter. Apparently, my instincts were sufficiently correct, for this shooter quickly made a point of 4, which wone me some money, since I had a Padd Line bet, plus 1X odds out there for the minimum. I also had $60 bets on the 6 and 8, and the next point was an 8. I took the $60 and made the Place bet on the 8, the odds instead. A 6 hit, and I took down that Place bet to $30, as well as reduced the Odds bet to $30. At this point, I'm thinking, I've already gotten my money back, and hoping the shooter could go on a long run, like the one I encountered yesterday. The whooter made the point of 8, and apparently, these dealers were going super-fast, for as I was picking my my winnings for my Pass Line and Odds, the stick person was already starting to shove the dice toward the shooter. I quickly yelled "$15 Whirl," and threw the dealer three red chips. There was so much commotion (why I had to yell my bet), but apparently I didn't hear the stick person say "No bet." The following roll was 3 craps. I was expecting to get paid $33 after losing my Pass Line bet, but after I didn't get paid, it was only then that I learned that they said "No bet." That pissed me off to the point that I took down my Whirl bet, and colored up, also taking down my other bet as well. I was surprised that I'd ended up $201 ahead at that table. A nice win, but I wouldn't have wanted to do it that way.

     I then went to the blackjack table to try to win $300 or so to try to get another 500 Club. Much to my surprise, it only took 2 rounds to win that exact dollar amount. I played 2 hands, like I usually do, and on the first round, I split aces, and on the second round, I doubled down on one of the hands, and the dealer busted both times. I think Mrs. MusicalDice was almost as surprised as the dealer when I immediately colored after the second win. But I'd accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, after leaving the craps table. I ended up with a session win of $501. This was one of the most ridiculous ways I'd ever gotten a 500 Club, but I'll take it, just the same. I ended up winning $589 for the day, and as of this entry, I am now $1870 ahead for the trip. Will I be able to add to that tomorrow. Just wait and see.

     By the way, there was an even more ridiculous way that I'd gotten a 500 Club, and this happened in 2007 on a casino boat, when I lived in Jacksonville FL. For details on what happened that night, email me at musicaldice323@gmail.com, and I'll be glad to tell you all about it.

     The only thing keeping me from declaring myself all gambled out, after last night's 500 Club, was my desire to shoot the dice again. For I did very little shooting of the dice myself. Anyway, after my wife and I checked out, I played craps, still at L'Auberge. Unfortunately, the dice were ice cold, and the $60 6 and 8 bets that worked out well the first two days, failed today, for repeatedly, the seven-out came before the 6 or 8. Even when it was my shoot, shooting from the end, using the Yo-Yo dice set, I did shoot 8 times, but again, the 6 and 8 did not hit before the 7. I did roll one six, but that was only to establish a point, which I didn't make. I soon colored up, finishing $584 down.

     At this point, I did declare myself all gambled out, after almost exactly negating yesterday's net win. But hey, I still finished $1286 ahead for this trip. Not bad, huh? Until next time! ☺