Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     My wife and I are heading to Las Vegas tomorrow for a five-day trip. I hadn't planned to make a blog entry until then, but something happened early this morning that in my opinion necessitated this pre-emptive blog entry.

     I saw a Blue Dice Craps video, talking about a strategy, using either the 6 or 8 to place $60, and then on the first hit, split the $60 to $30 bets on the 6 and 8. Coincidentally, I have been working on such a strategy, only that while Bill(from Blue Dice Craps)'s strategy is for a $25 table, my strategy, which I'd been working on for the past 2 weeks, is designed for either a $10 table, or a $15 table. What is done afterwards is where the difference in our strategies lie. I'd been hesitant to mention this strategy, until after I'd used it in Vegas, but since Bill's strategy kind of pre-empts it, I figured I'd at least partially mention it now. Most likely, this will be the subject of my next craps article. Stay tuned for it, and also stay tuned for the results of my trip to Vegas, both coming your way soon! ☺

     We were both really excited about this Vegas trip, our first in about 18 months. This trip was my present to my wife for her birthday, which was on the last day.

     We didn't get a lot of sleep the night before, preparing for this trip. What didn't help was a clerical error at the airport, which initially had us on a 7:25 PM flight, whereas, our flight was for 7:25 AM. By the time the error was discovered, the original flight was completely booked, but we got on an 8:25 a.m. flight, and we were on our way to Las Vegas without further incident.

     We arrived in Las Vegas, and from there, went to the Golden Nugget casino, in downtown, where we stayed for four nights. Three of the nights were comped. The main problem was the fact that this property is so huge, and it was like going through a maze, first to get to the elevators, and then to get to our room. The room itself was nice, comparable to the rooms we typically get when we stay at the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

     But there was no time to rest. My wife needed to run an errand, plus it was time for lunch. So we had lunch at the New York New York casino, where we each had Nathan's hot dogs (a tradition when we come to Vegas).

     While my wife ran her errand, I played craps at the Excalibur, just across the way from New York New York. I didn't know at first that I was actually at a crapless table. I played it like a normal craps table, eliminating the whirl bet, once I realized where I was. Admitedly, I played somewhat cautiously, not wanting to risk losing a lot on my first gambling session. I got to play from Stick Left 1, my favorite spot at the table. Unfortunately, my Hardway dice set, wasn't working out, so after several low rolls, I switched to the Yo-Yo dice set. I managed a 14-roller out of that, but I'd already lost too much to come back from just that one roll. By this time, the table was getting more crowded, and it would be a while before I'd get the dice back. The table was fun, and I was there for about two hours. At the end, I left $125 down. Not a huge loss, but my win streak of 11 in a row had ended.

     From there, we returned to Golden Nugget, where I had a quick blackjack session, where I won $50 on a choppy table. We then went to dinner at Vic & Anthony's (a restaurant that's also at the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles). The food was delicious, as usual, plus, they did a little birthday celebration for my wife (I didn't let on that her birthday isn't for another four days).

     Once we finished dinner, it really hit us, how tired we really were. So from there, we went back to our room and crashed for the night. I finished the first day down $75. Not much, thank god. Tomorrow, there's sure to be more gambling results than this.

     After a so-so breakfast at the Claim Jumper (another restaurant that's also in the Golden Nugget in Lake Charles), I started out on the craps table, at the Golden Nugget. This time, with the exception of one 13-roller I had playing at one of the ends, using my Yo-Yo dice set, the dice were not nice. Clearly, playing cautious is not working, and I ended up losing $263.

     Fortunately, the casino session was saved by my playing poker. I found that I hadn't lost my touch in that game, winning $295 after two hours of play, for a session ein of $32. I'll take that.

     Still at the Golden Nugget, we then decided to go swimming, for it was already mid-day. This was fun, for this is the famous pool that has the giant aquarium that gives the illusion of water-sliers going through it. The fish were huge, and the aquarium even had a shark or two, and a stingray. The whole thing was very relaxing.

     The rest of the gambling sessions were focused on downtown casinos (something I'd intended to do the first day, if we had more energy). Anyway, we took that long walk through the maze that still is the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, and got out to the Fremont experience, where we then went to the Plaza casino.

     Mrs. MusicalDice was exhausted after that walk, so while she rested in a doughnut shop in the Plaza, I played blackjack (I was gun-shy about playing craps again after my first two craps sessions were losers). Anyway, it was a hard-fought battle at the blackjack table, but I did get my money back plus $25. Another baby step toward getting out of a hole. At that point, I was only down $18.

     From there, we went to the Fremont casino. After finding out that Tony Roma's doesn't take reservations, I decided to play craps. After getting into a little bit of trouble early on, I used a strategy I've been developing where I'd place $60 on the 6 and 8, then reduce the bets to 30 each, with the intention of subsequent hits leading to my spreading out to the 5 and 9 for 15 each, and then the 4 and 10 for 15 each. However, this eas only a $10 table, and instead, I decided to use Crappy the Craps Man's strategy of collecting the greens, and branching out to the other numbers with the rest of the payouts. That worked sufficiently to get my money back plus $10. At that point, it was my turn to shoot, but I decided against that, and just booker the win, albeit a very small win. At least I didn't lose this time at the craps table.

     I added $28 to that, playing blackjack, for a casino win of $38. Yes indeed, I admit these wins were like baby steps, but at least I'm now out of the hold, ahead $20. More on that later.

     We had a late lunch prior to going to the Plaza, so we actually returned to Golden Nugget, and later walked back to Fremont, to have dinner at Tony Roma's. Of course, there was a very long line to get in there, and we came very close to not going at all. But I have to say that it must have been divine intervention that had us in that line. For just ahead of us in that line was a man who like me, carried a white cane, for he too is visually impaired. He spoke at length of various resources that I wasn't aware of, and Mrs. MusicalDice eagerly took note of on her smart phone. The conversation was great, making the 35 minutes we stood in line, taking baby steps toward Tony Roma's, just fly by. Big shout out to you, Bruce, and your great assistant. When we got into Tony Roma's and were seated, I had the beef ribs. I'd ordered three, but somehow I ended up with four. They were delicious, yes, but I could eat only two. Mrs. MusicalDice had one of them, and we wrapped the last one up. Also, the drinks we both ordered were very strong, so strong that when we left Tony Roma's we knew there was no question of what we were going to do next.

     Once we finally got back to our room at Golden Nugget (after taking that long walk back, during which, we had to stop twice and rest), we both just crashed.

     Overall, I ended up $95 ahead for the day, and as I said, $20 ahead for the trip so far. Now I admit that these were just baby steps taken today. But tomorrow, I plan to shake things up some. There are a few new casinos I plan to visit, which I hadn't done yet. I only hope that this planned shake-up tomorrow doesn't lead to disaster. Until then...

     We got off to a very late start today. We decided to do a few casinos in the Henderson area today. We started off with the Green Valley Ranch casino. After a hearty brunch, I played at the craps table. I played from Stick Left 1. The first time I shot, I did my Yo-Yo dice set, with a six-shooter resulting. The next time I got the dice, it was even worse, with my doing the Hardway dice set. Point-Seven-Out. Fortunately, on that shoot, I only did a Come bet that equalled the size of my initial investment in the roll, so I broke even for that roll. One of the other players was saying that this table was a donation table. No, the dice weren't particularly nice, but fortunately, there was one shooter who had a real good run, good enough to get all my money back from earlier. I was mostly doing a 6/8 strategy where I'd bet $60 on each, then take them down to $30 each, with the intention of branching out to the 5 and 9 for 15 each, with the next hit on the 6 or 8, then doing the dame with the 4 and 10, with the next such hit. It didn't exactly turn out that way, but that's because I had bets on the Hardways, which hit 7 times (including twice on the Hard 6, and three times on the Hard 10). I used the proceeds from those hits to place the other numbers. I was at a $10 table, and I had most of my bets up to quarter levels, and the 9 up to $50 when the shooter crapped out. I ended up $136 ahead. Nice.

     From there, we went to the Red Rock casino. This is the only casino in Vegas that I've played at, where I hadn't gotten at least one win. This time, I thought I'd play poker again, thinking that my skills have improved sufficiently so I can take on these folks there...Wronk! I did even worse this time, losing $664 in an exhausting 4-hour session. I still can't win at this casino!

     It was my initial intention to have dinner at a barbecue restaurant where we first ate at 2 years ago when I had a beef rib that was abrolutely huge. Last time we went there, early last year, we were informed that they only serve that on Wednesdays. So today, being Wednesday, I wanted to go there. Unfortunately, Mrs. MusicalDice found out that the restaurant was closed today. So much for that idea! So instead, we decided to go to the Santa Fe Station casino, a new one for us (a recent Mel Lum Ho craps video was filmed there, and that was the inspiration for my wanted to try this casino). We ate dinner at the Santa Fe Station before going to the craps table.

     I think I kind of re-discovered why I like craps the best. For this table was a festive atmosphere, and I got to cut up some at the table. A real nice cute young lady named Elena was the shooter, abd she really enjoyed my antics. It didn't last too long, for I only ended up $39 ahead. I was debating playing longer, but decided against that, wanting to make sure I got another craps win.

     I added another $135 to that at the blackjack table, for a total session win of $174. That would conclude the gambling for the day. I ended up with a net loss of $354. I'm currently down $334. Tomorrow, we plan to hit the strip. I hope things will be better there. Until then...

     My wife and I both planned that this day, the last full day we're going to be in Vegas on this trip, we're going to do things on the strip, not all related to gambling. Keep that in mind when you read this next section.

     After a better quality breakfast at Claim Jumper, we went out to the Flamingo casino to visit the flamingo exhibit there. Mrs. MusicalDice really enjoyed this, getting lots of pictures of the flamingoes, the ducks, and all the fish, small and large. Since I'm visually impaired, this wasn't nearly as fun for me, but this trip is my birthday present to my wife, so I let her have her fun.

     After the exhibit, I tried to get into either a craps game or a blackjack game. Unfortunately, there were no craps tables open at that time (WTF? It was already after 11 a.m.). and all the blackjack tables were full. Next stop please?

     From there, we crossed the pedestrian bridge to the Caesar's Palace casino. Now I have to say that my initial intention for coming here was not to playy craps, but poker. However, on arrival, I learned that the poker room was closed for renovations. Okay, on to the craps table.

     It turns out that by far, this session was the biggest gambling session of the whole trip thus far. I played at at $25 table, something I don't normally do. I figured I'd try to take a few more chances, since time is running out for this trip, and I'm down $334. I also looked at maybe getting a 500 Club (something that hasn't yet happened this month). At first, things got off to a rocky start, with my dice shooting still shot to hell. Fortunately, I still made a little off my roll, for I had a seven-winner before a point was established, plus I placed a 40-dollar Come bet (which also covered my $15 Whirl bet on the come-out). Immediately, I sevened out. So how did I come back in this session? All I can basically tell you is when in doubt, trust the math of the game. In particular, I had bet $60 each on the 6 and 8, with the intention of reducing those bets to 30 each with that first hit, and them gradually branching out to the other numbers from there. That's more or less all I did for the rest of the session. Even though that strategy got shot down twice with early seven-outs, I still stuck with it, not even raising my bets to chase. Fortunately, there was a shooter, who went on quite a roll, and I was able to branch out to the other numbers quickly, for after the initial hit on the 6 and 8, I reduced to 30 each, and from there, I alternately took profits and branched out to other numbers. Once all the numbers were covered, I did an alternate take and press strategy, based on what numbers were hitting. At one point, I had $75 on the 5. Then, when I realized that what I had in my rack, plus what I had on those Place bets more than equalled $1000, I took those bets down, and had a few of the numbers started up again with the proceeds. But then, the shooter crapped out. Needless to say, I immediately colored up and got the hell out of there! Turns out, I had won $604 at the craps table, not only achieving a 500 Club for this month (my dream of for once, having an entire year of having at least one 500 Club, is still alive), I also got myself out of the hole for this trip with this surprise win. I'm now up $270 for this trip.

     Again, in my opinion, a very important lesson for all craps players is, when in doubt, trust the math of the game. In this case, all I was doing was using a strategy where there are 10 total ways to roll a 6 or an 8, versus 6 ways to roll a 7. I only needed one hit to get out of the hand, and get into profit for that shooter. Plus I made low casino-edge bets like the Come and the Pass Line bets. Sticking to strategies like these will make you a winner more often in the long run.

     From there, my wife and I went to the Palazzo casio. I was determined to play poker there. The poker room had been transferred from the Venetian, where they're renovating and changing it to be a high-limit slot machine room. Without getting into too much detail, I first played at a 1/3 No-Limit Hold 'Em table for about an hour, losing $237, mostly on Pot-Limit Omaha double-bomb pots (I still have to lears the ins and outs of Omaha, apparently). Anyway, I then transferred to a 3/5 No-Limit Hold 'Em game. I got off to a rocky start there too, getting down nearly $400 before coming back to end up $205 ahead at that table, after 2½ hours. First time I'd won at a 3/5 No-Limit table. Then I played blackjack, and got a quick $50 win, leading to a session win of $18. Maybe another baby-step win, but at this point, I'll take it.

     From there, we went to the Venetian to have a late lunch at the food court there. I had a pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and pineapple, eith pesto sauce. This is our usual when we come to the Venetian food court. Mrs. MusicalDice had something different, however. No biggie, just a relaxing meal before our next stop on the strip.

     We then went to the Bellagio, so we could go to the Botanical Gardens there. The vast and various flower arrangements, Mrs. MusicalDice really enjoyed. She didn't spend as much time there as I thought she would, for apparently, all this walking around that we did was wearing her down, and she really wanted to get back to our room and rest. I was ready for that too, in all honesty. So after the Botanical Gardens, we returned to Golden Nugget, and rested for the next few hours.

     After resting for some time, we made that long walk back up the Fremont experience to the Fremont casino, and Tony Roma's again. This time, I intended to treat my wife to the steak and lobster dinner. When we finally did get seated, and got our food, however, the meal was somewhat disappointing. For the lobster tail wasn't as big as I'd expected, plus the steak was pretty small, and I needed to douse the steak in worcestershire sauce because it was rather dry (even though is was cooked medium). I may have said this before on this blog, the mark of a great steak is when it doresn't need any additional seasoning or steak sauce. Then I discovered that the steak and lobster special was for $13.99. I would much rather have had that special be for, let's say $39.9, and the quality be much better. Mrs. MusicalDice, however, took it all in stride.

     I wanted to take my wife to the Stratosphere (to me, this will always be the Stratosphere, not the Strat), and go up to the observation tower. That was something we did on the last night in Vegas the first several times we came here together. Fortunately, Mrs. MusicalDice called ahead, and found out that the tower in the Strat is closed for renovations (notice kind of a theme here?).

     After making the long walk back down the Fremont Experience, and eventually back to our room, we concluded, especially after the strong drink we both had at Tony Roma's, that we wouldn't have had the energy for the Strat, even if the tower was open. For once we got back to our room, we both crashed. No more gambling for today either. Now that I'd gotten my money back for this trip (winning $622 for today, and currently $288 ahead for the trip), and gotten my 500 Club for this month, there's little else here I'd like to prove, gambling-wise. However, I have not yet declared myself all gambled out. Maybe tomorrow...

     This whole trip was my wife's birthday present. Today is her actual birthday. We got a late start, as one would expect. After we checked out, I decided to gamble once more.

     Now why did I decide to play poker? It was the only game that I was behind at on this trip. I finished $288 ahead playing blackjack, and $401 ahead playing craps. I was $401 behind playing poker, and I thought I'd try to knock that deficit down. I could just KICK myself for making that choice! I did do well for most of the time, but after two real bad beates, I left the table $499 down. The worst part of that is that I finished the trip down $211, whereas I could have stayed ahead $288. Well, at least my loss for this Vegas trip was lower than it was for the last Lake Charles trip. How much lower? 50 cents!

     I suspect that I'm going to focus more on craps again, since I think I'd discovered some renewed faith in the game, plus it's still my favoriye casino game--I was reminded of why, especially at the Santa Fe Station, and at Caesar's Palace. This is also good for the blog. Moreover, as we were heading back home to Houston, Mrs. MusicalDice and I are already planning our next Lake Charles trip, which is tentatively set for October 6th to the 8th. Stay tuned for those results! ☺

     I just added a new term to the Glossart Of Craps Terms article. It's called the Bonnie Tyler Roll, and it's so named after the Hard 8. Read the article to see why I call the Hard 8, the Bonnie Tyler Roll. ☺