Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     This trip fell in the middle of the NFL wild card playoffs, with two of my favorite teams, the L.A. Rams and the Houston Texans being two of the wild card teams. How will they do? More importantly, how will I do? Let's find out together!

     Like last time, when we arrived at L'Auberge, the room wasn't ready at first. So I decided to play some. First, I went to a craps table, which was a $15 table. There, I played the Progressive Come strategy, where the shooter crapped out on the third Come bet. I made a little money. When I shot the dice, I shot 10 times from Stick Left 1, using the Crossed Sixes dice set. I covered more numbers on myself, but it took longer for me to get out of the hand. I crapped out just after I was able to do that. I ended up $16 ahead. I added $150 to that with a win at the blackjack table. A $166 win is not a bad way to start off the new year.

     By the time I finished, the room was, so me and Mrs. MusicalDice went upstairs, and spent most of the afternooon watching football. We saw the Jaguars lose to the Bills -- the Jaguars being another team I like, since I used to live in Jacksonville FL until I moved to Houston in December, 2013. We saw part of the 49ers game with the Eagles. I was rooting for the 49ers, and eventually, they won, but that didn't happen until after we had dinner at the Ember Steakhouse. Great food as always.

     After dinner, I decided to play craps again, still at L'Auberge. This time, I stood at the left hook. And I got off to a terrible start. No matter what I did, and I changed up strategies, it would be the absolute wrong thing to do. By the time I was even able to shoot, I had already invested $1200. I did have an excellent shoot, using the Hardway dice set, but employing a crooked toss, which seems to work for me with this dice set lately (totally defies logic, I know). At any rate, I shot 28 times, definitey enough to make my Best Craps Shoots Hall Of Fame page. I didn't quite get all my money back, and when things subsequently started going south again, I decided to leave the table $364 dpwm. But I was down a whole lot worse before my shoot. It was just that I was mentally exhausted at that point.

     I did get $100 back at the blackjack table, for a total session loss of $264, and a total day loss of $98. Hopefully, I can do better tomorrow.

     As for what we did for the reat of the day, we watched the other wild card game, the game between the Chargers and the Patriots. Now I was rooting for the Chargers, since I went to high school with Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh (he attended Palo Alto High for only his senior year). I had him in a trigonometry class, when I was a junior, and Harbaugh was the one the teacher was telling to shut up most often! He was also voted most athletic. Not surprising, huh? Also not surprisingly, the Chargers lost to the Patriots. So the team I wanted to win was different from the team I thought would win. I am so glad I don't do any sports betting!

     As far as gambling goes, the day started at the blackjack table at L'Auberge. I won $125 at a table that was good at first, but when I lost a round, I decided to stop there. That win put me back in the black for the trip--$27 to be exact.

     Would it last?

     The next gambling session I had was at Golden Nugget. I got on the waiting list to play poker, then went to the blackjack table. After a pretty long battle, I ended up ahead $77.50

     I felt I still had time to play craps before being called to the poker table. When I played craps, I got off to a rocky start. I started off placing $60 each on 6 and 8, and the shooter crapped out. However, on the next shooter, when I did the same strategy, the shooter got me out of the hand, plus had a decent roll, enough to get my money back plus $54. I figured I'd head to the poker room at that point, and secure my seat, as there was a possibility that there'd be a new table opening up.

     I secured my seat at the poker table, but it would be another 45 minutes before the table actually opened. I played for 3 hours, but unfortunately, this would not be successful session. A bad beat at the end sealed my fate. I lost $642 at the poker table, for a total session loss of $510.50. ARGH!!

     My initial plans were to play a quick round of poker and then go to the Horseshoe afrer lunch. But things took so long at Golden Nugget, that my wife and I had to do a very late lunch, and then head back to L'Auberge, for we also planned to watch the playoff game between the Texans and the Steelers.

     After a very late lunch at Olive Garden, we returned to L'Auberge. At that point and time, there was roughly two hours before the football game. Plenty of time, I felt to play blackjack, and then craps--that was my plan. But fate had other plans. What ensued at the blackjack table, ended up being an epic battle to get my money back. I even had to buy in for a total of $1000. It was a very time-consuming struggle. When the dealer busted and I finally got my money back, both me and my wife were cheering loudly. I ended up $75 ahead. However, there was only a few minutes remaining before the game started, so that was all the gambling I did for the day. I ended up down $310.50 for the day, and $408.50 for the trip thus far. I plan to play more craps before this trip is over.

     And for those interested pparties, the Houston Texans crushed the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6. Both my teams that entered the playoffs as wild cards, the Texans and the Rams, survived. Will my trip fare as well as far as gambling goes? The answer lies ahead on the last day.

     My last gambling session was a craps session at L'Auberge, and it was a loser. And there were shooters at the table who were setting the dice (like myself). But NOTHING went right! Early crap-outs for everybody! I left the table $631 down, and $1039.50 down for the trip. At least it wasn't quite as bad as last time!

     I have a few things I'm goin to try on my next trip to the casinos. For one thing, I'm going to use these regression strategies more on random shooters. For one thing, those who set the dice, yes they may average more rolls than a random shooter, but there's also more variance, I feel. And apparently, on this trip, I got mostly the lower end of that variance. Unfortunately, I fell into that category too, as that 28-roller I had on Day 1, was a fluke. I'm also going to try a slighly higher toss, putting less muscle into it (which I did to make sure the dice hit the back wall). For other shooters, maybe I won't bet so much on them. Anyway, all of this will have to wait until I get to Biloxi for my next trip, which will be in two weeks. Until then!

     My wife and I got an offer from the Beau Rivage casino, where we'd pay a small fee, and the casino will pay for our flight from Houston to Biloxi, and pay for our room for three nights, plus provide the transportation between the casino and the airport in Gulfport/Biloxi. Apparently, this is a monthly promotion that Beau Rivage does, and it sounded too good to pass up. So we booked the trip, and once I got past the fact that things are done differently with this charter airline, than a regilar airline, then I was fine. By the time we got to our destination, I think we already knew that we're going to do this again (we'd already gotten a February offer by this time). How would things turn out here? Let's find out...

     After some much-needed rest, the gambling began. The first table was a blackjack table, where I won $105. Then, it was to a craps table, which had just changed from a $15 table to a $25 table. At first, I got off to a rocky start, trying the Arnold strategy, then the Progressive Come strategy. I kept getting sniped with both strategies. On my shoots, of which I had three, I played a 220 inside strategy, reducing down to 110 inside after 2 hits. My first two rolls were 8 apiece, and the last one was a 15. I was shooting from Stick Left 1, using the Crossed-Sixes dice set, keeping the tosses very low. That worked well enough to win $144. At that point, I was ahead $249.

     But the poker table after a sub-par buffet dinner, was a completely different story. Apparently, I was playing against a bunch of pros at my table. Although I did show some signs of brilliance, overall, I didn't play well, and after nearly 4 exhausting hours at the poker table, I lost $654, turning a $249 win into a $405 loss. Mrs. MusicalDice did point out to me that at least I won at the other games. Maybe I should concentrate more on those games. We'll see how this goes down tomorrow.

     My goal for this day was to somehow win enough money to get out of the hole that I found myself in as a result of last night's poker session. Will I be able to do it? Let's find out...

     After having breakfast at the Roasted Bean, a cafe in Beau Rivage, similar to Starbuck's, I first played blackjack, and quickly won $100. Then, I went to the craps table. I was the first shooter, and I wasn't sure how I was going to proceed, after I put down my $25 Pass Line bet, and a $15 Whirl bet. I decided to play slow after I got a 7-Winner, and a 12 Craps on my first two rolls. A point of 6 was established, and I decided to only play with the profits I already had (making 25 on the first roll, and a net of 53 on the second roll). I was standing at Stick Left 1, my favorite spot at the craps table, and I was using the Crossed Sixes dice set. But this was my first shoot of the day, and I didn't feel like I was warmed up, so that was a factor in why I decided to play this way. I placed the 8 for 30 (as this was a $25 table), and the next roll was 7-out. Good thing I played like thst. I left the table $8 ahead. I felt like it was the right thing to do, as at that point and time, I felt like I wanted to feel like a winner again. A session win of $108 accomplished that.

     From there, my wife and I went to the Golden Nugget, the casino we'd stayed at, the first two times we were in Biloxi. Here, I only played blackjack. Reason being, the craps table looked dead and silent. Not exactly a good vibe. And it was a long struggle to get my money back at the blackjack table. I was down to my last three green chips before I started getting it back. But as soon as the dealer busted when I finally got back ahead, I was out of there, winning $62.50. Good enough. It chipped away some more of my deficit.

     From there, we went to the Hard Rock casino, despite my totally getting torched there last time. This time, I was at a $10 craps table, and there were 2 or 3 other people there. One was the shooter. I did a $10 Pass Line bet, then after a point was established, I placed a $40 Don't Come bet, to start up the Arnold strategy. But I decided to switch to light-side, after a 2 Craps was rolled, and that won on the DC, without it having to travel to a number. I placed two of the Place bets, making sure I retain at least a small profit. The roll was long enough for me to parlay my bets to include all the Place bets, even pressing one or two of them up to 4 units. I was also cutting up at the table, but the other two players were both looking at me like I'm crazy. I ended up $105 ahead, when the shooter crapped out. Nice, but I only wished the others at the table could have been more enthusiastic. Maybe they were losing a lot prior to that roll. As for me, this win chipped my deficit down to less than $200.

     From there, we had lunch at a restaurant called Shaggy's, which is not in any of the casinos. It was highly recommended (we heard great things about it the last time we were in Biloxi). Although we had a dinner date at a steakouse at Beau Rivage, coming up, somehow, I knew this meal would overshadow that. I had a seafood boil meal, and that was superb. Everything tasted very delicious, plus Mrs. MusicalDice was pleased with her meal, plus the staff was very friendly and courteous. We tipped them nicely afterwards. I'd definitely come back to Shaggy's again.

     From there, we went to the Treasure Bay casino. There, I first got into a craps game. It was just me and one other player, who had arrived at the same time. I wasn't afraid of an empty table this time, for I'd had three 20-something rolls the last time I was here, back in September. Things got off to a pretty rocky start at first. As before, I was standing at Stick Left 1, and at first, I was doing my Crossed-Sixes dice set. Since this was only a $10 table, I did 88 inside, instead of 220 inside on the Place bets. Good thing too, for I crapped out after getting only one hit (I needed two hits before I could regress down). The other shooter, a random shooter, did a little better, though not enough to get my money back. When it became my turn to shoot again, I switched to the Hardway dice set. I played very conservatively, only making minimum bets on two of the Place bets. Good thing too, for I crapped out almost immediately. When I got the dice for the third time, I switched to the Yo-Yo dice set. At this point, I was pretty much resigned to having this being a losing session, so I decided to place all the Place bets for the minimum amount. But hold the phone! This was where I had a long roll. I was lofting the dice up more than I did on my last two rolls (and lately, for the most part). This worked out well, for I shot 20 time, enough to make my Best Craps Shoots Hall Of Fame page. I ended up getting my money back, plus $37.

     I added another $37.50 to that win at the blackjack table. I might have stayed longer, had I not started feeling a bit nauseous. I thought at first that that was because I'd stuffed myself at Shaggy's. But Mrs. MusicalDice, who was playing slots during this time, felt the same way. Apparently, we'd both forgotten how hot and stuffy it gets at this casino. We left there, with me racking a $74.50 session win. At that point, my deficit was chipped down to only $55.

     After that, we returned to Beau Rivage, where we rested for a little bit, then went downstairs to play some before our dinner reservation at the steakhouse. We had less than an hour, so I decided to play blackjack, instead of craps, since that usually goes faster. But unfortunately, it was a huge struggle at the table, and it chipped away all the time I had to play. Worse yet, it looked like all my efforts to chip away the rest of my deficit, had gotten blown to pieces, for I lost $362.50. ARGH!!

     But hold the phone! After dinner at the steakhouse (which was pretty good), I went to the blackjack tables, though a different one from the one I'd played at just before dinner. This table, I think was the same one that I'd won $100 at this morning. This table was great, for I was winning a lot more hands, plus the vibe there was great, with people just wanting to have a good time. I ended up winning $550 at this table. Not only did I make up for the loss at the other blackjack table, this win was enough to totally get me out of the hole! I won a total of $537.50 for the day, netting me a profit of $132.50 thus far for this trip. If only I'd only played at this table, I would have had a 500 Club! Will I remain ahead for the rest of this trip? I sure hope so!

     On the night that I played poker at Beau Rivage, I was informed of a 2/5 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em game that might be taking place on Thursday. Today, being Thursday, I wanted to play that game. Another thing I wanted to do was to go to a Chinese restaurant, and eat some duck. Would these things happen? How would I do as far as gambling goes? Let's find out...

     Before breakfast, I played blackjack at Beau Rivage. I played at the same table that I won $550 at last night. It was real choppy this morning, and I left $100 ahead.

     My wife and I went to Golden Nugget to have breakfast at Claim Jumper. Then I played blackjack, and won $150. I added $30 to that at the craps table, where I had gotten into a bit of trouble early on, but got it back on a decent roll from the right hook, using the Hardway dice set. This led to a total session win of $180.

     From there, we went to the Scarlet Pearl casino. It was a battle at both the blackjack and the craps tables. I won $50 at the blackjack table. On someone else's roll, I got my money back plus $20, for a total session win of $70.

     From there, we went to the I.P. casino. After winning $125 at the blackjack table, I played craps. I started off slow, with a black female dice-setter. She had a pretty good roll, enough for me to win $105 at the craps table. I then played poker, and after 1½ hours, I won $22. At least I won, for once at poker. This casino win of $252, thus far, is my best win of the year.

     From there, we decided to go for a somewhat late lunch. Despite Mrs. MusicalDice's exhaustive efforts to find a Chinese restaurant in Biloxi that serves duck, she couldn't find one. Ultimately, I said "F**k the duck! Let's go back to Shaggy's." So that's what we did. And that turned out to be a wise choice. Once again, I had the seafood boil, and it was superb. Mrs. MusicalDice really enjoyed her meal, and the staff at Shaggy's were really happy to see us back at Shaggy's.

     From there, we returned to Beau Rivage, where we rested for a few hours. Then, I went to the poker room to play 2/5 No-Limit Hold 'Em. Now this seemed like a foolhardy decision on my part, given that I was torched at 1/3 No-Limit on Tuesday. But I deliberately bought in for just $700, where there was no max-buy-in, and normally, I'd buy in for $1000 roughly for a 2/5 No-Limit game. My reasoning for that was, if I got busted, I'd still be slightly ahead for the trip. Fortunately, I did win a couple of hands, and after an hour of play, I left $96 ahead. There were a number of sharks at the poker table, and I decided not to press my luck. I finished up the day $698, and $830.50 ahead for the whole trip. It was at this point that I declared myself all gambled out. As a bonus, I also racked up 10 casino wins in a row. It's been quite a while since I had such a long winning streak.

     On this special charter trip, our bags had to be ready to be taken down to the bus by 4:30 in the morning. Hardly time to do any gambling, even if I wanted to. But since I was already gambled out, that was a mute point anyway. The bus left the casino for the airport at 6:45 a.m., and the plane left Biloxi back for Houston at 8:30. My wife and I had a blast. We'll definitely do it again, it's just a question of when.

     As for the breakdown of the game results, I won a total of $449 playing craps. The big winner on this trip was blackjack, as I won a total of $917.50. Of course, the big loser was poker, as I'd lost a net of $536, for a total net profit of $830.50. One of my favorite parts of these gambling trips, is when I'm able to put away the gambling money, especially when it's all intact.

     As for when our next trip is, that's a bit up in the air right now. We tried to book this same trip to Biloxi for the second week of February, but we were wait-listed, for the trip is all booked up already. If we're not able to go to Biloxi at that time, then most likely, we'll go to Lake Charles at that time. I'll keep you posted. ☺