Don't be scared to win money!

Okay, I thought I better make a post tonight in case I don't have a chance before my move on Tuesday night. I thought I'd have all day today to get things done and get some packing finished, but for the first time ever, my casino called me into work today for the 1pm-9pm dice shift. So now I'm behind the 8-ball. I was on-call, so it shouldn't have been too big of a surprise. But I'd been on-call several times already with no call occurring. It'll be nice when I get my next paycheck, since today was kind of a bonus day that I wasn't expecting and next week I'm on the schedule for SIX days! Can you say OVERTIME baby! There was a very small amount of stress when I switched to day shift thinking they might shave some hours away from me. So far though, that's not something I need to worry about apparently!

So now onto the crux of my post. I've mentioned many times in the past how frustrating it can be as a dice dealer on the Strip when a shooter has one of those monster rolls, and people just don't seem to be very interested in winning much money. For starters, let me give you a breakdown of what my shift is like on a daily basis on the craps table. Like the rest of the dealers, dice dealers spend one hour on the table, and then we get a 20 minute break. That cycle occurs all the entire shift, an hour on and 20 off, etc. If you figure that all out, I'm working on the table for a total of 6 hours and I'm on break for a total of 2 hours.

During those 6 hours on the table, it is pretty safe to say that the table is "choppy" for about 4 of those hours. A "choppy" table is one that seems to be hitting some points and getting on some of those mini-runs that happen a lot, but then the 7-outs happen when everyone has their money out on the table and the fun is over. Honestly, it seems to me that the casino makes its profit from the choppy table, because it also seems the ice-cold table and the HOT HOT table kind of even themselves out.

With no real data to back me up, it just seems like the table is pretty cold for about an average of an hour+ every shift. A cold table is when there are plenty of 7-outs right after the points are established and everyone has their money out there on the place bets, hardways, etc. The frigid table is usually followed by a dead table for a matter of 15 minutes or so, since most people lose all their money in the icy conditions, or get fed up and leave with whatever they have left. That leaves about 45 minutes during my 6 hours on the table which are unaccounted for. As you might guess, those 45 minutes are usually filled up with very warm conditions.

A hot table is a table which is hitting plenty of points and plenty of place-bet numbers, maybe with some hardways thrown in, and it usually consists of one very hot shooter who rolls for 30 minutes to an hour. Now don't get me wrong. There are days when I'm just a soul crusher at the table and the casino has a great night! There are also days when, although very rare, when it just seems like 2 or 3 points are hit by every single shooter who gets the dice. Those are the shifts when I have to get used to seeing the same people for a while, because they obviously aren't going to leave when they're "winning".

So why did I put the "winning" in quotation marks? The reason is that, going back to my initial breakup of my shift, the hot table definitely makes an appearance quite often, but the tourists who I deal to simply don't know how to take advantage of the hot table when it finally occurs! I can't say anymore how many times I've dealt through a HUGE roll from a shooter who has the dice for 45-60 minutes, and when he finally seven-outs, I look down at the layout and people still have $10 and $12 place bets all over the place.

That, my friends, is why my table does so well at my current place of employment. When its bad, its really bad! But when its good, nobody knows what to do, so the table survives and the profit is made. My supervisors are more than happy to call the cage for a fill on red chips, because they realize that after about 20 minutes into a roll, we should be running out of green chips instead!

So now I'll do something that I will probably never do again, and I may regret doing based on some possible comments I may get later on. I'm going to teach you a craps "system". Now while dealing off-strip, every damn flea and his brother had a "system" that they used, and it would drive me NUTS if they tried to explain it to me, or to some hapless tourist who happened to get caught in their clutches. There isn't a system in the world that will promise you a win at the craps table, and most of the flea-systems are downright stupid! But what I'll try to do is let you play and have fun with your modest buy-in, but when that rare HOT table occurs, you'll walk away with much more money than most tourists.

Here are the rules:

1. Play your normal game and have fun!
2. When you're losing, do NOT increase your bets to try to make up your losses quick.
3. When you encounter a HOT table, PRESS. YOUR. DAMN. BETS!

The first rule is simple. Most normal buy-ins on a $5 or $10 table are either $100 or $200. Do what you normally do. Make a pass-line bet and back it up with odds. Make place bets across ($26 or $27 across), or maybe just place the 6 and 8 for $6 each. This is probably what you're used to doing and your buy-in will last a long while on a hot or choppy table. If the table is cold, then too bad. NO system will allow you to win money if the dice just aren't cooperating (and leave me alone darkside bettors, 99% of tourists play the pass-line and are not interested in the don'ts). If the table is choppy, then you may or may not hit a point, and you'll probably hit enough place bets to kind of break even on them without winning or losing much. Order drinks, clown around with your friends, maybe make an occasional dealer bet or two, and HAVE A GOOD TIME! That's an order.

The second rule is also very simple. Don't turn a choppy table into a personal cold table for yourself by getting greedy or stupid. Avoid the urge to suddenly throw $20 into the field because you "have a feeling" a field number is coming. Also avoid the urge to up your place bets to $54 across or something like, which would probably put more than 25% of your buy-in at stake at one time. Just be content to ride out your pass-line bet with odds and $32 inside, or the like.

The third rule is the main focus of the post! If you do find yourself suddenly at a very warm or hot table, don't be content with just keeping all of your bets the same and getting paid the exact same amount every single time one of your numbers hits! My advice on when to start pressing your bets is when you've hit at least one point number AND you've hit enough of your place bets so that you've broken even on them. For example, let's say you start with $26 across and you've hit the 6 a couple of times and the 5 or 9 a couple of times, you have now made up all of the place bet money you put out there. If you happen to have hit a point in there as well, guess what.....you just might be in the middle of a hot roll.

So take advantage of the possible hot roll. The worst that will happen at this point is that the shooter 7-outs as soon as you start pressing, but you'll still break even at worst for the roll! When it comes time to get paid on a place bet, just tell the dealer "press my bet please". He will give you a small amount of change from your bet, and then double it. If you had $6 on the 6, you'll now have $12 on it. So you'll get paid double the next time it hits. If you had $5 on the 5, you'll now have $10 on it and will get paid double the next time it hits. It's that simple.

When you bet all of the place bet numbers on a $5 table, you'll have $6 on the 6 and 8 to start and $5 on all of the other numbers. Given my criteria above on when to react to a "hot" table, start pressing your numbers when you've broken even on what you've put out there initially. But to get a little more complicated, I'll advise you to start "pressing one unit" on each number for a little while until the table gets scorching hot, which will give you some kind of payout each time while also putting more money on each number as well. "One unit" is the amount you start with on the number at the beginning. If you have $6 on the 6, then one unit is $6.

So let's just use the number 6 as an example. You start with $6 on it like usual. The shooter rolls a few numbers and you decide to press it. The dealer will hand you $1 and put another $6 on your bet, making it $12. When it hits again, you say "press one unit please." The dealer will hand you $8 and will add another $6 onto your bet. You know have $18 on the 6. It hits again! "Press one unit please." The dealer will hand you $15 and add yet another $6 onto your bet. You know have $24 on it. IT HITS AGAIN! Clearly we're in the warm zone! "Press one unit please." The dealer will had you $22 and add yet another $6 onto your bet. You know have $30 on the 6 and have been getting some money back every time it hits. You're making money, AND you're adding to your bet so when it hits again, you win even more money.

At this point, some of you might be saying "Rob, you're full of it! Place bet numbers NEVER hit that many times before a 7-out!" I'd say you're wrong. Hot rolls DO happen, but most tourists don't really fully realize it because they're so happy collected $7 payouts after more $7 payouts without ever pressing. A roll happened just today where a shooter had the dice for about 35 minutes, and I was still paying stupid little $6 place bets at the end of it all!

So getting back to the pressing, I would advice pressing one unit until you get to the magic GREEN BARRIER! That is when you get to $30 on the 6 and/or 8, and $25 on the 4,5,9, and 10. At this point, you're place bets look green and you are now getting green with your payout every one of them hits. This is the situation I referred to earlier when the supervisors might be thinking about calling for a fill on the green chips, instead of the reds.

Going back to the 6, you now have $30 on it. I'm not completely opposed to just taking the $35 payout when it hits with this much on it, but ONLY ONCE! If the numbers are still hitting, then you've found that very rare SCORCHING HOT shooter. TAKE ADVANTAGE NOW!! Press the $30 bet FULL to $60. Do NOT press one unit! It annoys the dealers, its harder to pay and you're just being a pussy at this point if you do it. If the 6 hits with $60 on it, press it another $30 to $90. If it hits again, press it another $30 to $120. Hell, if it hits again, try a full press all the way to $240.

Once again, I am not being completely ridiculous here. Really hot shooters are rare, but they do happen, usually about once a shift (maybe a little less). This "system" is simply allowing you to realize when a hot roll may be occurring and taking full advantage of it when it happens. I will admit that I do not use this system, because I hardly ever gamble anymore. If I tried to use this system, I would be killed by the cold and choppy tables and would probably go broke. But tourists are only in town for a short while and are usually gambling with budgeted funds. When you step up to the table, you just might be lucky enough to walk right into a 45 minute HOT roll, and I hope now you know a little bet more about taking advantage of it!

And by the way, the more cash people win, the more they are prone to tip and make dealer bets along the way. I've seen many tourists win about $400 off HOT rolls, when they could have won $1500 using my system above. If you wish to tip the dealers, make a few bets for them in the middle of the hot roll. Its okay if you tip them at the end, but we'd much rather make money off the casino during the roll as opposed to just taking your money at the end of it!

Edited to add: Yes, I see the bad grammar and wrong spellings up there, but I'm too lazy and pressed for time to do anything about it. Just deal with it.