Roll Charting the Tables

During our last Dice Busters workshop we introduced the value of charting a table to the students.  The purpose of this exercise was to focus attention on what is happening in real-time at the tables. This way we are able to keep our students fixated on the present moment and teach them how to respond to the energy of the table and more specifically what the dice rolls are indicating in the moment of a particular session.

Charting is a simple way of gathering information. It is a valuable way to understand the prevailing energy of the table and whether it will support the type of play a player wishes to apply to a session.

Since bankroll preservation is our priority, charting before entering a game can make or break our session buy-in within the first 18 rolls. With patience and discipline we gain insight as to what is happening at the table at that specific moment in time.  We often call this qualifying the shooter and the table.

Although there has always been much discussion, both pro and con, as to whether anything can be gained by gathering charted information, I personally have always charted the tables I play. I fell into the exercise of recording rolls at the table since my coaching days with Jerry Patterson and his PARR group. This was in the early 2000's and I found at that time, and still do now, that I am able to get a better sense of direction of what numbers will be rolling.  I have saved myself a lot of chips by doing so and in most cases taken my profit off the table at just the right time.

Back in those PARR days while working with the students and charting their rolls at the Fremont Casino in Downtown Las Vegas a pit boss approached me to inquire about what I was doing. I showed him my note pad and told him I was recording the dice rolls. "For what?" he responded. Well, I really did not want to share that I was there helping the players refine their tosses, so I simply said "It helps me know what the next number will be."

The pit boss shook his head, smiled and said "okay, what will the next number be?" I quickly glanced at the rolls and responded "it will be a four." As predicted, the next roll was a four. Laughing, Mr. Pit boss walked off and left me alone. That four wasn't the only roll I could sense as the next roll. I could get a sense of patterns of numbers appearing with some regularity that could present betting opportunities.

Since that time, I realized that there was a greater value to roll charting than just documenting what the left and right die were doing as the student released their toss. There seemed to be a greater influence being exerted beyond just the mechanics. Perhaps a player could get a sense of signature numbers and patterns during a session by documenting the patterns of the rolls.

I have to admit there was a time period when I decided to leave the note pad at home with my own personal shooting sessions. At that time I was focused on refining other parts of my game. I decided to take up charting once again after cleaning out my closet and finding my old note pads that documented rolls from my PARR coaching days and from previous Dice Buster workshops. For me, I am able to bet more strategically with note pad in hand than without it.

As I reviewed those old charts, I came to the realization that the dice speak volumes about their behavior. The key is to understand the information collected in real time and make it work for you. Trust what these two little cubes are saying and then make the leap by betting accordingly. Granted, there is a huge personal paradigm shift that has to occur in order to make this work.

Do we trust the information we see unfold before us and act, or watch the opportunity just slip by?

If you are a player who believes he or she influences the dice, then charting can be an essential part of your dice playing tool box.  How each player focuses their influence can be debated. Some players believe we can influence the dice through mechanics and other players believe otherwise. Some players will believe that charting has validity and others will think there is no value in it because each dice roll acts independent from the previous roll.

Here's a recent roll I recorded during a session with my students. The session is recorded from the time I bought-in at the table with a group of students from our workshop. Does anything "pop-out" at you?

 

Here are some of the things I noticed:

 

2- 5- 9- 7- 8- 10- 10- 7- 8- 9- 9- 6

8- 10- 9- 6- 9- 5- 5- 6- 8- 11- 8- 9

7- 2- 3- 11- 8- 7- 6- 4- 9- 9- 5- 6

4- 3- 5- 5- 10- 7- 9- 5- 7- 6- 5- 8

 

Of the 100 rolls, 13 are 7's.  Within normal probability, this number should be 16.6.

Since the 7's are less than the probability, one would think we have a hot table.  But look at the numbers again. There is only one natural come-out 7.  There were only 2 passes made and 12

Don't passes made. In this case, betting against the shooter would be the way to go. 

 

Also look at how the numbers fell.

 

First row: 10's 9's are signature numbers

Second row:  9's and 5's are signature numbers

Third row:  9's are still signature numbers

Fourth row:  6's and 9's are signature numbers

Fifth row:  6's and 9's are signature numbers

Sixth row:  5's are signature numbers

Seventh row:  9's and 4's are signature numbers

Eighth row:  4's are signature numbers.

 

Watch the game closely and selectively and then bet the signature numbers for only a limited time. In this case you would have made money on these rolls.

 

When something happens enough times at the tables, how many times does it have to keep occurring before players decide to act upon it? This goes beyond the "see a horn, bet a horn" mentality. It has to do with reading the prevailing energy and observing the signature numbers occurring in the moment and being able to weave in and out of the game as the seven cycle comes through. Or, with this information in hand, a player can simply hold back and wait for a better playing opportunity.

Watching this most recent documented session unfold, it was easy for me to weave in and out with my bets. And at certain points I called-off those bets to preserve my profit.

Some observers scratch their heads believing that documentation doesn't work. That's okay with me. I won't debate the issue with anyone as I count the profit from my session while other players sigh from a draw down all from the same session.

The best player I know that has learned how to weave in and out of the game through charting is the Dice Coach. Having been to the craps tables for as long as he has, charting has become a valuable tool for him and I have watched him profit more often than not.

Another valuable message was shared by Michael Vernon, aka The Professor, during our last Dice Busters workshop.  He said "nothing in life has meaning except the meaning you give it."  

This is very true in both the game of craps and in life. If things occur during the game and grab your attention, then it is up to us to assess whether it has meaning to us or not. That is the same with charting. If taking a pen to paper during a game has no meaning to you then, as The Professor also likes to state, "Take no notice."

As for me I try to notice all things, - with pen and paper in hand.

See you at the tables.

Soft Touch