Doing the same thing over, and over, with an expectation that circumstances will change is the recipe for insanity. If there is to be change, there has to be initiation of some action different from the behavior that is not working. You must make a move towards behavior change if there is going to be a shift in your results.  
 
After more than ten years of playing dice as a random roller, I was frustrated with my random results. I took up dice setting and precision shooting. I admit to being skeptical about dice setting for several years but I made the change. I am here to say that dice setting works, not all the time, but consistently enough to cause a significant improvement in my game. If I can improve my roll through dice setting, anyone has a decent chance of doing the same.  
 
I first met the Dice Coach September 2002 and then again in January 2003. During the January visit, I had the honor of an invitation to join the Dice Coach for a few casino sessions.  
 
After seeing my pathetic rolls, (I had been in a slump), Dice Coach made a polite, subtle comment that he had a suggestion for my toss. Well, time did not allow for a visit back to his dice pit, but I promised myself that the next time in Las Vegas I would book a private lesson.  
 
The next month I was back in Las Vegas. I met with the Dice Coach at his dice pit. The first thing the Dice Coach asked me was, “are you open to change?” I was surprised by his question. I thought I was there for a dice lesson, not therapy. I told him I was, “good to go,” and he said, “Well, I know that you prefer to shoot the from table end and I understand your reasons. However, I would like to see you shoot from left stick.” Left stick is the table position to the immediate left of the craps dealer who is running the game and holding the bent cane.  
 
I positioned myself at left stick. A bit nervous, I stalled the roll by trying to explain my sets to Dice Coach. Dice Coach was patient and kind. He picked up on my anxiousness. He let me ramble on for awhile then said a few words that countered my anxieties. He helped me to re-focus. I made my set, picked up the dice and they flew like matched swans.  
 
“Nice form”, I was told. “Go again.” The Coach waltzed back and forth in front of me from the dealer’s side of the table. He scrutinized my every move, peering at my grip, watching my toss from every angle. Finally, after six or eight tosses, Dice Coach said, “Okay, hold up.” He pointed out four things for me to change with my throw. Mostly it was in the rotation of my wrist on the release. He had me add a pendulum like back swing that helped me with a nice follow through after the release. It was unbelievably simple to make the adjustments. In a short time, the Dice Coach had fine tuned my dice throw. I made the suggested corrections with ease. It felt great and it quickly became more comfortable than my old way of tossing. I became confident as I witnessed the results after my dice landed sixteen, seventeen, eighteen box numbers, without a seven. My errant toss was “healed”, thanks to encouragement from the Dice Coach. Great coaching Mr. Parker!  
 
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. My lesson would be unimportant without validation. My dice sessions following the lesson were like magic. Playing alone at the Orleans, the box man complimented me for, “one heck of a hand”. He told me I rolled over 50 times before the “seven” showed up and that I held the dice 30 minutes. I did have two losing sessions out of six during that trip to Las Vegas. One session occurred at one o’clock in the morning, after a night of mixed drinks… wine and tequila. Yikes Mister! I admit to being undisciplined that night. Don’t drink and play. The other loss occurred after leaving Las Vegas. My plane landed in Albuquerque at 11:00 P.M. While I was waiting to meet a friend for the trip back home to Taos, I decided to hit the casino for an hour before their arrival. Rule one, never play when you are tired or after traveling.  
 
A week later I was playing with my friend Robert. He witnessed the “pudding hand”. We were playing at Big Rock Casino where I caught an hour and ten-minute hand. There were only four players including myself, so the game moved along at a quick pace, even with all the place bets and hard-way bets being paid.  
 
After we colored up, one of the players thanked me profusely, saying that he had never won in that casino or had seen anyone shoot dice like me. I told him, “no problem mate, it is all in the wrist.”  
 
Dice setting is for real. It takes a bit of practice and it is worth it if you are going to commit to playing dice. Perhaps the biggest challenge is to be willing to accept change. If you are content with the way things are, that is fine. However, if you are open to more possibilities and new ideas, you may want to make a switch. There are several options available when it comes to dice setting. I prefer the short cut method of observation and personal coaching by someone in the know. Good value Dice Coach, and keep the change!  
 
Copyright © 2005 Michael Vernon  
Gaming author and instructor  
www.dicebusters.com  
www.playing4keeps.com  

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