About ten years ago a student who attended my Do's and Don't of Dice asked me if I  
had any knowledge of dice control. About a week later he sent a package to me with a  
video and a booklet with instructions. I was not impressed with the instructions or the  
quality of the video, so I did not pursue dice control at that time. A year later I ran  
across a new web site at the time, Dicesetter.com, and I purchased "Dice Control for  
Casino Craps - Gambling Disciples of God", published by Yuri. Although the title  
may seem a bit out of character, for the record, I have played dice with God many  
times. God is a much better craps shooter than he is a golfer.  
 
With the information in Yuri's book and my extensive knowledge of anatomy and the  
musculature system, I began to investigate the art of dice control in detail. I was already  
playing craps weekly with consistent success, so I decided to make a concentrated  
effort to see if dice control would add anything to my game. I was living in Taos, New  
Mexico at the time and there were seven casinos within a couple of hours drive from  
Taos.  
 
I came to the conclusion that dice control was worthy of the effort and I made the  
commitment to become a skilled shooter. Being self taught is a bit like following the  
steps needed to align a radial arm saw for precise cutting. I did not know for sure if I  
was doing it all correctly. I was preoccupied with perfection and looking for ways that I  
could improve. If there was a step missing or needing correction, how was I to know?  
Although I was having fair results, sometimes dice control did not work in the ways that I  
had read about on-line, and that troubled me. I began to wonder how my results  
compared to others. I also wanted to meet other dice controllers to see how they played  
the game.  
 
In my pursuit of information, one lead, led to another, and one day I found myself in Las  
Vegas at a dice control convention. I met some of the presenters and I was invited to  
join two of them for a game at a downtown casino. The scheduled meeting was at four  
o'clock in the morning. I am not one to go out of my way for a dice game, still if I was  
going to see the experts of "dice control" in action, I knew that I was going to miss some  
sleep.  
 
At the designated casino, I met the gentlemen that had invited me. They introduced me  
to another dice controller whom I had seen the day before at the dice convention. It felt  
like I was entering a secret club. I was instructed to enter the game incognito. There  
were already three other dice control players at the table.  
 
The dice were passed to me just after my buy-in. I became intensely aware of the  
strange stillness of the early morning energy in the casino. I rolled a three point hand  
from table end and felt small standing in the greatness of the "dice experts". The next  
"dice control" player got the dice. He took his time mulling over the dice, like picking two  
puppies from a litter of six. Once the right pair was selected, the game was on! The  
come out roll resulted in an outside number. Chips were raining down from the players'  
hands as place bets were ordered left and right along and prop bets flying to the  
stickman's hand. A feeling of "Wow! This is going to be easy," over whelmed me. It felt  
like the fix was in and I was sitting in the easy chair. I held that feeling the whole time  
even though the results were mostly unremarkable. In fact, compared to any other dice  
game, it was not much different. Cutting to the chase, after each "D.C." player had a  
turn with the dice, the game ended abruptly as one by one the dice controllers colored  
up.  
 
I was up 26 units after seven shooters (16 from my hand) and I never saw a hand  
longer than my three point hand. I remember feeling a little confused with the way the  
game ended. At the cage, the discussion between the "D.C." players went something  
like, "Well that didn't turn out so well. Whad'ya say we go out to Green Valley Ranch?" I  
had just about doubled my buy-in, in about an hour. I was dozy from a lack of sleep. I  
was not in the mood to chase another game on the other side of Las Vegas, especially  
after a nice win. I had seen enough in one short session to satisfy my quest for dice  
controllers' "intel".  
 
The two players I met also won but it was less than what I had accomplished. They  
were as disappointed with their results as I was thrilled by mine. No one playing in this  
game had invested with a large sum of money and no one played units larger than $10.  
Not a big deal really. I was only surprised by this because of the illusions created on the  
web pages, chat forums, and newsletters which seemed to produced a bigger than life  
image of dice controllers. I had envisioned theses players with loads of cash, betting  
large, and winning thousands. It was not the case. Another observation made was how  
the alleged experts were not bankrolled for all the bets they were making. At first I  
thought it was because they always won and as such, they only needed a couple of  
hundred to start a game. I learned later that it was more like "scared money". I also  
came to realize that "controlling dice" was just an expression. The setting and tossing  
techniques used by the dice controllers was similar to that which I had read about in the  
books. However, I did see ugly dice, a lot of "wild ducks" flying that morning. Trying to  
be kind here, the dice controllers were anything but .......  
 
The most important confirmation was recognizing that the dice strategies I had  
mastered in my years of playing craps were superior to those being used by the players  
relying heavily on "dice control." Dice control is not a stand alone tactic. Hoping to hit a  
hand, the dice control players gave up any advantage by making risky high vig bets.  
Playing like a typical craps bettor, did not make cents.(sic) I think some casinos are  
starting to understand this. I feel it is the reason some casinos are beginning to get over  
their fear of the dice controllers. After all, what's there to be afraid of, players wasting  
their money on proposition bets, and other high vig bets with the hopes of hitting a long  
shot?  
 
My trip to the dice convention in Las Vegas was a great learning experience and an eye  
opener for me. I learned to not doubt what I had come to know about the game. I  
learned that when other dice players experience a bit of success, it can be magnified,  
dare I say exaggerated. Careful attention is advised to what you come to believe and  
take on as a part of your dice game.  
 
Dice setting, dice control, dice influencing, precession shooting, and any other words  
you wish to include are labels attempting to add more to the game. As a skilled dice  
influencer, there is so much more to it than just saying that you are "one." "Advantage  
Player" is the operative word and in order to have any advantage as a dice influencer,  
the dice tactics must be valid and above all, they must be adhered to with precision.  
Step one must be accomplished correctly if any of the steps that follow are to have  
success. If your set is okay but your dice separate because of a poor grip, even with a  
perfect release, the dice will not rotate on axis. They will split apart, left and right, and  
land randomly. Have you ever purchased a device that required intricate and precise  
steps for assembly? If a step is not properly completed, the device will not function in  
the way that it was intended. Proper dice manipulation is just like setting the  
adjustments for a precision tool. It is just as important to have the correct order and  
precise steps in your dice setting game; if you are seeking desirable results.  
 
The game of craps is not so difficult that anyone couldn't walk up to a table and simply  
play. However, the game of craps will be difficult to beat when the player is missing the  
necessary tactics of advantage play with a precision to win.  
 
Post Script: In this article I purposely used "dice control" instead of what I would  
normally write, dice influencing, dice setting or dice manipulation. Dice control is  
misunderstood and over stated. However, when I think of it in specific terms, yes, dice  
control is a viable description; not that anyone truly has control of the resulting roll.  
However, where the control enters the game is with the control the skilled player has  
over themselves and how they make use of that control during the game. When  
shooting dice we are in control of how quickly we are able to set the dice. We are in  
control of the sets that we choose to use. We are in control of our grip, our toss, the  
release, the way the dice hang together in flight, on axis, (not wild ducks) the speed on  
the dice, the amount of rotation, (the backspin) the arc, the landing zone, and making  
sure both dice rebound from the back wall. This control does not come easily. It comes  
with a hell of a lot of practice and a commitment to excellence with precision. By the  
way, the real practice takes place in a live game, when and where it really matters. See  
ya at the tables!  
 
The Professor  
Copyright 2009 Michael Vernon  
 

Click Here to return to the list of prior articles ...