Smash Vegas

For those of you who don’t know, dice control is the idea that the thrower can effect the outcome of the throw.  How he does this is a combination of factors; dice setting, the grip used, technique of throw.

Dice setting is aligning the dice in your hand in a certain way.  A particular set can be defined by which numbers face up and which face towards you.  There are many different “sets” which are claimed to change the odds of different numbers occuring.  By combining a set with a particular grip the thrower attempts to minimize the spin on any axis other than the horizontal.  If successful this should reduce the frequency of the numbers on the ends of the dice coming up.

It’s fairly obvious that this would work in a poorly regulated game of craps without a wall.  Many even refer to it as the “army blanket roll” after the games servicemen used to play in WW2.  However modern casinos require that a roll bounce once on the table and then hit the back wall, otherwise the throw is judged invalid.

Dice control advocates claim that careful launching at a 45 degree angle minimizes the energy needed to throw the dice, and so with good technique a thrower can “gently” bounce the dice just in front of the back wall.  They claim this greatly increases the probability of them staying on the same axis.

Obviously this requires some careful testing.  One experiment worth noting occured when Stanford Wong (of blackjack fame) was challenged to roll fewer than 80 sevens in 500 throws.  The probability of rolling 79 or fewer sevens in 500 random throws is 32.66%.  Wong managed it with 5 sevens to spare.  The probability of rolling 74 or fewer sevens in 500 random throws is 14.41%.

This is not proof and the number of throws is far too small to be statistically convincing.  However as someone asked me - have you got a better way to get an edge in craps?

I don’t and craps isn’t my game, but I suppose on that basis if you are going to play you might as well give dice control a try.