226 – Craps!

“That’s a good first shot,” said David, flipping an ‘off’ button to an ‘on’ and placing it on a six. “Try using less energy, roll at a 45 degree angle, and avoid rolling a seven,” David grabbed the dice and showed Li Yun his technique. “There had been advantage players who studied the best projection angle to minimize the amount of force required to launch the dice to the back wall. Less force means less randomness.”

David’s dice launched out at a 45 degree angle, bounced once on the table, hit the alligator back wall, and rolled out a seven. David cursed to himself. The technique reduced the occurrences of a seven but it wasn't perfect.

“Is rolling a seven bad?” Li Yun asked.

“Yes, after the come out roll, if you roll a number other than two, three, seven, eleven and twelve, it turns into a ‘point’ round. From then on, you want to roll your point number to win. Rolling a seven ends your turn. People here are superstitious, so they don’t even say the number seven.”

Li Yun took the dice again, and rolled the dice, landing on a seven.

“Well, that’s expected,” said David, the odds of rolling a seven was the highest.

Using the rattan dice stick, David pushed back the dice to Li Yun.

“Is there a certain way I should be holding onto the dice?” Li Yun asked.

David nodded. “I normally use the hardway set. Simply face the six to the left, and the one to the right. Pick up the dice together, making sure it doesn’t shift or split out in your three central fingers. With a good grip, release the dice toward the back wall, making sure both dice are released at the same time. This is how most dice shooters avoid landing on the seven, give it a try.”

Li Yun followed the instruction and grabbed the dice with his thumb and three fingers. “It doesn’t matter what hand?”

“Are you ambidextrous?”

“I’m right-handed, but I can use my left hand,” Li Yun was used to using both hands, and also for practicing calligraphy when he needed to copy a calligrapher known for being left-handed. He couldn’t say he was as proficient as his right hand, but decent.

“You can use whatever you are comfortable with, but the key is consistency and using the same method,” said David. “Now, use a gentle backspin to hit the back wall and avoid the curved portion of the back as much as possible.”

Li Yun gently moved his hand back and flung the dice back. Both dice hit the wall at the same time, and a pair of three landed on the table.

“A six, that’s pretty good, now with more practice, you should be able to have a consistent roll that doesn’t land on a seven.”

Li Yun continued rolling the dice a few more times to get a general feel of the dice. It was quite fun, trying to maintain consistency, but as the dice hit the back wall, an element of randomness made it difficult to keep the same roll. For a couple of rolls, he hadn’t rolled a seven.

“You’re a lot better than I thought,” David didn’t think Li Yun would get the rhythm of the game down so quickly. After explaining to Li Yun the other odds and playing style, Li Yun got the gist of the game. Craps was intimidating for beginners as there was a lot of betting placements available. It took David almost a year of training with the dice to feel confident that he got an edge over the casino.

“Yo! David, another one of your students?” Asked a balding man with a large belly. 

“Hey George, this is a friend,” David replied. Bufu and Li Yun wanted to remain as anonymous as possible. “He has never played craps before, so I’m showing him the rope.”

“Still trying that dice shooting thing?” asked George. “It’s a hoax, don’t bother. Unless you trained as a kid, no way anyone can control the dice.”

“It’s just for fun,” David replied, but turned back to Li Yun to watch him play.

George shrugged and approached an open carp table. Li Yun could tell David wanted to avoid talking to George.

“Is he involved in something dangerous?” Li Yun asked.

“There’s a rumor he’s in a racketeering and money laundering scheme,” said David. “He has been trying to get into card counting, but I told him I don’t have the time to coach new people. He’s persistent.”

“Why doesn’t he believe in dice control?” Li Yun thought the idea behind it was a simple, consistent throw to reduce randomness and the occurrence of a seven. If they could minimize the appearance of a seven, the player could gain an edge over the casino. It was similar to how card counting worked. It wasn’t about winning blackjack all the time, it was about gaining an edge.

“Dice control isn’t as well known, and unlike card counting, requires a bit of muscle memory and physical ability,” David replied. As a computer software engineer, he knew quite a bit about counting, but he was also sturdy enough to perform physical tasks. Most card counters found it easier to stick with counting and numbers.

Li Yun rolled a couple more times until he felt comfortable with the dice.

“You’re ready to play?” David asked. 

They headed over to the table where there was a decent amount of players. Craps was a social and fun game for the spectators. If the shooter played well, the spectators would benefit from a hot streak.

There was already a middle aged woman throwing the dice from the right side of the table. The table had been cheering her on as she threw her 6th roll. At that moment, Li Yun took position next to her.

Her dice bounced on the table and then the back wall, landing a seven. The crowd groaned, most of whom had lost their bet. A moment later, they forgot about the loss and quickly waited for the next person’s turn. However, the woman did not look happy.

She blamed her loss on the person standing next to her who had disrupted her rhythm. The woman gave Li Yun a threatening glare, but seeing as he was taller and bigger than her, she kept her mouth shut.

“Are you rolling next?” The dealer asked Li Yun if he was joining in.

Li Yun placed a five on the pass line, the numbers six and eight, and a field bet. It was a common beginner strategy that David had taught him. The dealer pushed the dice toward him. As practiced, Li Yun set his dice and threw the dice toward the back wall. The dice landed on a five, and the dealer placed the on button above the five, and gave him his winning for the field bet. 

“Do I place this winning chip on the nine?” Li Yun asked David for reassurance. 

“Yep, the strategy was to cover all the numbers,” said David. “If you make money on your next roll, put them on the four and ten.”

Li Yun's next roll was a nine, winning him the pass line. The spectators clapped to cheer him on, as they all thought he sounded like a beginner. On his next roll, he rolled an eight, winning some chips.

“Since you have a chip on the eight, you want to press, or put in additional money on the eight,” said David.

Li Yun asked the dealer to place an additional chip on top of his existing chip on the eight. Li Yun rolled again, rolling at eight. The spectators all cheered at his luck. The woman next to him grumbled, but she placed some chips on the six and eight. Li Yun continued to roll the dice, he had managed to avoid rolling the seven, and his chips were doubling up on the table.

“Do I continue pressing on the nine?” Li Yun asked David, who was looking more bewildered as he carried on. He had seen a good hot roller before, but Li Yun was on his 40th roll, and still winning and the crowd around them was also growing bigger. 

“Of course, you idiot,” said the woman next to him, whose stack was also growing.

Li Yun continued rolling until his 78th roll. At that point, the pit boss watched carefully to make sure he wasn’t cheating.

“The guy is really a beginner?” The pit boss asked David.

“Yeah, I literally taught him the game an hour ago,” David responded.

By the 99th roll, Li Yun looked at the chips he had amassed, it was close to 1 million USD. He didn’t think he would be able to avoid hitting the seven for so long. He wasn’t intentionally trying to avoid the seven, but paying attention to keeping his roll consistent. He wondered if his blessing charm had an influence over the game.

Li Yun didn’t want to make much of a scene, but his winnings were already massive. Luckily he wasn’t in China where people would be filming live streaming all the time. The crowd in the casino was typically older, and they were more in the moment type of people.

On the 107th roll, Li Yun seven out. The spectators still applauded and cheered. The amateur had likely placed himself on the record book for the hotel for the longest streak.

“Oh my god, Bufu said you were a genius, but I didn’t think it was true,” said David. “Are you sure you’re not going to take up being an advantaged player?”

Li Yun shook his head. “No, it’s too nerve-wracking.” He didn’t look like it, but he felt his heart rate hiked up every time he rolled. On the 10th roll, the pressure was getting to him and he released the roll too soon.

David stared at Li Yun in disbelief, the guy certainly didn’t look like someone who was nervous. Li Yun reached the cage to cash out his winnings. He was too focused on the dice to pay attention to his chip out and was surprised it ended up being $1.78 million USD. 

Getting the number of numbers was nice, but Li Yun was sure if he pulled the same stunt again, he would be banned from all casinos. Better to lay low for a while.

Li Yun had an early flight the following day and decided to call it a day.

chocomug

I'm at the airport reading this again. Craps is a bit confusing. I can probably split this chapter into two. 

By coincidence, I'm heading to the same city as Li Yun tomorrow.