Does practice at home make any difference at all?

[dork]

I've been practicing on and off for ~6 years but the last time I touched the dice was Aug23. In Sept I bought a VR headset and needed to convert the craps table space to exercise.

The last time I played was August 2023... but I was asked to drive some older relatives to the Palace casino during a visit to Miss'ippi this last week. Here's how it went... 1030am, and I'm the only shooter; within 10 minutes, another shooter joins me, he's a RR--shake, shake, and throw.

I'm using the stingy conservative Heatseeker because 1) I haven't touched a pair of dice since Aug23, 2) I'm just the driver, and we're here for the buffet (promised to meet in one hour), 3) I only have $500 and bought in with $400. I'm betting the Heatseeker on myself--$10 PL, with two $10 Come bets, no Odds until I win twice. Up and down, up and down, in 4 hands I lose 10, win 20, then win $100 betting the Don'ts against the RR (10 DP, 10 DC, 10 DC and Lay 30 3x when the third point is established) I'm up ~$120. I win another $40 Heatseeking myself, and another $100 DP/DCing against the RR. But my own hands seemed to settle down--I've struggled in this session to find a dice set; V3 seems to be yielding 40% trash, V2 won't give me a signature number--but then the dealer pushes the dice to me 5/1 top with V3 facing me. On a lark, I take them and throw a 5/1 six. I stay with this set and that's how I won the $40 Heatseeking...

After my second DP/DC win, I'm up ~$250, so I set the 5/1 - 3/3 and $10 PL. Point is 5, $20 Odds and $46 Inside (18/18/10). I held the dice for 40 minutes. Three Hard 6s, two Hard 8s... I never expected a good hand, so I didn't keep count of the place numbers I hit with my 6-white-chip-system. ARGH.

Anyway, there were constant disruptions--in separate intervals, 4 more shooters ALL threw money in as I was at least gripping the dice. Stick changed because of a personal emergency call, twice arguments over payoffs, at least four times someone stopped me to late bet with tossed chips (we're playing on half a table). TWICE, I got tapped on the shoulder by the people I drove (they don't know... they meant well. First the elder aunt, "we've decided to meet next to the kiosk at 1130". Then her husband 10 minutes later with the same message.) ARGH. Once a guy tossed 3-5 chips at the dealer and "missed" spewing half the place bets; we had to stop and figure out what we had across the boxes. A real amateurs' table. All through it though, I remembered my training... step back, ignore it all, and wait til the stick says we're ready.

So with all these energy draining events, I was constantly either turning off my bets (as were two other players) or regressing (once for each tap on the shoulder). So my bets never got above a 3x press (I'd regress to a 2-unit bet after the 4th hit)... but I won ~$1150. I left ~150 in tips (hardway wins for the crew).

And so to my question... all the dice practice I didn't have at home... during the first 20 minutes at the casino, I "practiced" fishing for a dice set and "randomly" came up with the 5/1 top, X3 facing and it "proved" itself in a stingy Heatseeker and then "again" in a 40-minute roll. I've never practiced that combo (turned once facing) but I did have enough experience (I think) to "recognize" that something change in my delivery, the set, fortune or whatever so's to start with intent on a hand with a "regular" optimistic betting scheme. I DID have enough experience to bet correctly (despite the regressions and turn-me-offs because of EDEs). I mean, I walked away with $1,000 after tips--the shooter who first joined me bought in with $200. He had ~$80 when I started my run, and he had ~$140 by the time I 7'd out. Soooo... I've learned how to bet reading this forum.

I've never had results at the casino that duplicate my home practice--oh, sure, I've had winning sessions, but my sig numbers at the casino aren't the same, I seem to spread across all the place numbers almost randomly at the casino (once in a while favoring the 4 & 10 even with a V3 variant dice set). So I guess my question is, does practice at home really help at all??

p. s. during all that, I never hit an ALL. No Tall, no Small, nuffin. I'd bust those unfortunate bettors during the COs--though I never repeated a 7.

[heavy]

Yes.

[heavy]

Great trip report, by the way. You hit on ALMOST all of the reasons why I don't play at that property.

[wild child]

dork
That "Axis aka Axle " for me produces a high percentage ( % ) EVEN NUMBERS.
My experience with
SIX (6) (4) FOUR TOUCHING ( Kissing Faces)
parallel
as does ONE(1) (3) touching ( Kissing Faces).....

YOU DONE GOOD
Wild Child

p s : My opinion ..... driven by my experience on Mississippi Gulf Coast casino visits
Palace offers an over the top BUFFET /perhaps rivaled by the buffet at Treasure Bay.....
Both are populated by locals

Also, my opinion the Ms Gulf Coast gambling emporiums top the LAS VEGAS experience .

[220Inside]

I agree with you WC, both on the quality of the Palace buffet, as well as preferring the gaming experience of Biloxi over Las Vegas. In fact, Las Vegas is now in third place for me behind Biloxi and Black Hawk.

[dork]

I should apologize for my post being all over the place--I wanted to use my session experience as an example for others to critique in regards to my long layoff/returning to the table with tentative caution but intent/tiptoeing with a HeatSeeker methodology/to having success with a completely untried dice set--and no feel at all for whether it was previous practice or sheer luck.

ONE thing was glaringly obvious--and I remember my first time on a craps table, betting by the advice of a "liable" dealer (for my profit/loss outcome)--when I won ~$60 on a $2 table during an hour-long hand by a RR... THIS time, through this website and Heavy's classes, my betting though regressed several times because of EDEs made vastly more money than my counterpart's $60. Though I still wonder if practice (with the dice) had any influence on my session.

And I should point out that though this session seemed like mostly 'synchronicity'--we were there really "only" for the buffet. I agree; the Palace has got the best buffet on the Coast, and my companions agree. They go to play for half-off lunch prices, and I drive'm. The win was extraneous and fortuitous.

They've got the best ribs we've ever had in five states. My life's quest has been to find the best ribs (not slathered in BBQ sauce; only a cook who can't uses BBQ sauce) and the best Long Island Iced Tea bartender I could find. The Palace's BBQ cook has it locked except for Herman in Purvis, MS. But since 1981, I've only found 3 bartenders who can make a LIIT that is truly dangerous--and tastes literally like a non-alcohol sweet iced tea (and that's with an "every-Friday-nite" search pattern that dates from 1981-2003).

Thanks, Guys!