The Eight Physical Elements of Dice Control Our dice control analysts have isolated eight distinct physical elements for controlled shooting; each one of which must be done with a high level of proficiency for the player to actually gain a real-world casino advantage. The eight elements of Dice Control are as follows. Dice Pilot's Betting System First Bet Size. Playing Craps With a Limited Bankroll. Craps Etiquette Question. Playing a 'Hopping 7's' Progression with a controlled shooter. Is The Pass Line Bet The Best For Someone Who Can Control The Dice? More On Buy Bets and Craps Etiquette. Is This a Good Promotion? Dice Pilots Betting System.

Interview With The Greatest Dice Controller

By Henry Tamburin

Dom LoRiggio, known in craps circles as the “The Dice Dominator”, has turned the craps world upside down with his uncanny ability of being able to control the dice when he throws them. He was recently featured on the History Channel’s “Dice Dominator” and he has co-authored the new book, Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution! – Win at Craps Using a Controlled Throw.

1. When and how did you get started playing craps?

Throughout the late 1980s and early 90s I was an advantage blackjack player. I got interested in craps after reading several dice books by Frank Scoblete about the Captain and the Arm and I was intrigued by the idea of getting the edge at craps using a controlled throw. In the late 90s I started to practice a controlled throw and then I took a poorly designed course in controlled shooting and that got me started. I worked on the throw for six months before I really had it down. A couple of years later I met Frank Scoblete who was researching a book and we went to the craps tables where he wanted to see me roll. Well, I wanted to see him roll too. I had a half hour roll. Scoblete was impressed. Then he came right back with a half hour roll himself. Boy was I impressed.

2. Can you explain to readers how you can control the outcome of your rolls?

The game of craps is a game of probabilities inherent in two dice. In a random game, those probabilities are set in stone. However, what my fellow Golden Touch dice controllers and I do is influence which dice faces come up by setting the dice a certain way and throwing them our special way. We change the probabilities by reducing the number of sevens or increasing the appearance of other numbers.

3. What are the steps in a controlled throw?

In dice control, you have to set the dice properly, stand at the right distance from the back wall, grab the dice properly, grip them properly, and throw them softly with the proper amount of backswing so they land softly on the layout, and then hit the back wall and die. It takes practice and discipline. It is a skill that most people can achieve if they work at it.

4. The casinos require that you hit the back wall so doesn’t that make dice control impossible?

Not at all. The Golden Touch throw that Frank Scoblete and I teach and that is the subject of our new book, Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution!, must hit the back wall to be successful. If we miss the back wall the throw is usually random as one die is doing something completely different from the other die. When we miss the back wall, we grimace because now we must rely on luck for the seven not to show.

5. How long would it take an average person to learn the Golden Touch dice control technique? How does a person practice?

I am an average person; so is Frank. It took me six months of practice before I knew I had an edge and was comfortable going into the casinos to play. I practiced almost every day on a craps station that I built. You don’t have to buy a craps table but you do have to simulate one so that you can practice your throw.

6. How does a player know he is influencing the dice?

There are two methods that we use to ascertain and then calculate what our edge is. For new dice controllers, we recommend using the SRR formula – known as Sevens to Rolls Ratio. This is a way to show us in an easy formula if we are actually able to change the probabilities of the game. Using the Hardway set, which shows hardway numbers all around the dice set with the end pips being the 1 and the 6, we can see if we are reducing the appearance of the seven. The seven usually appears once every six rolls on average. If you do about five thousand rolls using the Hardway set and you find that the seven is appearing once every 6.5 rolls, then you are probably changing the game. At that point you then use the powerful software program, Smart Craps, to prove with statistical certainty that you are influencing the dice outcomes and how much of an edge you have over the casino.

7. What sets do you recommend to a novice dice controller?

The Hardway set is the best for reducing the appearance of the seven. If you wish to set for the sevens, you use a set called the All Seven set that has sevens all around the dice. A more skilled shooter might wish to try the 3-V set where you have the threes together and sixes and eights all around the dice. These different dice sets are described in more detail with photographs in my new book.

8. What bets do you make?

There are three aspects to dice control. You must practice your throw, know what your edge is, and then bet into that edge. Skilled shooters must make bets that they can overcome. If I have a five percent edge and I make bets where the casino’s initial edge is 1.5 percent, I will beat the house making those bets. If I make bad bets, like the Horn, then I am going to lose to the casino because the house edge is 12.5 percent. My edge can’t overcome the house edge. Too many would-be dice controllers are such poor bettors that they lose anyway.

9. Do you increase your bets when you win?

If you are having a good roll and you have made a profit of maybe three or four times the amount you have bet on the layout then careful pressing at times can help. However, you should always bet into your advantage right from the beginning. That is how you establish your bankroll and your betting levels.

10. What were some of your greatest dice sessions?

I had a 56 hand roll before the very first seven showed. I’ve had many hour-long rolls and a few hour and thirty-five minute rolls. With Frank playing, I went 30, 33 and 38 rolls back to back to back. Of course that day Frank Scoblete had an 89-hand roll. Even that great roll doesn’t compare to the Captain’s 147-roll hand or 100-roll hand as described in detail on www.goldentouchcraps.com. The History Channel showed me calling my numbers and that was a true account. There are times when I am so “on” that I can call what will land next. I did this six times in a row for a Travel Channel show that Frank wrote but the producer decided not to use that sequence. I am usually a very consistent and quiet shooter but there are times that I get into a zone when I am hot and I can get very loud and flamboyant. Frank says that I scare the younger stick people when I “go crazy.”

11. How often does a skilled dice controller win?

The number of winning sessions is not as important as whether you are winning money overall. Most hands are not winners for a dice controller, just like most at bats are not hits for good hitters. If you have three winning hands every 10 turns with the dice you will make money. A player who establishes a point and sevens out can only lose his initial bets but those hot rolls can win multiple bets over and over so the good to great rolls will make you a lot of money.

12. How accurate was the History Channel show (The Dice Dominator) about you?

The show put me in with a dice control team at the beginning of my career and that the classes they taught were actually to get members for their team. Not so. That team bet low stakes and I was never involved with them. Also, most of the players on that team were not really all that skilled so that was inaccurate. Both Frank Scoblete and I discussed the Captain, the man who started all this dice control stuff in the modern casino, and his partner the Arm for several hours with the producer but none of that appeared in the show. However, the show did portray accurately how I am in a casino and the work I put in to the developing of my skill. Frank Scoblete, unfortunately, was portrayed as someone who was a lowlife instead of someone with three master’s degrees who is a real gentleman.

13. Why are your Golden Touch Craps dice control classes so popular?

It is better to play with an edge than without an edge. We have the best dice controllers teaching our classes. They have all gone through a rigorous training program and they have demonstrated their edge on Smart Craps and in the casinos. The word of mouth spreads and all our classes are sold out by the time we conduct them. We have a ratio of four or five students per teacher in our classes so you are paying for intense and I mean intense personal, hands-on training.

14. What are the common mistakes dice controllers make?

The first mistake is to overestimate your edge. The second mistake is to bet that overestimated edge, which means you will lose money or win very little money. The third mistake is to not practice. No skilled athlete goes into intense competition without practicing his skill. Pitchers warm up; hitters take batting practice almost every day.

15. What words of advice do you have for players interested in becoming dice controllers?

First read Frank Scoblete and my book The Golden Touch Dice Control Revolution to see if you really have the discipline and stick-to-the-task attitude. If you are interested in learning the skill from great dice controllers then consider attending the Golden Touch Craps dice control class.

16. Frank Scoblete rated you as one of the top four dice controllers he ever saw in a past issue of Casino Player. How do you see this?

Well, Frank is the best one I ever saw. Of course, I never saw the Arm or the Captain shoot, although I have talked with the Captain and our throw is modeled on his throw. There are great shooters in our Golden Touch group and our students get to see them shoot the dice when they take our class – that is an eye-opening. The bottom line is, once again, playing with an edge is better than playing without an edge.

Dice Control Guides

Dice Control, also known as dice setting or controlled shooting is an advanced form of craps strategy. Some could say it is cheating but technically it is just a type of skill that players can use. It is similar to how players use card counting to gain an advantage in blackjack, except players use dice setting techniques to gain an edge in craps. Dice control takes a lot of skill to do and the casinos have a lot of obstacles to hinder the technique.

Basic tutorial for setting the dice

The whole point of dice control is for a player to consistently roll the number that they want. You are trying to build up a fine skill similar to throwing darts or bowling. It is something that takes a lot of practice in order for it to work perfectly. There are all kinds of different strategies that players can use that involve different methods of holding the dice and which fingers you use.

There is some formality to dice setting that players will need to know before starting. These will just be general guidelines for players to follow. If you become serious about dice setting, you will quickly learn that you may do better by deviating from the general guidelines in order to perfect your setting technique and every player just plays differently and is better and certain strategies than others.

Dice Control Bone Thrower

First we will start off with the three main concepts of dice setting:

• Hand and Finger Grip
• Dice Alignment
• Throw and Delivery

Grip and handling the dice

The first thing players should do is learn to do is handle the dice in their hands. Basically, this is a combination of the way you grip your fingers around the dice, known as dice grip and how the dice are aligned in your hand, known as dice stacking. Most dice stacking techniques are dependent on which numbers on the dice are next to each other in your hands. I put two links below to other craps coaching sites so you can look at some visual instructional pictures of how you grip the dice. When I get my camera, I will make some pages here with more techniques. Some of these techniques are told to be illegal!

Some basic tips for proper gripping is to not grab onto them too hard. In fact, many experts say that the results turn out better the less often you are touching the dice. What you want to do is to be able to have good control over how the dice spin, but you want to keep minimum contact with the dice. When you throw the dice, you want them to spin in synchrony with each other. The friction and 'stickiness' of your fingers can disrupt the balance of the dice along the axis that you throw them. So the less your fingers are in contact with the dice and the less pressure that you exert, the more likely the dice will stay in synchronous spin.

Not only do you want to put little pressure on the dice, you want to put equal pressure on each dice. Ideally, you want to 2 body system of dice to throw as if you are throwing a single rectangular block. The goal is to not have that block break into two pieces as you throw. You also do not want empty space between the two dice when you throw, make sure both of them are touching together solidly, but remember not to squeeze them too hard or apply too much pressure. These gripping techniques will improve your strategy greatly.

Alignment of the dice

Once you got your grip down, you will want to align the dice properly with the table and in your hand. You will be standing on one of the long ends of the table where you will throw down the length of the table. This length is known as the fore-aft axis. The narrow portion of the table (the width) is known as the left-right axis. The height of the dice above the surface of the table is known as the vertical axis.

In order to align the dice, you should use the straight lines displayed on the table. These lines usually make up a systematic grid of squares, rectangles and right angles that are already aligned with the sides of the table. You can use these lines as a system of reference when aligning your dice. Typically, players do not need to worry about aligning the dice with the left-right axis, but the fore-aft axis is the most important as well as the vertical axis.

The first thing you want to do is make sure the dice are level and parallel with the surface of the table. In order to do this properly, it is a good idea to practice by lowering the dice to the table to see if they make square contact with the table. If a corner of the dice touches the table before the other sides, then you are doing it wrong. You want the entire combined surface to touch at the same time. To sum it all up, you just want them level with the table! It may take some practice to get it down good.

Delivering the throw of the dice

One of the rules of the casino is that the dice must be thrown far enough to bounce off the opposite wall of the craps table booth. Many times the dealer will make players re-throw the dice if they do not make contact with the wall. In the past, players could just throw the dice onto the table without hitting the wall and land on certain numbers really easily. The requirement of the dice hitting the wall is used to ensure that a larger factor of randomness is applied to dice throws. To make things even tougher, these padded walls usually have triangular pyramid surfaces or bumps along the sides of the craps table. These are designed to produce even more randomness so that the dice bounce off at different angles. Even these tiny peculiar features that many people would never think of will have major purposes and consequences! You want to eliminate this randomness with dice control.

Ideally, you want to minimize how much the dice move after they touch a surface. You also would prefer the dice to stop rolling immediately after they hit the wall and prefer them not bouncing too hard. Again, the goal is throw the dice and have them spin on an axis together, as if they were glued together as a solid piece. Depending on what type of player you are and your technique, you can be pivoting your wrist, fingers, elbow and shoulder. The less complicated the throw, the less problems that can occur.

One thing to remember is that you should throw the dice in a straight line. If you pivot your shoulder when you make a motion, the dice tends to follow a path of an arc. Players can correct for this by rotating the wrists or making corrections with the elbow. A thing to watch for is when you pivot with the elbow. This sometimes looks unnatural and you never want to do something odd that will draw attention from dealers or employees at the casino.

Tips and advice for dice control

As I stated above, you do not want to get caught by dealers. Technically, dice control is not illegal in casinos but they can still throw you out or ask you to stop playing at the craps table. So the general advice is to not get caught or make yourself too obvious!

Probably the best tip I can give is to just throw the dice straight and get them to spin on the same axis as if they were a single solid piece. If you can get this down good, you will become an excellent dice controller and you will have 95% of the job done. Don't worry about trying to get the grips perfectly with the pictures or trying to throw them exactly like the guides say. It doesn't matter how you do it, if you can throw them so they spin together, than that is it, there is no secret way of doing it.

Now for a few smaller tips for when you are practicing. Watch out for your thumb when throwing the dice. One of the leading causes of the dice breaking apart in midair is the thumb getting in the way or touching the dice right after they leave your hands. You want your thumb to lose contact before the fingers.

Another big problem is having sweaty hands and fingers. This causes them to stick to the dice and cause too much friction when they are thrown, which almost always causes them to break apart in the air. To get rid of this problem, you should wipe the perspiration on your fingers off on your clothes right before throwing. Some pros put chalk in their pockets as a way to dry off the fingers and to be used as an antiperspirant. The problem with chalk is this can usually be spotted by the dealers. Alcohol has also been used by players as well. The main goal is to get your fingers dry before throwing.

Dice Control In Craps

Something known as a backspin is used as a way to prevent random movement of the dice after they hit the wall. It is also acts as a counter to forward motion. This is actually a very advanced technique but the basics are still simple. If you can throw a backspin while keeping control of the axis of the dice, you should be just fine.

If you are going to try setting the dice and get into dice control, you do not want to get caught. So the advice is to look as natural as possible and not to look guilty and nervous when you start playing or else the dealer is going to pick up on the tells you are giving off. A good tip is to be social and talk to other players in order to get attention off of yourself. Also handle the dice naturally by bouncing and jiggling them around. You do not want to look like you are handling the dice in a systematic and in a 'step by step' textbook fashion. You just need to get so good at it that the whole process is done in a single toss of the dice and no one thinks anything of it.

Finally, the best advice I can give is to practice and practice and then practice some more! You should be doing this at home. First just do some basic stuff like gripping the dice, aligning them level and properly and just throw them on a flat or felt surface. You don't even need to throw them far, just get them to land on the correct numbers that you are trying to throw. Once you can just do this, then start moving up a notch and throw them across the length of a craps table. Eventually you may create or build your own craps table or buy a felt mockup of one to really master it. Then just make your throws like second nature and make it look like it takes no effort and you'll be able to really become an advantage player! The key is to start off basic and simple and practice your way up to become an expert. Remember, a player with good dice control is much harder to catch than card counting, so you could go for years and years without ever worrying about getting caught once you become good enough at it.

If you were curious about craps cheating, you can read our article and learn about cheating at craps. Also learn about fixed dice that can be used to cheat at craps.

Dice Control

Dice Control Sets

Play craps online at Cherry Jackpot.