• Appendices
• Craps Analysis
• Miscellaneous

• Dice Control Throwing Aces
• Dice Throwing Technique Craps
• Dice Control Throw
• Youtube Dice Control

Introduction

One of the most frequently asked questions I get, and certainly the most frequent about craps, is whether dice setting is for real. Publicly until now I said I never saw enough evidence either way and had no position. Privately I was more skeptical. However in May 2004 Stanford Wong, whom I have enormous respect for, attended a 4-day seminar on dice setting and as a result reversed his position and gave what I think could be said is an endorsement. Shortly afterward I saw him at a social function and asked him about it. He obviously did believe that some people can influence the dice but that is was very difficult and something few have mastered.

Wong's comments inspired me to take dice setting more seriously. I had previously been in communication with Frank Scoblete and Larry Edell on the subject, suggesting that I be allowed to observe some top dice setters for myself. Both were agreeable but due to scheduling problems nothing ever came of it. Until recently I also lived within about one mile of dice coach Beau Parker so there was no good reason to keep avoiding the experiment. So after playing phone tag we finally met on July 22 with three other dice setters at the Bellagio.

Before starting Beau explained that dice setters are not able to control every single throw but only influence the dice towards certain numbers. At a 3-4-5x odds table the house edge is only 0.374% so it only takes a slight influence of the dice to overcome that house advantage. However a slight influence could take thousands of rolls to become obvious over the normal randomness of the game. So we both agreed one session was unlikely to prove anything.

As I emphasize on the topic of Internet casino cheating the proper way to make a case for a non-random game is to set up a hypothesis first, then gather data, and then statistically test the data for how well it fits the hypothesis. So I asked Beau what I should be testing for. He said on the come out roll that I should test for winning rolls of 7 and 11, and on all other rolls to test for rolling anything except a 7. Following are the specific results. Each come out roll begins a line.

Parker Experiment Results

Date	Casino	Shooter	Rolls
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Beau	7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Beau	2
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Beau	6,8,6
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Beau	8,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Debbie	11
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Debbie	2
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Debbie	6,10,5,9,3,3,12,5,9,5,8,6
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Debbie	11
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Debbie	10,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Pablo	7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Pablo	7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Pablo	5,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Michael	10,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Beau	4,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Debbie	6,3,4,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Pablo	9,2,4,6,8,4,2,10,5,8,5,5,11,8,6,2,8,7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Michael	11
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Michael	7
July 22, 2004	Bellagio	Michael	4,6,7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Beau	6,7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	8,11,6,6,9,4,10,6,6,7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Michael	6,6
July 22, 2004	Westin	Michael	5,4,5
July 22, 2004	Westin	Michael	4,5,12,4
July 22, 2004	Westin	Michael	9,7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Beau	7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Beau	7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Beau	9,6,5,8,9
July 22, 2004	Westin	Beau	6,11,4,3,7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	5,6,3,11,6,6,5
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	12
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	11
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	5,9,8,4,8,11,5
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Debbie	6,7
July 22, 2004	Westin	Michael	10,7

'Dice control' or 'dice setting' is an advantage play technique used in craps to set and throw the dice in such a way as to make the dice more likely to land on certain numbers. Skeptics assert that controlling the dice in this way is practically impossible, but notable gambling experts like Michael Shackleford and Stanford Wong seem to give some credence to the notion that this might be possible. Efficacy of Dice Control “Dice control” is a bit of a misnomer, because even the most dedicated proponent of the technique will say that reliably rolling a particular number or numbers is next to impossible; the preferred term is dice setting, as the goal is to set the dice in a particular way before and during the throw so they land in a way to minimize 7s.

The next table summarizes the results. The sample size is too small to perform any robust tests. However just an eyeball test shows the results are thus far close to expectations in a random game. So clearly more testing needs to be done, and is planned for.

Parker Experiment Summary

Dice Control Throwing Aces

Event	Number
Come out rolls	37
Come out wins (7 or 11)	11
Expected come out wins (7 or 11)	8.22
Non-come out rolls	79
Non-come out win (non-7)	65
Expected non-come out win (non-7)	65.83

For more information on dice setting or professional lessons please visit Beau Parker'sdicecoach.com.

Stanford Wong Experiment

In August 2004 debate was raging at Stanford Wong's site bj21.com about dice setting. The discussion could be found under the member's only Green Chip section on craps. A professional gambler there challenged Wong to a bet. The terms of the bet were whether precision shooters could roll fewer than 79.5 sevens in 500 rolls of the dice. The expected number in a random game would be 83.33. The probability of rolling 79 or fewer sevens in 500 random rolls is 32.66%.

I was asked to be a monitor for the event, but was out of the country at the time. However I did make an $1800 bet on the over with a well known gambling writer. The dates and locations of the event were kept very quiet, and were not being made available to the public. The shooters were Wong himself and someone known only as 'Little Joe.' According to Wong, the experiment went well and not one roll was called dead nor disputed by the two sides of the bet present at the event. The following table shows the results by shooter.

Wong Experiment Results

Dice Throwing Technique Craps

Shooter	Total Rolls	Total Sevens	Percent Sevens
Wong	278	45	16.19%
Little Joe	222	29	13.06%
Total	500	74	14.80%

Congratulations to Wong on winning with five sevens to spare. The probability of rolling 74 or fewer sevens in 500 random rolls is 14.41%.

Internal Links

• How the house edge for each bet is derived, in brief.
• The house edge of all the major bets on both a per-bet made and per-roll basis
• Dice Control Experiments. The results of two experiments on skillful dice throwing.
• Dice Control Advantage. The player advantage, assuming he can influence the dice.
• Craps variants. Alternative rules and bets such as the Fire Bet, Crapless Craps, and Card Craps.
• California craps. How craps is played in California using playing cards.
• Play Craps. Craps game using cards at the Viejas casino in San Diego.
• Number of Rolls Table. Probability of a shooter lasting 1 to 200 rolls before a seven-out.
• Ask the Wizard. See craps questions I've answered about:
  
• Simple Craps game. My simple Java craps game.

Written by: Michael Shackleford

Since there cannot be any other winning strategy in craps except through a dice strategy, a lot of dice control techniques have been put forward as keys to winning at craps. But 1996 ushered in a new era in craps method of dice control—the PARR dice control strategy.

The Patterson Rhythm Roll or PARR was developed by Chris Pawlicki and Ferry Patterson. It's been one of the most effective dice control every devised for craps. The motions principle of Physics was somehow applied to dice throwing so that it would yield more predictable outcomes. The thing here is that over a period of throwing the dice repetitiously in a certain way or motion technique, there would be a certain constancy in the dice result eventually.

Dice Control Throw

The PARR dice control has a ratio of 1:6 dice result; the losing result will appear only once in six tries. Thus, the losing sevens has a slimmer chance of appearing with this throw technique than if we just throw the dice randomly without any throwing motion tactic. The PARR technique claims, with sufficient time of practice, we can greatly influence the dice result through the manner in which we throw them. The frequency of the dice winning result is called Sevens to Rolls Ratio or SRR.

The dice faces are arranged in such a way that a sum 7 can be possible in more ways than one. The bad news is that 7 is frequently a losing number. The trick then is to lessen the occurrence of a 7; if possible, make the chance of a 7 merely once within 7 throws, or an SRR of 1:7. When this becomes possible, then we plan bets accordingly. In this way, the casino odds are said to be rendered ineffective.

With an SRR of 1:7 made possible by a physics principle of arm and body motion and the exact estimated force to propel the dice and considering the bouncing factor, the next thing to have is the right grip with the hand. All this should have a consistency each time a throw is made. Along with this came special dice sets that are designed to yield certain dice results.

Youtube Dice Control

Accordingly, PARR technique combinations of the right throw motion, grip, and set of dice really result to an almost perfect dice result accuracy, even done several times, as was witnessed in an actual demo by the SharpShooter.

Craps method of PARR dice control is good to practice for a game said to be won purely by luck.