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Interview With The Greatest Dice Controller

The entire Craps players call the 11 as “Yo-Leven”, or just “Yo”. Amongst the Craps games, Yo bet is one of the worst. The odds are the best bets on the board. Till now, the most extended Craps Roll ever recorded was more than four hours. Some tips to acknowledge if you are about to play Craps. Patricia Demauro set a new record for the longest craps roll, hanging on for fourhours and 18 minutes at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Borgata officials say shebeat the previous record by one hour and 12 minutes. They say Stanley Fujitake ofHonolulu, set that record nearly 20 years ago in Las Vegas.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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 hou

Greatest Craps Roll Ever