Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     The trip from Houston to Biloxi, which was the same charter deal that got us out there, went relatively smoothly. We checked into Beau Rivage, got a little rest, then tried to play, just prior to a dinner reservation we made at Stalla, an Italian restaurant in the casino. Unfortunately, both the blackjack tables and the craps tables were full, so I just waited until after dinner to play. And dinner was very nice, and the service was superb.

     It was after dinner was when the gambling began. I first played blckjack, and was met with an absolutely HORRIBLE table! It was like, I was doing most, if not all the right things, but I still ended up with losing hands. I lost $1000 when I left the table. I then went to the craps table, and things started off pretty much the same way. I did have two decent shoots from the the left inner corner (the only spot at the craps table that was open). I first tried the Yo-Yo dice set, when I shot 8 times. My second time around, I switched to the Hardway dice set, shooting the dice toward the opposite corner, where the dice would break up. I shot 15 times doing it this way. I did get a good chunk of my money back at the craps table, but after I crapped out, I was mentally drained, and I didn't feel like going through any more of this. So I took a $230 loss at the craps table, for a $1230 total session loss. I sure as hell didn't want to start off my trip like this!!

     Meanwhile, Mrs. MusicalDice was tearing it up on the slots, getting two big wins, one for just over $1000, and another one for over $2200. How the hell does she do it?! Maybe I should consider playing slots!

     After breakfast, still at Beau Rivage, I decided to return to the tables, thinking things would be different this morning. Fortunately, they were. First of all, at the blackjack table, I won $75 on a pretty choppy table. Then, I went to the craps table, where I started off playing conservatively with progressive Come bets on a shooter that was a dice-setter. Hoping for repeat numbers, you know. He did make a few points, after each one, there was this woman on the opposite end from where I was standing, who always said "Ring my bell!" whenever he made a point. Of course, me, being Mr. MusicalDice, couldn't resist sharing with her some trivia I know about the song by Anita Ward. More importantly, even though my Come bets went to bad numbers (4 and 10), they both hit, and I had some wiggle room for me to make some Place bets. I managed to win $103 at the craps table, for a total session win of $178. I definitely needed this win!

     Later on in the morning, we went to Golden Nugget, where I first played blackjack. After winning a few hands in a row, the table started to turn south, and I left $112.50 ahead before it got worse. Then I went to a craps table, where I was the only player there. Normally, I'd be standing at Stick Left 1, but lately, my best shoots have been from the end, so instead, I stood at Left End to shoot. This was a $10 table, and my initial strategy was 88 inside, regressing down to 44 inside after two hits. This worked out just well enough to get out of the hand, and win $34, for a total session win of $146.50. Okay, let's see how much more red ink I can erase.

     The same strategy I did at Golden Nugget, I also did at the Hard Rock, our next stop. I got off to a somewhat shaky start at the craps table there. Again, I was the only player, and I shot from the Right End, using the Yo-Yo dice set, like I did at Golden Nugget. My first shoot, I got exactly two hits, enough to regress to 44 inside from 88 inside, but I think I lost a little, since I also had to make a Pass Line bet, since I was the shooter. For that reason, I played pretty conservatively on my second shoot. But this was the shoot that I had the longest shoot of the trip. All I did was concentrate a little more on keeping my arm straight as I shot straight down the Come, making sure the dice hit the back wall. I did some cutting up, even though I was the only person at the table the entire time. I ended up shooting 29 times, enough to make my Best Craps Shoots Hall Of Fame page. I made $288 at this table--obviously, I would have made a lot more, if I'd been more aggressive. But I still was very happy with the results.

     After a most delicious lunch at Shaggy's, my wife and I went to the Palace casino. This time, it was someone else doing the shooting, and I went back to the Progressive Come betting strategy. Fortunately, enough of the Come bets hit, so I could place a few additional bets before the shooter crapped out. I made $62 at the table. I added $75 to that for a total session win of $137. I could now say that I'd eliminated more than half of my deficit on this trip.

     From there, we returned to Beau Rivage, where we got some rest. Then I played one more time before dinner. I first played blackjack, and at first, I thought it was going to be a repeat of yesterday evening, because things were not going well at first. But this table was a $25 table, and not a $50 table like yesterday. And things did eventually turn around JUST enough for me to get my money back, plus what I call a min-win of $12.50. Then I went to a craps table, where someone else was the shooter, and I did my Progressive Come betting strategy. When I put my third Come bet out there, a yo was the next roll. I knew then that I'd gotten into the profit, although it wouldn't be for much more. I left that table $35 ahead, for a total session win of $47.50.

     Now I'll be the first to admit, individually, these wins may not seem like much, but they do add up. I ended up winning a total of $797 today. I'm only down $433 for the trip now. Hopefully, I can erase the rest of this red ink tomorrow.

     This day's gambling began at the Palace casino, where my wife and I first had breakfast. I then played craps, where I initially got off to a rocky start, for my first shoot ended up in an early crap-out. Nobody else did anything noteworthy, but fortunately, when I got the dice back for a second shoot, I managed to get my money back, using the Yo-Yo dice set from Right End. I won $39, but it was a struggle getting that back.

     Little did I know, this would be the theme for ALL my table sessions today!

     It was a big struggle at the blackjack table as well. Fortunately, in this case, as I got my money back, I won a few hands in a row, and left the table $137.50 ahead, and a total session win of $176.50

     From there, it was to the Golden Nugget casino. I first got into a blackjack game, where it was a huge struggle to get my money back. In fact, at my lowest point, I was down to my last two green chips! It was quite a battle, but I won this one, finishing $100 ahead when I left the table.

     Perhaps my drawn-out battle at the blackjack table had drained me mentally, for I couldn't do a DAMN thing at the craps table. My shooting had gone by the wayside, and although a couple of shooters had gotten me close to getting my money back, it wasn't meant to be here. I lost $358 at the craps table, for a total session loss of $258.

     We then went to a shopping center where the Biloxi locals shop. There, we had lunch at Chick Fil-A. Then, Mrs. MusicalDice did some shopping at Michaels and Five Below. I thought some time away from the casinos would do me some good, and help me get focused again.

     However, that seemed to have the opposite effect. From there, we went to the I.P. casino, a casino that had previously been very nice to me. But the script was definitely flipped this time! I first went to the craps table, where I initially stood at Stick Left 1. I thought that might be a good thing, since that's usually my favorite spot at the table. But every time I shot the dice, nothing but early crap-outs. I then tried moving to Left End, and using my Yo-Yo dice set, which had worked so wonderfully just yesterday at the Hard Rock. Nope! Early crap-outs in this case too. I eventually left that table $498 down.

     Lastly, I tried playing blackjack, the game I have the highest win percentage at. But it clearly wasn't meant to be, as in the first shoe of the double-deck, the dealer had FIVE F**KING BLACKJACKS!!!! How do you come back from that? I almost did, but things went south again, and I decided that enough was enough, leaving the table $537.50 down, for a total session loss of $1035.50. OUCH!!!

     We had a nice elegant dinner at Morton's Steakhouse (at Golden Nugget), but in all honesty, by that time, I was ready for this whole trip to be over with. I lost $1117 today, and ended up down $1550 for the trip. Still, I did enjoy myself, and so did Mrs. MusicalDice. When we returned to our room at Beau Rivage, I just crashed.

     First of all, let me break down what my results were: I lost $525 overall playing craps. I lost $1025 overall playing blackjack. I didn't play poker on this trip so I didn't lose anything there. Hopefully, I'll do better on my next trip.

     So what's next, as far as gambling trips? My next gambling trip probably won't be until next month, when me and Mrs. MusicalDice go to Lake Charles.

     I do have a Vegas trip planned for June 8th to the 12th. And after me and Mrs. MusicalDice arrived home in Houston, Mrs. MusicalDice got another offer from Beau Rivage for us to come out June 17th to the 21st, so we booked that too. Stay tuned for all of this in the future. Until next time.