The Dice Dominator
History of Dice Control
by Dominator
Breaking Vegas – Dice Dominator. Just found this documentary about Craps which for me was very interesting, but for those that have been around this niche for awhile this story will be old news. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. Dominic LoRiggio, the 'Dice Dominator', was able to throw dice in what appeared a normal way but so that they would land on certain numbers. This was done by understanding how dice travel thorough. Give him a call at 866-Roll-Dice (866-765-5342) About Dom. Dominic LoRiggio is known as 'the Dominator' in gambling circles and in the past several years he has made a gigantic impact on casino craps gambling with his Golden Touch™ Craps™ dice control and Golden Touch™ Blackjack classes and seminars, which he teaches.
I think people on this site should know exactly how dice control became such a hot topic and the 'in' thing for intelligent craps players to learn as a winning craps strategy and also where GTC fits into the scheme of things.
In 1991, Frank Scoblete published the book Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos: How to Play Craps and Win! This book was written in 1989 and 1990. Beat the Craps recounted the adventures of the Captain and his Crew of high rollers, including the greatest dice controller of all time (according to Frank) known as the Arm, during the 1970s and 1980s.
It was the Captain who coined the term 'rhythmic rollers' to describe players who were changing the nature of the game by their controlled throw of the dice. In Beat the Craps, the Captain described the basic controlled throw that many of us now use – the soft roll that touches down at the end of the table and dies upon contact with the back wall. Frank followed How to Play Craps and Win! up with The Captain’s Craps Revolution!, which was published in 1993. In that book, he has an extensive discussion of dice control and why it is a winning craps strategy for strategic players. Frank’s books were written and published long before Zeke Feinberg’s books, Yuri’s book or anyone else’s book on dice control.
In the mid-1990s, Jerry Patterson created the PARR seminars – the Patterson Advanced Rhythm Roll – and sold these craps seminars on how to play to the public. Sharpshooter soon joined him and between the two of them, they developed the PARR course that many of the current certified GTC instructors first took. The members of the GTC group worked as coaches for several years in PARR to hone their own skills.
During this same time, Frank Scoblete and Sharpshooter gradually developed a professional and friendly relationship. Sharpshooter wrote for his magazine Chance and Circumstance, and Frank helped to publish two of his books, the latest being Get the Edge at Craps: How to Control the Dice. We can legitimately say that because of Frank’s books, dice control was placed on the map. And we can safely say that there would be no PARR, no Dominator, no Sharpshooter and no dice control books by other writers had Frank not opened the door to this kind of thought and playing method.
We can also say that without Jerry Patterson, no one would have thought to create seminars that taught this skill, as both Frank and the Captain were content to use it with little fanfare, although Frank did write about his adventures. We can also safely say that without Sharpshooter the skill would not have been brought to a higher level of development through the application of science and mechanics.
Several of the coaches had the opportunity to play with Frank in the casinos during this time and, as most of you by now know, he impressed them, as his roll is beautiful. Frank had ideas about how to improve upon PARR, as did the coaches and Sharpshooter. These included certifying our teachers through knowledge and performance testing, and breaking down the controlled throw into its eight primary physical elements and sub-elements. We all worked together to create Golden Touch™ Craps and our hands-on teaching of 'the method.'
I say 'the method' because what we teach in GTC in regards to how to play is the method that was first developed by the Captain, independently refined by PARR and Sharpshooter, and now strengthened even more by Frank Scoblete, Sharpshooter and our GTC certified instructors. We can now say - and we say this with the Captain’s blessings - that we are teaching the most powerful dice control method in the world, the one that is in the direct line of descent from the Captain to us.
I hope this sheds a little light on the subject of dice control, the who, what, when, where, why and how of it all!
Yours truly,
Dominator
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.
- 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?
Dominic The Dice Dominator Loriggio
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.
The Dice Dominator
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.