Golden Touch Craps
Stop Minding My Business
by Frank Scoblete
I am not a busybody. My wife, the beautiful A.P., has to remind me all the time of our neighbors names. "Thats Mrs. Kyle, next door." "Thats the retired NYC police detective Mr. Grimes across the street." "Mrs. Millicent had her fifth daughter last month."
I just dont connect to them and while I remember their faces, what the heck are their names? Forget about knowing what they do or did to make a living, or how many children they have. Except for my own grandchildren (adorable little kids), all other kids look more or less alike to me. Truthfully, I dont have much of a fondness for "other" kids either.
On our early morning walks through our beautiful village on Long Island in New York, my wife knows just about everyone and gives them cheerful greetings, while I nod hello, pretending to know them too.
"Who was that?" Ill ask when the person passes.
"Thats so and so," shell say. "She lives on Wright Avenue in that big blue house."
"Oh," Ill say and then totally forget that person and his or her big blue house after my next eye blink
I do not pry into anyones life, including that of my family or friends or business partners. You want to tell me something, Ill listen; ask me for advice, Ill give it. The only time I push my ideas is when I write about gambling, which is part of my career after all. So, as you can clearly see, I am not one to jam my advice down anyone elses throat.
At the gaming tables or slot machines, I never interfere with the way people play. Its their money to bet as they wish whether those bets are advantage-play bets, smart bets, not so smart bets, or absolutely stupid bets. I write therefore I am is true, but I dont mind other peoples business, which is just as true.
So why am I subjected to that which I dont subject other people to? In my real life I always have people prying into my business. "How much money do you make writing all those books?" "Are you a degenerate gambler?" "Is A.P. as pretty as you say she is?"
At the blackjack and craps tables, though, is where busy-body-ness becomes so offensive that I have, at times (and I am not proud of this), lost my normal calm composure and told people to go f uh, to go fly a kite, so to speak.
At craps I use the 5-Count; a method developed by the Captain of Craps, my mentor and the greatest craps player who ever lived, to reduce the number of random rolls one faces and put one in a position to take advantage of controlled shooters and/or big rolls. Indeed, the 5-Count cuts down the number of random rolls you face by a whopping 57 percent! (Go here: www.goldentouchcraps.com/proof.shtml) Yet, I will have players turn to me and say, "How come you arent betting on every shooter right off the bat? Whats your system?"
Of course, I tell them (politely) that I have no system, I just bet when my instincts tell me to bet. Thats a lie but it usually shuts them up.
Some others will know I am using the 5-Count and they will loudly proclaim to the entire planet Earth, "You know that 5-Count garbage just doesnt work!" Some will take into their confidence in their overbearing, loud voices the box person and the floor person. "Hey, you people, do you think that 5-Count stuff really works?" The box and the floor person invariably snicker. How stupid can anyone be to use these tools?
At times such as these I feel like taking the stick from the stick person and doing something obscene to the loud mouth.
Unfortunately, blackjack is the game that brings out every false expert who has ever lived! For some peculiar reason, blackjack players, even the worst ones who have no idea of basic strategy, think of themselves as truly gifted strategists who must tell everyone else at the table how to play their hands. Worse, they must tell you just as you make your decision why that decision is good or bad. Worse still, they must tell you in such a loud voice that everyone on this side of the Atlantic Ocean is now fully aware that you dont know how to play the game.
"How can you hit that 12 of yours against the dealers two?" they shout.
"You are doubling an eleven against a dealers ten? That ten is a power card!"
"Whoever told you to split eights against a ten? That is a dumb move!"
To these loudmouths I would like to grab a handful of chips and well, you can finish that thought.
For those of you who wish to take my advice, it is simply this: Mind your own business when you play; dont give advice; and try to ignore those whose loud voices are attempting to change your smart casino play.