Craps Dice Control Guide: Shooting Craps Like a Pro

In this guide, you'll learn the ins and outs of the game from Bill Collins, a seasoned dice influencer who has spent years perfecting his craft and mastering the art of craps dice control.

So, if you want to know how craps dice control and dice setting works, you’re in the right place! 

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• Dice Control vs. Dice Influencing
• Understanding Dice Control Basics: Best Dice Sets and Perfect Rolls
• Craps Dice Setting Chart: Understanding Dice Grips
• Using Dice Control in Your Craps Strategy
• Expert Advice: Developing Your Own Dice Control Technique
• My Dice Control Strategy

So, get ready to roll the dice and join this exciting journey toward becoming a craps master.

Dice Control vs. Dice Influencing

Nobody can effectively control the dice, letting them roll specific numbers on demand.

Still, by developing a repeatable toss through tons of practice, you can get to where your dice stay on the axis (rotating straight forward together at the same rate) more often than the expected 44.44% of your tosses. 

My experience is that’s enough to turn losing into winning a great deal of the time. 

Though there are plenty of doubters and nay-sayers among craps players.

Understanding Dice Control Basics: Best Dice Sets and Perfect Rolls

Once you have developed a highly-trained repeatable toss, there are certain dice sets you can learn to use that win specific bets more often than expected. 

That should give you a player’s edge on that particular bet when tossing that particular dice set when your toss works as it should.

Dice Axis Sets to Favor a Desired Toss Outcome Explained

For a come out roll, when you are trying to hit a winning 7, the suggested set would be on the 61 - 61 axis set, with those numbers on the sides of the dice. 

For example, the 35-42 set, has 7’s showing on all four sides of the dice: 34 on top, 52 on back, 43 on bottom and 25 on the front. 

If both dice finish on axis, tossing a losing craps with this set is impossible.

If you want to hit 6 and 8 the most, the 52-61 "V-3" axis sets work. 

The 14-54 set from that axis has 15 on top, 44 on back, 51 on bottom and 33 on front of the dice. And there are only two ways to toss a 7 if both dice finish the roll on axis.

If you want to hit the four outside place numbers the most, the 43 - 61 axis sets work. 

The "Mini-V axis" set, 24-21 has 22 on top, 41 on back, 55 on bottom and 14 on front. And there are only two ways to toss a 7 if both dice finish the roll on axis.

The Cross-6’s sets, on the 45-52 axis, are said to be good for hitting the field numbers.  

The 65-46 set has 46 on top, 56 on back,13 on bottom and 21 on front. And there are only two ways to toss a 7 if both dice finish the roll on axis.

What is the  “Perfect Roll” in Craps?

The perfectly influenced dice toss has the dice remaining side by side during flight, rotating straight forward together and at the same speed through about four total rotations. 

If the dice stay on their horizontal axis after they stop, there will only be 16 possible dice set combos as results instead of 36 for random. 

If the dice also rotate perfectly in sync with each other and roll straight back after hitting the back wall, only one of the four pairs of numbers seen on the dice around the horizontal spin axis, the numbers on top, in the front, on the bottom or back of the dice, will be rolled. 

That means you should concentrate your bets on those most likely to roll numbers to increase your chances of winning.

Tossing the Dice at Random: Is there any difference?

If your toss or grip is off even slightly, the dice may go off course with one or both dice rolling out to one side, not going straight; or one die may fly higher or ahead of the other die. 

Or the dice may splay apart in different directions after hitting the back wall if a die strikes the wall other than head-on. 

If any of these happen, you again have 36 possible roll results for that toss. The fewer possible roll results for a toss, the easier it is to win if you are betting to your expected advantage.

Craps Dice Setting Chart: Understanding Dice Grips

There are many different ways that dice setters and dice influencers grip the dice to toss them, with each grip having its own name. 

When advantage players find that their toss is off and no longer working like it usually does, many choose to go to a professional dice coach to have him figure out what’s off with their toss and how to correct it again.

Sometimes it’s something straightforward to correct, but the shooter usually has incredible difficulty fixing his now-faulty toss on his own.

Two Finger Grip

Thumb and first or second finger grip on the opposite side of the dice, where the dice meet, with even pressure on each die.

Three Finger Grip

Three fingers, evenly placed about a third of the way down the front of the dice, with the thumb on the back of the dice.

Ice Tong Grip (tossed from table’s end)  

Thumb and first or second finger lightly grip the outsides of the dice like a pair of ice tongs grips an ice cube. 

I keep my grip at the front-outside edge of the dice, on the sides, with my thumb and finger pushed down to where they both touch the table surface. 

Upward forearm swing, with dice resting on the tabletop, puts the spin axis through the bottom front corners of the dice, creating backspin sufficient enough to keep my dice on axis while they fly the 14 feet to the back wall.

Stacked Grip

One die is put on top of the other, making a vertical dice stack, and held there with a finger on top while the toss is made. 

The idea with this grip is for the top die to freeze the bottom die on impact, still showing the number on top of the bottom die after the toss is complete. 

Using Dice Control in Your Craps Strategy

Your craps strategy can greatly benefit from using dice influencing. Here are 5 dice control tips to help you improve your game.

Tip 1. Set Specific Goals for Each Roll

I block out everything except me griping the dice, sighting my landing zone, and tossing the dice to that landing zone the same way every toss. It is like when Olympic athletes enter their “mental zone,” where they are in their little world to try to perform beyond their perceived capabilities. 

If you are thinking about your bets or otherwise distracted, that near-perfect toss is much harder to achieve.

Take care of trying to make each toss perfect, and it will take care of you.

Tip 2. Betting Strategies Based on Knowledge of Craps Dice Control

I’ve spent several years perfecting my own craps spreadsheet that tells me, according to what my last 1,000 tosses have been, which are my most money-making tossing sets (all 576 ways to possibly set a pair of dice) for any bet I might want to make.

It ranks each tossing set for each different bet sorted in descending order on how many dollars each would have won me over those same 1,000 tosses, based on my best always working on come-out rolls and only flat betting the same total amount for each bet. 

Those specs give every tossing set an even playing field to compete fairly against all the other possible sets. (Talk about thorough, it even shows me what each toss would have been for every one of those sets.)

My toss logging spreadsheet includes about 30 different bet strategies

I can choose to make that have won me from $33.46 to $9.46 on average for every toss over those 1,000 logged tosses. 

It also ranks my top 5 tossing sets for each bet.

Check out my craps dice control chart:

This gives me an advantage most players don’t have. The lesson to be learned is to remember what betting strategies and tossing sets best match up with each other for your toss.

Tip 3. Managing your bankroll effectively

Don’t bet too big for your buy-in if you want to win regularly. Your total bet shouldn’t exceed 10 percent of your buy-in. And never try to win big without enough ammo to get the job done because when you run out of bullets, you are done! 

Tip 4. Knowing when to quit

Should you experience three quick losses nearly back-to-back, it might be a good time to leave, as you don’t want to end up digging a hole to China. You’ll hate yourself later.

Tip 5.Staying calm and confident

If you allow yourself to get rattled at the craps table, you make winning that much harder. It’s true. Scared money doesn’t win, nor do rattled players usually win.

Expert Advice: Developing Your Own Dice Control Technique

Now, let me share with you some of my insights as a professional dice influencer:

Developing a Consistent Throwing Technique

When it comes to practicing and perfecting your grip and toss, quality is more important than quantity.

Try to make every toss as perfect as you can. 

You are attempting to create what’s called “muscle memory” with your toss so that it becomes automatic and highly repeatable. And that doesn’t happen in a week or two, either.

You’ve got to stick with it until you succeed. 

It helps if you have an actual casino-grade craps table to practice on. Many build their own from scratch for a few hundred dollars. 

Just make it as close to casino specs as possible. You can start with a tossing station and a dice receiving box to toss into.

I’d advise building in a chip rail that you have to lean over to toss because that changes how you have to toss at the casino.

Importance of Practicing and Experimenting with Different Grips and Releases

Feel free to experiment with different grips and releases to find what feels right and comfortable for you, giving you the toss results you are looking for.

Everyone’s different.

How Different Table Conditions Can Affect the Dice

You can practice and get good on your practice table without paying the casino to learn, but you’ll have learned how to adjust your toss to fit the table conditions you encounter during casino play.

You’ll soon learn that bouncy tables require a gentler and lower toss than a hard table. You might have to slightly alter how far down the table you toss the dice to get the results you’ve gotten on your practice table at home. 

It’s a necessary skill you’ll acquire as you play.

My Dice Control Strategy

I track my dice-throwing success rate in excel while shooting craps in practice sessions.

I keep separate toss logs for every practice session I play. 

I am always watching how much my average winning per toss, my return-on-investment percentage per bet decided, and my rolls-to-sevens ratio is. 

That info tells me how well my toss works at any moment. 

Hey, if my stats are off, I stay home and wait until I can improve them before going back to the casino because I go there to win, not for entertainment.

Years of daily practice and dedication have allowed me to grow a one-time $400 buy-in into a sizeable dedicated craps bankroll that helps me not to worry about buying in for $2,000 a session.

It would have been more by now, but I spent several years playing with a small buy-in while just trying not to lose; instead of playing to win, like I can do now that I have a lot of comfortable money behind me.

Conclusion 

Now that you’ve learned how it actually works, you may consider giving craps dice control, setting and influencing an honest try. 

It certainly isn’t easily or quickly mastered.

If it were, everyone would successfully be doing it. If you do try, I highly recommend checking out the Craps Academy.

You can start learning and mastering the rules of craps and basic betting before you move on to more advanced betting strategies. 

Remember, you need to learn to walk before you try to run; otherwise, you may trample face down in the mud.

There’s a saying among craps players: “All betting strategies work until they don’t!” 

Keep it simple while you learn, as you don’t want to overload your mind with betting strategies while your attention needs to be on making your next toss the best toss you’ve ever tossed!