Pair-a-Dice Lost: Experiments in Dice Control in Craps

This paper presents our findings of a series of experiments that test whether it is possible to control dice outcomes in the game of craps. In earlier research we calculated the percentages of control a craps player needs to break even or beat the house. Using the most common practices of dice control in craps, we established how dice should be configured (i.e., set) to achieve certain outcomes such as not rolling a 7 in the points cycle. We decided to take our research further and run experiments to see if a dice throwing machine that mimics the biomechanical properties of expert craps players (e.g., overhand grip, back spin, 45-degree angle of throw etc.) could achieve at least a break-even level of control. Using the machine (named “Lucky Lil”) on a 6’ foot craps table we filmed dice throws using a Phantom® high-speed digital camera captured in 4K resolution. After initial tests we calibrated the machine and recorded 6,100 craps throws. This paper presents the results from these experiments