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Dice Sliding in Craps

There are plenty of methods that people use to cheat at casino games including chip placing, working with dealers, and using electronic devices to manipulate outcomes. But one of the rarest casino cheating methods includes dice sliding (a.k.a. scooting), which is used by skilled craps players to make profits. In fact, it was only until recently – when two poker pros used dice sliding to win $700k – that many people even realized craps scooting existed. Assuming you’re interested in learning more about this cheating method, here is a quick look at the details.

Dice Sliding Basics

One reason why dice scooting is rare is because it takes so much skill to pull off. The process of sliding involves positioning one dice so that it’s face-up on a desired number (usually six), and sliding it with the same hand that you roll the other dice with (the thrown dice should hit the backstop). The idea behind this is that, because one of the dice is being slid, you always guarantee the outcome of one half of the roll. When done correctly, the only dice combinations you have to worry about with this technique are 6/1, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4, 6/5 and 6/6.

As you can see, this dramatically cuts down on the amount of combinations that craps players have to worry about, and gives them a sizable advantage over the house. This is especially the case with field bets where four of the six possible dice combinations (6/3, 6/4, 6/5 and 6/6) result in winning field bet numbers. Assuming the casino offers double or triple payments for a 12, a dice scooter gains an even bigger edge over the house. If the conditions are right, a skilled slider could have as much as a 66.7% advantage!

In addition to placing field bets, many dice scooters also make hop wagers, which are one roll bets made on a single dice combination. Normally these wagers have a very small chance of winning, but when you eliminate so many other dice combos, hop bets are much more inviting. Furthermore, if you make a hop bet on 6/1 and 6/2 along with a field bet, you cover all of the possible combinations that could be rolled with dice sliding.

How Realistic is Dice Sliding?

While dice scooting sounds like a dandy little cheating method for craps players, the reality is that few have any success with it. That’s because sliding takes lots of practice before one can successfully scoot a dice across felt while rolling the other. If you’d like to see how dice sliding is practiced, you can watch this video of professional gambler/ex-casino executive Bill Zender.

Even when you perfect the skill of scooting, you still have the casino personnel to worry about. After all, sliding is very easy for an experienced craps crew to recognize, so most players have accomplices involved when they scoot dice. The role of the accomplice(s) is to distract the casino workers while the slider scoots their dice down the table. While this all sounds very difficult to pull off, some people have actually managed to accomplish dice sliding and win money.

Poker Pros turned Craps Cheats

Perhaps the most famous example of someone successfully making money with dice scooting involved Argentinean poker pros Leonardo Fernandez and Veronica Dabul. The poker couple played craps at the Wynn Las Vegas over a varied time span, and they managed to win $700,000 in profits.

Needless to say, this big winning streak drew some suspicious from the Wynn and they reviewed the security tapes. What they found was that Fernandez and Dabul were sliding dice while a few seemingly anonymous players aided them by distracting craps dealers. The helpers would place bets or talk to dealers when Fernandez and Dabul made their throws. After the Wynn alerted authorities, the duo was arrested and held in a Las Vegas jail for a few days. Eventually, they were sued by the Wynn Las Vegas for the $700k as well.

Legality of Dice Sliding

Just by reading Fernandez and Dabul’s story, you can see that dice sliding is illegal in the eyes of both casinos and courtrooms. Furthermore, sliding is not even close to craps controlled shooting, which can result in the casino kicking you out, but not successfully having you jailed. Dice scooting is considered one of the most blatant craps cheating methods available, and we highly advise against trying it in a casino. After all, why spend hours practicing something that the casino can successfully sue you for?

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