I get sent every new book Bonus books publish in the hope of a review, or maybe just to keep me sweet with the lateness of the royalty cheques they owe me.
I was a bit nervous about opening "Get The Edge At Craps" because I expected the usual pseudo-scientific crap that follows the game about. Since I also have a book in the "Get the Edge" series I feared it might be tainted by association, (as with my "Baccarat for the clueless", where a lot of people assumed I was some kind of hack/nutter simply because John Patrick published "Craps for the clueless" in the same series). In addition, the author Sharpshooter's previous association with Jerry Patterson did not augur well.
However "Get The Edge At Craps" is the best book I've read on the game, and in the GTE series, which is not just damning with faint praise. The first point that strikes you is that the book contains no voodoo at all, no progression or trending systems, and the author clearly states the futility of trying to beat the game via bet manipulation or any mathematically-based method. The second point is that Sharpshooter is clearly very intelligent, conversant in mathematics and physics.
The third point is that there are absolutely no holes in the dice control programme outlined, dice control being the main focus of the book since this is a series on advantage play. Sharpshooter takes you through from where to order a regulation craps table, to grip styles to analyzing the % advantage from dice control. This is refreshing, Christopher Pawlicki's roulette book in the same series presented some interesting teasers about roulette prediction but ultimately fell short of providing a working system, where Sharpshooter's book does not.
For a supposedly populist book on craps an unusual amount of data is presented. The math, if you accept the proposition that dice control actually works, is correct. You cannot actually lose any money at the craps tables if you follow Sharpshooter's advice since he recommends not betting at all at the tables until you have established that you have a statistically significant measure of control over thousands of rolls.
The one error I can find in Sharpshooter's approach is that he does not seem to understand kelly or optimal betting theory, which would make a colossal difference to the win rate of a bona fide dice controller.
I am still something of a Doubting Thomas when it comes to the dice control concept. I want to see the video footage Sharpshooter claims to have (perhaps a webcast could be arranged) proving his skill, or better still, watch him & his crew in action at the tables. And, I am very unlikely to ever attempt dice control at the tables myself even if it did work because it would be a poor investment of my talents, requiring a hell of a lot of profitless down-time.
Nonetheless I found the book very interesting and I will keep it around should I come across any favourable craps promotion. I am also >50% convinced that dice control actually works as a practical matter, whereas previously, while it seemed an intriguing possibility, I was <50% convinced.
