“Scoblete’s new book depicts the real world of dice influencing about as accurately as Hogan’s Heroes depicted life in a World War II German POW camp.”
That was my initial impression of Scoblete’s new book which I posted on the message board a fhttps://i9bet.trading/ew weeks back. Now I’ve had a chance to re-read the book a couple of times and fully digest it. Fortunately, I acquired one of the pre-release copies of the book, gratis. I would have had a SERIOUS case of buyers remorse had I actually paid $24.95 for this 315 page hard cover dog.
My complete review follows.
I read a lot. I spend an hour and a half each work day on a train, so I go through books quickly. In my library, I have probably 40 to 50 books on craps specifically or gambling in general. In all the gambling books I’ve read, I can unequivocally say that no matter how poorly written or conceived the book was, I’ve always found some redeeming quality in the book. The Craps Underground is the exception. If a good gambling book is like a delicious filet mignon, this book is more akin to the stuff they feed people on the TV show, Fear Factor.
Let’s start with the ENTIRE title of the book. The Craps Underground – The Inside Story of How Dice Controllers Are Winning Millions from the Casinos. Pure, unadulterated hype. For arguments sake, we’ll assume that “Millions” means something more than one or two million, ten million would be a reasonable starting point, and it’s at least implied that it also means millions in net profit. Last spring, Frank Scoblete estimated that there are fewer than 200 skilled “dice controllers” operating in the US. By doing a little division, that would mean on average, those 200 dice “controllers” are taking down $50,000 in profits, each. Except for a few rather well bankrolled shooters, there is no evidence that the average dice controller is showing that kind of profit. Yes, many dice influencers are consistently profitable but the title alone, and I’ll repeat myself here, is unadulterated hype.
So, now let’s get into the book a bit. Chapter one opens with Scoblete having a marathon winning session with the dicecoach, Beau Parker. Here’s how Scoblete describes the session with the dicecoach,
“…seven glorious hours shooting dice with a fellow dice controller and newfound friend known as the ‘Bodacious One,’ Beau Parker.”
This session, and these warm expressions of friendship for the dicecoach occurred just a few months prior to the formation of GTC. I’ll get back to that later.
Let’s dive a little further into this