How to switch altered dice into and out of a craps game

The smooth trading of honest dice for altered ("gaffed") dice is a famously difficult move. Not many can do it successfully... especially in front of a potential lynch mob.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two pair of casino dice, preferably in two different colors
• A small, enclosed table-height area that allows you to throw aggressively without chasing dice or causing damage

1. Familiarize yourself with the following terms. If you're going to try being a goniff, you might as well talk like one:
   
   BUST (IN and OUT): The act of getting your altered die or dice into the game.
   
   GAFF: A cheating device or alteration of anything in the game... sometimes the rules.
   
   MISSPOTS: Dice which are simply numbered wrong. Not for the faint of heart, but a fairly sure way to get the money.
   
   PERCENTAGE DICE: So named because they sway the long term advantage to the cheat's favor without drawing attention. "Percentage dice" tend to show some numbers more than others, against what an honest pair would show. Almost all gaffed dice, with the exception of misspots, are "percentage dice."
   
   STRONG WORK: A gaff that is designed to severely alter the ways the numbers come up. Gutsy, but sometimes useful for the short term.
   
   SPLITTERS: Dice that are gaffed to avoid certain groups of numbers. A favorite example of this type are "field splitters." A splitter can be just one die of the pair.
   
   TOPS AND BOTTOMS or "T"s: Misspots, or dice with altered faces, on opposite sides. These can be used to "kill" numbers over time.
   
   WORK: Any alteration of a die. "Work" is broken down into "inside work" and "outside work." Alterations inside the die might include loads of mercury, gold or uranium, or ceramic magnets, or hollowed areas. Outside alterations might include bevels or "sawteeth" along certain edges, polished and sanded faces, misspots, convex or concave faces, rubber cement, misshapen cubes, or even Coca-Cola. (Coca-Cola is particularly handy because the evidence can be rubbed off in short order.)

2. Absorb and understand the advice an old-time dice hustler told me many years ago, as he fingered his several-times-broken nose... "be prepared for the beating you know you're going to get."

3. Figure out how you are going to find out what dice are going to be used in the game, and obtain an exact duplicate set but with alterations.
   
   If you are the operator of the game, this part is easier.

4. Now get used to holding your hands and arms naturally with a pair of dice in your shooting hand. The best way to do this is to watch other shooters... notice how almost all shooters go back, then forward with their hand and forearm, ending the throw with an open hand, almost always underhand. This is the same behavior casino surveillance operators look for. You must develop a personal style that looks like everyone else, but with three or four dice in your hand.

5. Practice holding two dice between the base of your thumb and the heel of your hand. The trick here is to avoid curling your thumb over your palm. Work on keeping the back of your hand as flat as possible. This may make your hand muscles ache, but not as much as when they stop a swinging chair leg. Alternate with just one die in your hand. You may need to bust in only one die.

6. Now for the actual throw. Holding the dice in your palm hiding spot, take the honest dice up off the table using all of the lengths of your fingers. That is, do not pick the dice up with your fingertips. Practice picking them up down the fingers towards the second knuckle. Do this swiftly, and immediately jab your hand forward in an underhand, rolling motion. Ths will release the gaffed dice from your palm, leaving the honest dice trapped in the curve of your fingers.

7. Practice leaving your fingers in the air for just a split second TO CREATE THE IMPRESSION that you have released the dice and now have an empty hand. But bring your hand back and get the dice down into whatever hiding spot you thought of before this point.
   
   A diversion is helpful. Players who hover too close can be backed off by recklessly waving a glass of something odorous like beer towards them. A dark beverage can also be used to hide the dice; this is a nice move because it appears you are simply switching to your drink hand, the way many shooters do. Furthermore, in a pinch, you can drink the dice. (You think I am kidding, but they are your kneecaps.)
   
   However, diversions are like bluffs in poker; one, maybe two in a night is plenty. Better that you blend in and keep your extra movements to a minimum.

8. Busting dice back out of the game is essentially a reversal of these moves. However, this may be done by a confederate. You may be working for him, or he may be working for you. In any case, it is a risky proposition to put in AND remove the same pair of gaffs. The trick is to get the honest dice to the point on the game where you want them to go back in. Another favored move is to simply skip putting them back in, and instead plant them on or near another shooter. If and when they are discovered, his blustering and protests rarely appear genuine, so shocking is the discovery. And you may chuckle harshly into your beer.

Tips & Warnings

• As much as you can, study the natural movements of an average person with a pair of dice. Keep this quiet... don't walk around with a pair of dice asking your aunt to get up from her knitting to throw for you.
• Spend time with a pair of dice concealed in your hand. A matter of months is not too much time to get your hand used to holding them naturally.
• You may need help checking what you threw. This is where a second color of dice comes in handy.
• At the game, have a buddy make the actual bets you intend to win. Cut the money up with him later.
• Be prepared for the dice to defy your plans, unless you have put in very strong work. Don't bother busting in a pair of gaffs if you have $120 in front of you.
• Never, ever, ever, ever show off your new skill... not to your girl, not to your mom, nobody. Never show off a practice throw. Never wise up the mark(s).
• If you are the operator of the craps game in question, punch a 9 and a 1 into your cell phone. That way, when the mob comes over the game at you, you only need press two buttons for salvation. Check your reception first.
• Be aware that actual criminal charges may arise from your shenanigans. While most police will tell you that such charges rarely see the courtroom, they can be used as a wedge on you to spill all the details of the party. Plus, many jurisdictions take a dim view of fraudsters of any stripe, and have plenty of old laws on the books from Prohibition and such.