FAQ

Q1: What do I get for my money?

A: My book, The Secret to Craps, is 157 pages (excluding the title and back pages, table of contents, and list of figures), printed on 8.5" x 11" paper, and bound with a GBC-style coil. The title page and back are card stock. A plastic sheet covers the title page for added protection. The coiled spine allows for easy page turning and provides protection against page slippage and tearing. The font size and style of the body are 12 point Times New Roman. I used Arial font of varying points in the illustrations. See the sample chapter included on this website to see how the printed material looks. Additionally, I'll include my email address so you can contact me with questions, provide input to the book, or to simply share your craps experiences. I offer one year (from the date of purchase) of free consultation by means of email.

Q2: I'm a beginner, so does this book teach me the basics? I'm an expert, so does this book teach me anything I don't already know?

A: My book is targeted to craps players of all experience levels. Even experienced players will find themselves eager to soak up every drop of knowledge in every chapter. Whether you're a novice or an experienced player, this book teaches you everything you need to know to be a knowledgeable player. Armed with facts instead of false hope, you'll be a strong weapon against the casino.

Q3: How much does the book cost? How much do I have to pay for the book, shipping, and whatever other costs are involved?

A: $25.00.

Q4: How did you determine the selling price?

A: I totaled the cost of printing and compiling the book, postage, delivery confirmation, and profit. The printing cost is $13.00 per copy. The local printer gives me the best discount when I buy 10 copies at a time, so I always buy a minimum of 10 to keep my selling price as low as possible. The printing cost includes the cost to print and punch holes, cost for the binding coil, cost for the plastic protective sheet, cost for the card stock, and the cost to put it all together. The Priority Mail postage rate is $6.05. Delivery confirmation is $0.60. I set my profit at $5. Therefore, $13.00 + $6.05 + $0.60 + $5 = $24.65 (which I rounded up to an even $25.00). As you can see, although the cost is $25, I make only about $5 per copy. Please realize that investing $25 in the knowledge you'll learn from this book is peanuts compared to what you can lose at the craps table if you don't know what you're doing or if you blindly follow some shyster's system that claims you'll consistently beat the casino. $25 is a small price to pay compared to what you'll save at the craps table.

I accept cash, but it's best not to send it in the mail because you'll have no guarantee or record that I received it.

Also, please ensure you include your mailing address and that it's legible. If I can't read your address, I'll write "VOID" on the face of your check or money order and file it away (in other words, if I don't send you the book because I can't read your

address, then I won't cash your check or money order).

For international buyers, I accept only cash in U.S. currency (i.e., $25.00 USD). Please ensure your return address is legible.

Q6: Why do you accept only checks or money orders? Why don't you use an online transaction method such as PayPal?

A: I wanted to keep the website cost down so I could keep the book's selling price down. I'd rather sell a lot of books at a lower price than sell a few books at a higher price.

Q7: If I send you a check or money order in your name, how can I be sure you'll send me the book?

A: You must rely on my integrity. Rest assured that, if you send a check and it clears, I'll send you the book.

Q8: Why do you have a post office box for your ordering address?

A: So my wife doesn't nag me about all the mail being delivered to our home address.

Q9: Why do you use Delivery Confirmation?

A: It's my receipt that the book was delivered to you.

Q10: Why didn't you publish your book with a publishing company instead of selling it on the Internet?

A: I contacted four major publishers of gaming books. I struck out with all four, not because my book isn't written well (judge my writing for yourself by reading the sample chapter included on this website), but for one of three reasons:

1) A publisher wrote the following in his response to me. "Blackjack players buy books. Texas Holdem players buy books. But I'm sorry to report that, from our experience, we've decided that craps players don't buy books." He also said that their latest craps title was one of his worst sales disasters in recent years and that they have several thousand copies in their warehouse collecting dust. Therefore, he's no longer interested in publishing craps books.

2) My book doesn't sell dreams of getting rich and beating the casino out of ga-zillions of dollars. My book is an honest, detailed explanation of the game. It describes how to maximize your fun and walk away with something left in your pocket.

Ever notice how most craps books (and gambling books in general) try to persuade you that the game can be consistently beaten simply by following some variation of a betting scheme that's been handed down from book to book? You live in a fantasy world if you believe those claims and cling to hopes of being a consistent winner. Reality is that the game is designed for you to lose, plain and simple. The challenge is to learn the optimal mix of smart play and betting action that gives you the most fun and excitement while not losing your shirt. Making disciplined, smart bets gets terribly boring after 10 minutes. Maximizing your fun by putting too much money in play at once kills your bankroll after 10 minutes. The challenge is to learn the right mix of variables that allows you to stay at the table for hours and still have lots of fun. Unlike most other books, my book doesn't promise big winnings. My book doesn't take advantage of your hopes and dreams of consistently hitting it big. Instead, my book explains the reality of the game. The bottom line is that, in the gaming business, hopes and dreams sell books; reality doesn't sell squat. Because my book is based in reality, the publisher didn't want it.

3) Because my book is based in reality, it debunks most other craps books already on the shelf. If word got out that there's no such thing as a consistently winning system and that dice setting is a load of bologna, what do you think would happen to the sales numbers for all those books that promise you'll get rich by following their wacky systems? That's right. Their sales would plummet. Some publishers have multi-title authors that regurgitate the same nonsense from book to book. A publisher can't afford to lose sales from all those different titles so it's not worth it to the publisher to put my book on the market.

Q11: Why don't you either self-publish or use one of the many print-on-demand (POD) companies?

A: I'm not that hard-up to see my name on a paperback glue-bound book. After researching the PODs and self-publishing methods, it appears that the only copies an author typically sells are those to family and friends. Generally, book sales associated with PODs and self-publishers appear to be quite minimal (there are exceptions, of course). The POD companies appear to make the bulk of their money from set-up fees instead of book sales, and they appear to prefer it that way.

Reading the many forums and message boards, too many people have experienced headaches and nightmares dealing with POD companies. As I said, I'm not that hard-up to see my name on a paperback book and, to me, it's not worth dealing with those difficulties. To avoid all that, I decided to simply create my own website and try to sell it on my own with no hassles, no headaches, and no nightmares. If it sells, then great. If it doesn't, then that's okay, too.

Q12: I don't know if I want to spend $25 for a craps book. Is it worth it? Why can't I just buy a craps book at the bookstore?

A: $25 is nothing compared to what you can lose without the knowledge learned from this book. You can lose $25 playing craps literally in the blink of an eye. Heaven only knows how much you can lose over several years of playing, especially if you follow the dreams of winning big that other books promote. If you can stomach losing thousands of dollars over your craps-playing life chasing a bogus dream of consistently beating the casino, then a meager $25 surely isn't a big price to pay. If you're going to play craps, this is the best $25 you'll ever spend. Other books don't go into the "how" and "why" of the game. Other books don't explain how to optimize your smart play, fun, and excitement. Other books prey on your dreams and false hope of consistently beating the house. Yes, you can go to the bookstore and pay less for something else, but you won't get what's in this book. Remember the old saying, "You get what you pay for." Read the sample chapter and you'll understand that my book tells it like it is without selling you a load of crap (pun intended).

Q13: What makes you qualified to write a craps book?

A: I'm a United States Naval Academy graduate, former Marine Corps officer, and I currently work for the Department of Defense performing reliability engineering on new Defense acquisition programs. As a reliability engineer, I routinely work with numbers and probabilities. I'm fascinated with statistics. Maybe that's why I love craps. Throughout my career, I've had many technical papers published in a variety of professional journals. I enjoy writing but never thought seriously about writing a book. One day, I woke up and the kids were grown. I rolled out of bed and found myself with spare time. I started making notes and eventually compiled them all into this book. Of all the subjects in the world for a book, why craps? The saying goes, "Write what you know, what you love, what you're passionate about." For me, that's craps. I'm not planning to quit my job in hopes of making it big selling this book on the Internet. Unlike some other authors, I didn't write the book with the intent, "How can I write this thing to sell the most copies?" If I had, I would have followed the common formula of focusing on selling false hope and get-rich-quick dreams. Instead, I wrote the book to explain the game in reality. Throughout the book, I remind the reader that, over time, the house is going to win, not the player. No consistently winning craps system exists, has ever existed, or will ever exist. Don't ever let anyone persuade you otherwise. All craps systems are simply combinations of bets supplemented with wacky betting schemes. Most sound impressive, scientific, and feasible. Some are simple, some complex. The fact is, no matter what bets you combine and what betting patterns you apply, you can't overcome the house advantage. No hedge-bet method (i.e., combination of bets) will ever change the negative expectation to result in a player advantage. The best you can hope for is to minimize the house advantage and maximize your fun. I wrote the book to explain in easy-to-understand terms how to accomplish that goal.