Per this claim can you really influence the roll of the dice?
If I could genuinely affect the way the dice rolled, I’d be playing craps, not writing about it.
Well, I can say for certain you CAN control dice, without weighting them, to a degree. In D&D if I have to roll a D6 (your standard dice), as long as I surreptitiously orient it beforehand I can increase my odds of getting a 1, 2, 5, or 6 (or 1, 3, 4, 6 or any other combination that falls in a “line”) by rolling a certain way, I can increase the odds of me getting a 5 or 6 by controlling how much force I put into the roll. It’s far (very far) from perfect, but you can have a small amount of control at least… and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could hone it to increase your odds further, but I doubt you can control it to the degree your quoting is making it sound like they can.
They demonstrated this on TLC or the Travel Channel or something like it. Basically you have to hold the dice in your hand just so, and then you have to throw them just so, and if you do it perfectly, you’ll get the roll you want. They had a guy on the show who claims to have perfected the technique. He said that he’s taken all kinds of money from the casinos, and that anyone can learn it.
I call shenanigans, for two reasons: 1) I seriously doubt that any human being has that kind of motor control; and 2) If someone were taking the casino for a ride, he’d have been spotten and banned, and the casinos would have instituted some kind of work-around so no one else could reproduce the feat.
Was the guy who was describing said skill actually showing his face?
If he was, automatic shenanigans call and he doesn’t get to make a savings throw…
Isn’t it required that your throw bounce off the far wall of the craps table? I would think that would put a major spoiler on whatever control you might have had over the dice as they left your hand.
My thought too. Since you must hit the far wall (which is not smooth) I cannot possibly see a way to control the outcome of a dice roll.
I suppose if you oriented the dice just so, and threw them just so, and hit the far wall in exactly the same spot then maybe. But as noted above I’d be shocked if a human could reproduce such fine motor control over and over again. Even a teeeny bit off in any of it will change the outcome.
3rded … I lived in Vegas for quite awhile. Everything I’ve ever seen /read on dice control assumes you can roll them across a flat surface all the way to a stop. And the casino’s rules universally prohibit that. Years ago bar backrooms & impromptu games might not have known this, but any professionally run licensed casino learned this lesson 50 years ago.
I’ve seen amateurs (or folks trying hard to look like amateurs), roll the dice out flat. The croupier declares a no-roll & admonishes the player. If they rolled flat again, they’d loose the dice to the next player & the pit boss would have a polite but pointed word with the former roller.
I’ve never seen what happens when it’s their turn with the dice again & they roll flat again. But I bet it includes leaving the casino.
I’ve seen craps tables with a built in ridges in the middle of the table to prevent the “flat rolls”. The casino insists that a roller hit the back wall, while rolling.
My technique, for whatever it is worth, is grab the dice with 5’s up, and one die orientated with the one-six to the side, and the other die has 3-4 on the sides. Ideally I can make one die tumble end over end and the other tumbles randomly. The probability of a seven is less if I can do it that way. My wallet does not bear that out much. 
The rule in casinos is that the both dice must fly through the air and bounce off the back wall of the table. That wall is made of rubber covered in many little pyramid shapes, specifically designed to randomize the action of the dice.
Dice control systems all depend on the assumption that a player will be allowed to ignore that rule. Without going into whether or not a person can develop such precise motor skills, I can tell you that even if you can, you will not be allowed to use them.
The first time you throw the dice and they don’t reach the wall or fall dead in the corner of the table and the wall, the stickman will say “Bounce them off the wall, please.” A second short roll will get the same instruction in a much more curt tone and will likely get the attention of a boss.
Try to keep it up and the stickman will knock the dice with the stick and shout “No roll.” Depending on his patience and your appearance (scammer or tourist), after a couple of short rolls you will either get a small lecture from the boss and one last try, or the boss will tell the stickman to pass the dice to the next shooter, who will finish out your turn then be allowed to begin his own turn. As the crew of dealers rotates around the table, each incoming stickman will be told by his relief that you are not allowed to shoot the dice.
You can stay, you can play, you can complain, but when the boss says you can’t shoot the dice, it is over … and you will reach that point very quickly, perhaps in only two or three rolls.
I once heard my niece doing the one potatoe, two potatoe, my momma told me etc. thing, to try to garner the first turn in a game, I explained to her that it was an easy fix, and telling her that rolling a single die was foolproof, she no longer does it. She was only 5 at the time, but I like to think it was a life lesson she learned, and when her her little brother tries it, she corrects him straight away, and makes him roll the dice. I even bought her her own dice with her name on it. It’s Vegas baby.