Dear
Mark,
If you were limited to making just one bet in a casino
and had a limited budget, what would it be? Bo T.
Too easy, Bo. Since one
of my greatest passions is open wheel racing (CART),
my one wager would be on the Indianapolis 500, sitting
in a sportsbook for three hours sipping free cocktails
and watching grown men (and woman, Lynn St. James)
making left-hand turns wasting methanol.
The general public may not share the same fixation
for boredom, so I would recommend plan B, a pass line
wager on a craps game
. Three specific
reasons come to mind. First, it’s a wager with
a small house advantage (1.4 percent). Second, though
playing perfect basic strategy at blackjack or video
poker drops that casino edge even lower, a pass
line bet requires limited (actually zero) knowledge.
And finally, if you ask any craps player, Bo, they’ll
tell you craps is truly the fastest, most exhilarating
game in the casino.
With low table minimums and a modest pass line bet
on the layout, I would agree.
Dear Mark,
Recently I was on a crap game where the dice were
rolling numbers for eight hours. Not non-stop, but
it was a player’s game and I just couldn’t
leave. Good thing I didn’t. I bought in for
$100, played just like you recommended (pass line
bets with odds, placing the 6 and 8), and walked
out eight hours later with $3,400. I thought your
readers might appreciate that every now and then,
even the small-time player, has a night worth remembering.
Clark D.
Bosses give you the
heave-ho, relatives disown you, friends forget you,
but an unbelievable night on a crap game, ah, that
lasts forever. Thanks for sharing, Clark.
