baffling – squiggles,
designs, numbers, symbols. Checking out the action
at a craps table can be frightening – it’s
a game with its own unique and extensive language;
it own rigorously imposed customs and superstitions.
And a gazillion bets, mostly bad. Yet, stripped
of its makeup, language and dress, craps is plain
and simple. The shooter places a bet on the Pass
Line and is given the dice; this is called the “come-out”
roll. He wants to roll a 7 or 11, instant winners;
avoid the 2, 3, or 12, instant losers, or establish
a “point,” that is, one of the following
numbers: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10. If he establishes
a point, he must hit that point before he rolls
a 7 in order to win. If he rolls a 7 before he rolls
his point, he – and everyone who bet on the
Pass Line – loses. That’s the game. Add
to the Pass Line bet the Come bet, which is made
after the point is established, and follows the
exact same rules as the Pass Line bet, and you have
the two best bets of the game. Yes, you can complicate
things by throwing in the Don’t Pass/Don’t
Come options but we won’t as only a tiny minority
of despised players approach the game from this
angle. Suffive it to say that if you are starting
to play craps for the first time, you’ll be
nervous enough at the table. You won’t need
the other players glaring at you which is exactly
what they’ll do if you play the Don’t
Pass or Don’t Come. Pass and Come are good
bets as the house has an approximately 1.4 percent
edge on each. What does such an edge mean? Simply
that for every $100 wagered on the Pass or Come,
you long-run expectation will be a loss of $1.40.
Not too bad. That edge can be further reduced by
taking “odds” on the point number. The
odds is a bet that can be equal to or more than
the amount you have on the Pass or Come. If you
are betting $5, and the casino where you are playing
allows double odds, you can place $10 in odds behind
your Pass or Come bet. The house pays this bet off
at “true odds” and therefore has no edge
on the bet. Making that Pass Line and Come bets
and backing them with odds gives you a solid mathematical
approach. There are also some other good betting
options. You can “Place” the 6 and/or
8 in multiples of $6 and, if you win on either,
you’ll get paid $7. The house edge on this
is a low 1.5 percent. In Vegas and Mississippi casinos,
you can “buy” the 4 and/or 10 by paying
a commission of five percent when the bet wins.
The house edge on a $25 buy bet is around 1.3 percent.
(This type of “buy” is not available in
Atlantic City – there you must pay the five
percent commission whether the bet wins or loses,
almost tripling the house’s edge.) In Tunica
you can buy the 5 and 9 and only pay a $1 commission
if the bet wins. That reduces the house edge to
about 1 percent.
The physical game of
craps contains a controversial area that is just
now beginning to reach the consciousness of some
craps players. When the casino hands you the dice,
it has created a set of rules and a table structure
intended to randomize the roll. You have to hit
the back wall where foam rubber pyramids deflect
the dice. The casino expects that the shooters have
no real influence over the dice once they leave
his hand. Most gaming writers agree that craps is
random and that shooters do not have any influence.
However, I think that certain shooters have, through
practice and/or extensive play, refined their rolling
to the point where they have enough influence over
the dice to change a slightly negative game (when
you make the good bets) to a slightly positive game.
This concept is called “rhythmic rolling”
or “dice control” and involves setting
the dice and delivering the dice in a consistent
fashion.
If I am right about
rhythmic rolling then the right one-two punch of
craps becomes clear.
Punch 1. Make the bets
with the lowest house edges, Pass and Come
Punch 2. Learn how to deliver the dice to influence
the outcome in your favor.
Visit Websites Of The Scoblete Network
www.goldentouchpoker.com
www.goldentouchcraps.com
www.goldentouchblackjack.com
www.scoblete.com
www.gscobe.blogspot.com
More
Columns By Franki Scoblete
Good
Casinos Home
