Dear Mark,
I have a question for you on the subject of placing
the 6 and 8. It seems to be open for some debate.
People in the know, who I trust, like you and Anthony
Curtis, say it's a good bet, and I agree. But others,
like John "I write about craps for a living
and never play" Gollehon say it is still too
big a house edge, that you should go through the
come instead with odds. Heck, I say do both and
if it hits on the first roll after the point is
established, use the place bet for odds. If it doesn't,
well, you've got plenty of action - a pass line
bet with odds on the point of 8, a place bet on
the 6, and come bet with odds on the 9 (or whatever
is rolled). Hopefully it's a $2 table. It seems
as if you did nothing but place the 6 and 8 all
night you would turn out OK. Please give me your
side of the argument. Josh N.
There
are plenty of reasons why I complement my Pass line
wager and odds with a Place bet on the 6 or 8; two quickly
come to mind. First, it's a wager with a small house
advantage, 1.5%, and second, it's plenty cheap. A Place
bet can be made for as little as $6. (Quick side note:
When making a Place bet on 6 or 8, you should always
wager in multiplies of $6 [$12, $18, $24, etc.]. Why?
6 and 8 pay off at 7 to 6, so I win $7 for every $6
bet.
A win on any bet under
$6 is spelled "shortchange", since the
dealer will round down to the nearest dollar and
pay you less than you actually won.)
As for Gollehon's guidance,
playing craps is not a prerequisite to dispensing
sound advice, nor is Gollehon's advice chasing the
wrong rabbit. This column, as readers well know,
has NOT slept through the topic of making Pass line
and Come bets and taking odds. Why just last week
...
Also, neither Gollehon, Tony Curtis nor I represent
the vanguard of faultless play on a crap game. A
lot depends on the amount of K-Ching weighing down
your pockets. Taking odds can be an expensive proposition,
especially when dealing in multiples of 10X or even
100X odds, even though the house edge on the bet
is a puny 0.09%. As minuscule as this sounds, Josh,
you have to be capitalized to the hilt-no, a bit
beyond that-to embrace this wager. A $5 pass line
wager with 100X odds puts $505 of your hard-earned
money in play. Add a Come bet with full odds, and
after just one seven-out, line away call, you'll
be begging for badly needed free drinks in the keno
lounge.
All the suggestions in your question are sound gambling
strategies, Josh, and I especially like your pursuit
of a $2 table. But let us all not forget one important
thing: All craps bets come at a cost. Craps is a
negative expectation game, meaning, that no matter
how you bet, even a $2 wager with 100X odds, the
house has an edge on your action. No nuts-and-bolts
plan from the Providential-well, cut that to prudential-wisdom
of Gollehon, Curtis or me can beat a negative expectation
game.
Here's the bottom line, Josh. I recommend that all
players treat craps like a bag of M&Ms. Eat
(bet) only the colors (Pass line and Come bets with
odds) you like, and can afford (a $6 place bet on
the 6 and/or 8). Just make sure to keep your wagers
under the 2% house advantage threshold.
