board two or three
times in a row. It’s dismal. You have to win
a lot of bets to make that up. In fact, it is a
safe statement to make to say that most craps players
are down most of the time during a session of play.
So why do they continue
to play?
Because the thrill
of the big roll overcomes the anguish of all those
losses. When a shooter makes number after number,
point after point, there is no giddier feeling in
the world. As you rake in handfuls of chips with
each and every roll; when the players at the table
start roaring and high-fiving each other; when your
chip rack becomes so crammed that you have to color
up just to fit all those reds, and greens, and blacks,
and (maybe) purples in front of you, then all is
right with the heavens and craps is just the easiest
game in the world.
But to get to Easy
Street, you have to go through some pretty rough
neighborhoods. How can you avoid falling into a
pothole so deep that no good roll can save you?
Here are my suggestions.
Do not go up on more
than two numbers until you are ahead enough that
a wipe out on three numbers will not take away your
win. If you are playing on a short bankroll, only
make one bet. That’s right. Play one number.
My rule of thumb is that you should have 10 times
the amount of your “spread” as a session
stake at craps. In our example above, the player
placing the 6 and 8 for $12 each must have $240
for his session as $24 is his spread. If you have,
say, $60 to play with, you would be wiser to just
place the 6 or 8 (not both) for $6.
Too often I have seen
craps players come to a table with $100, place all
the numbers (“Give me $64 across!”) only
to hear “Seven-out!” on the very next
roll. Then they say: “Give me $32 across!”
only to be greeted with a second: “Seven-out!”
In two rolls they have lost 12 bets for a total
of $96. Sad. On $100, you want to go easy - especially
if you desire to play for a few hours.
Frankly speaking, craps is a sunny day when the
game is going right. But when tables get cold, it
will be the winter of your gambling discontent
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