About place and come bets

Dear Frank,

I recently read your article "Stupid Craps Strategies" in Casino Player magazine and enjoyed it very much. I always thought that place bets were better than Come bets because you have to have the number come up twice before you collect versus getting paid off the first time when making a place bet. You said that the house edge is 1.41 on a come bet and 1.52 on a place bet for the 6 and 8.

What I don't understand is I'm paid 7 to 6 on a Place bet on the 6 or 8 and I know that a Come bet is just a new come out roll for that bet. If I bet the same $6 on the press after the come-out roll is my payoff the same 7 to 6 as it is when I place the 6 or 8? Also could you tell me what the house vig is when I press the point after the come-out roll when you bet the max with 100 X odds? They have this game in my home state of Illinois at the Empress Casino in Joliet.

Thanks for your help in clearing up this matter and keep up the great articles.

Bernie

Dear Bernie:

I'm glad you enjoy my articles in Casino Player.

Now, I am not 100 percent sure I fully understand your question but I will give it a go. Let us say that you Place the 8 for six dollars and I put down a Come bet of $6. You have six chances to lose and five chances to win but the casino only pays you seven dollars for your six dollars, when in a fair game, a game where the casino has no edge, the casino would pay you $7.20 for your six-dollar bet. That translates into a house edge of 1.52 percent.

Now, when I first put down my Come bet, I have four chances to lose and eight chances to win. I have a two to one edge on this first placement. Unfortunately, once my bet is up on the number the house now has that 6 to 5 edge but only pays me even money. That translates into a house edge of 1.41 percent.

For your six dollar bet, you will lose about 9 cents on your bet and I will lose about 8 cents on my bet. Okay, that isn't much but over time I lose about nine percent less money than you do.

Your second paragraph has me somewhat confused. If you press a Pass-Line bet after a win, the house edge stays the same. Go from six dollars to $12 and your loss doubles. If you go from a six dollar 6 or 8 to $12, your loss also doubles.

Now when you Place those other numbers the house edge goes into the stratosphere. On the 5 and 9, you will face a house edge of four percent. On the 4 and 10, you will face a house edge of 6.67 percent. That's hammering time, meaning the casino hammers you!

As far as the $100 in odds that bet is a break even bet and as long as you have the money to ride the ups and downs of winning and losing, the Odds bet is a push.

I hope this helped.

For your excellent questions I am giving you a free week on my private members-only message boards at www.goldentouchcraps.com. We have over 5,000 members on this private board and I think you will find the discussion enlightening, interesting and fun.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete