Tackling dopey craps ideas

19 March 2019

By Frank Scoblete

Without question, the best bets at the game of craps are the pass line with full odds and the come with full odds; also the don’t pass with full odds and the don’t come with full odds. No matter what comboobalations critics of these bets attempt to proselytize to dismiss them and advocate other “less-good” bets, these sad ploppies are actually the flat-worlders of craps, denying that earth is a sphere and math dictates proper betting.

Please note: When I say “full odds” it is possible that you can’t afford to take those odds. No problem; just take what you can afford. You must always gamble within your comfort zone.

Some hopeless, hapless critics of these best-of-the-best bets will state such inept arguments against pass and come betting as these:

1. “You have to hit the number twice on the come to win; whereas with a place bet you only have to hit your number once!”
2. “You can’t take the come bet down when it is up on a number but you can take down your Place bets.”
3. “The odds are a trick by the casino to get you to bet more!”

No. 1 is idiotic. You don’t have to hit your number twice. The first placement of both the pass line and come is not looking to hit a number – it is desiring a hit on the 7 or 11, two numbers that give the pass line and the come bettor a two-to-one edge over the casino at that moment before a point/box number is established, while the place bettor is facing a 6.67% house edge on the 4 and 10; a 4% house edge on the 5 and 9, and a decent edge of 1.52% on the 6 and 8 (decent, yes, but not better than pass line or come) at that moment. Who is better off? Do not listen to the ploppies.

No. 2 is somewhat less idiotic . . . sounding, that is. The problem comes in with the fact that you’d have to turn off or take down, say, your 4 about 80% of the time to make it the equivalent monetary loss of the pass line or come bet over time. The house edge doesn’t change, of course, but by turning off or taking down your place bets the house edge has less money to work on, thus reducing your overall loss. But we know of no one who takes down his place bets 80 percent of the time on the 4 or 10, or 65% of the time on the 5 or 9. So while it sounds good that you can take down the place bets and thus lose less money, you won’t see many players doing it. It’s a shadow argument, not a real one.

No. 3 could be true to an extent if you actually do put out more money in odds if you are playing on a tight bankroll. But we advocate small pass line and come bets with maximum odds in direct proportion to what you would have bet otherwise. That is, $10 on pass with $20 odds ($30 total = 14-cent loss) rather than $30 on the pass line ($30 total = 42-cent loss) with maximum odds. There’s no trick involved here if you actually know how to play the game and utilize the odds bet properly. Again, just bet within your bankroll.

For darkside players the advice is exactly the same as for rightsiders. Make don’t pass and don’t come wagers, keeping those bets low, and lay full odds on them. Again the best way to do this is to just go with one number. Interestingly enough, many darksiders actually do prefer to go up on only one number. You can also use a money-management strategy to save you from getting hurt by one shooter.

If you get up on a number and the shooter knocks you off; then you go on another number and if he knocks you off again, stop, and then wait for the next shooter. Don’t ever let one shooter hit you too hard. Would this change the house edge against you? No. But like taking down bets on the rightside, waiting out shooters will save you money over time since you are not betting while waiting for the next shooter to get the dice. It is a more comfortable way to play the don’t side of the game.


Visit Frank’s website at www.frankscoblete.com. (The above is excerpted from the book Casino Craps: Shoot to Win! by Frank Scoblete.)