The Great and Terrible Craps Game

11 February 2025

By Frank Scoblete

Craps is a wonderful game. It really is.

Craps is a horrible game. It really is.

There you have it in a nutshell. Depending on the choices you make and what wagers you’ll wager, these will tell us all just what kind of craps player you are.

Are you a great player? Are you a rotten player? Are you somewhere in between these two extremes?

I am guessing that most craps players, actually the overwhelming the majority of craps players I am convinced, fall somewhere between these two extremes. I also think their playing choices have done many craps players in.

The house has an edge on every bet but craps plyer will make bets where the house edge is immense.

When I write the word “between” I actually shade the meaning closer to poor bettors than good bettors. At least that has been my experience over the last 40 years. To be blunt, most craps players are lousy gamblers. They are asking to be taken to the cleaners where their wallets will get the cleaning-out treatment.

“Sir?” asks the casino boss. “Do you want to lose your money slowly or do you want to make idiot bets that sock it to you? You choose.”

Sadly, oh so sadly, craps players basically answer the question by handing over their wallets to be rifled, waxed and handed back to them empty as empty can be.

Craps betting is not for the weak-kneed. You need guts to throw out your money on almost all the craps bets at the table. They stink that much.

You are, of course, asking to get killed over time, most time actually. Be it a little time, meaning today, meaning right now; or medium time, meaning tomorrow; somewhere in the far-off future – the day after tomorrow that is.

There is no escaping the potential losses you will experience if you are the typical craps bettor. Here is the typical craps bettors attack on the casino coffers:

• Bet as many different kinds of bets you can make.
• One bet? Please.
• Two bets? Ha! Ha!
• How about many, many bets? Yeah, that’s the way to go!
• The Hardways! High-low! The 12! The 2! The whatever the heck is out there to wager on.
• Bet me up dear dealers.
• Blow your bankroll on all the possible bets at the craps table. Bets that come in with edges in the double-digits no less. “I’ll have an Any 7 please.”
• Give me all the new “bonus” bets please.
• Can any craps player actually beat the game in the long run (this month) or not, by doing such high-edge multiple bets? Let’s have you play every day and you’ll see.
• Bet as you always bet for the amounts you usually bet those bets and see what happens as you play day after day after day. At the end of the month? The year? Your lifetime?

In all casino games you have to be aware of the ravages that the house edge can have on your bankroll. Given the remainder of your time on Earth, and you enjoy the contest with the casinos, how should you play your money?

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries, and book stores.