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What do losses mean?

30 January 2018

FROM THEODORE: I am totally confused by certain things I have read about casino gambling. I am a novice and I have not played so far and therefore maybe I am misreading what I have read. Take craps for instance. The pass line bet is supposed to be a good bet and the house edge is something like 1.4%. How can that be?

So I make the bet but if I lose it do I lose 1.4%? No, I lose the whole bet. If I win, I win the whole bet.

Now, how can that be?

I am right that you either win or lose a bet correct? I have not yet put my money where my doubts are so maybe you can help me in this? How do you lose 1.4% Mr. Scoblete? It doesn’t seem to make sense.

FRANK RESPONDS: You are taking the idea of winning and losing a bet as a one shot deal. If you make one pass line bet in your whole life, then yes, you win or lose that bet and that is that. The number of decisions, which is one, cannot become 1.4%. It is either a 100% or no percent wager.

But if you make thousands of those bets, then the percentages will start to look like the math. You must remember that the pass line bet will win 251 decisions for the casino and win only 244 decisions for the player. Those are averages, and it takes a long time to see such averages work out in the real world.

As the number of decisions begins to build, you will begin to see that you don’t just win a bet and lose a bet, you experience the house edge percentages – or, at least, close to them. The percentages given as averages assume a long-run of playing time.

Is it possible that someone could be ahead of the house with 1,000 decisions on the pass line? Yes. But given 10,000 decisions, a winning pass line bettor would be a rare bird.

One more example: The average approximate height of an American male is 5’10” but most American males are not 5’10”. The range of heights is huge, but when you average them all in the result is an average of 5’10”. There is a good chance you are not 5’10”. I’m not.


Visit Frank’s website at www.frankscoblete.com. Frank Scoblete’s latest books are I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps, Confessions of a Wayward Catholic and I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack. Available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and bookstores.
Frank Scoblete

Frank Scoblete is the #1 best selling gaming author in America. His newest books are Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines; Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo and Pai Gow Poker!; Beat Blackjack Now: The Easiest Way to Get the Edge; Casino Craps: Shoot to Win!; Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players; Casino Conquest: Beat the Casinos at Their Own Games! and The Virgin Kiss.

Frank and Casino City Times columnist Jerry "Stickman" teach private lessons in dice control. Frank's books are available at Amazon.com, in bookstores or by mail order. Call 1-800-944-0406 or write to Frank Scoblete Enterprises, PO Box 446, Malverne, NY 11565. Frank can also be reached by email at fscobe@optonline.net.

Frank Scoblete Websites:

www.goldentouchcraps.com
www.goldentouchblackjack.com

Books by Frank Scoblete:

> More Books By Frank Scoblete

Frank Scoblete
Frank Scoblete is the #1 best selling gaming author in America. His newest books are Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines; Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo and Pai Gow Poker!; Beat Blackjack Now: The Easiest Way to Get the Edge; Casino Craps: Shoot to Win!; Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players; Casino Conquest: Beat the Casinos at Their Own Games! and The Virgin Kiss.

Frank and Casino City Times columnist Jerry "Stickman" teach private lessons in dice control. Frank's books are available at Amazon.com, in bookstores or by mail order. Call 1-800-944-0406 or write to Frank Scoblete Enterprises, PO Box 446, Malverne, NY 11565. Frank can also be reached by email at fscobe@optonline.net.

Frank Scoblete Websites:

www.goldentouchcraps.com
www.goldentouchblackjack.com

Books by Frank Scoblete:

Cutting Edge Craps: Advanced Strategies for Serious Players

> More Books By Frank Scoblete