36-Card Craps Games

Stickman,

What are your thoughts on "Card Craps" with a 36-card deck?

Ted

Ted,

Card Craps is played in California. In California, craps must be a banked card game because it is illegal to base the outcome of a game exclusively on dice. There are several variations of Card Craps that vary from casino to casino. The 36-Card version of Card Craps is played as follows.

Equipment used includes:

• A red die numbered with three 1s, and three 4s
• A blue die numbered with three 2s, and three 3s
• A 36-card deck featuring all possible permutations of two dice

Rules of Play

Two cards are drawn at random and placed face down over red and blue regions of the table. The dice are thrown. If the red die has a higher number, then the red card is turned over and used as the roll. If the blue die has a higher number, then the blue card is used. Because the numbers on the red and blue dice are different, there can be no ties. Also, it really doesn't matter what number is thrown on the blue die because a 1 on the red die will always lose and a 4 on the red die will always win. The odds are the same as conventional craps.

My advice for this game would be to avoid it - especially if you have access to a regular craps game. It is not much fun in my opinion because it lacks the "action and camaraderie" of the standard craps game. You can't beat it in the long run. However, if you must play, only bet a pass line bet with odds. This is one of the best bets in the house, so you will lose the least this way.

May all your wins be swift and large and all your losses be slow and tiny.

Jerry "Stickman"