Best betting at Craps

8 August 2024

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: Craps used to be the favorite game in the casino after World War II. Soldiers who had learned the game in the military came home and hungered to continue play.

ABBY: The casinos way back when catered to them too. Women were sent off to play the slot machines and the men stood at the table, which by the way looked like a primitive altar where people were sacrificed, and they took part in the most exciting of games.

CINDY: It would be rare, almost unheard of, for a woman to play unless she was (as they say) bought and sold.

ABBY: Craps is a game with many bets, almost all of them poor to awful. That’s right, men who enjoyed the game basically let the game play them. The more time spent at the table, the more money craps players lost. It was inevitable considering the house edges on the bets.

CINDY: But craps does have some very good bets.

ABBY: Excellent bets.

CINDY: It’s just that many players just can’t bring themselves to only make those bets. And that, my friends, is their loss.

ABBY: You basically have eight bets at the game if you are betting with the dice and eight bets at the game if you are betting against the dice. Players who bet against the dice are known as darksiders. Those betting with the dice are known as rightsiders.

CINDY: There aren’t too many darksiders as they seem to be somewhat despised by the other players.

ABBY: Betting with the dice means you want a lot of numbers to hit and you want the shooter to make those numbers. You win when numbers hit. You lose when the 7 hits. The darksider is just the opposite. He wants a quick seven-out to see the end of the shooter’s roll.

CINDY: The eight good bets at the game are the pass line with odds, the come bet with odds, and the placing of the 6 or 8 in six-dollar increments. You can have as many as six come bets (always take the odds) and both the 6 and the 8.

ABBY: But stop right there. You do not want too many multiple bets. A seven out can lose many or most of them and get you into a deep hole.

CINDY: Our advice after many decades of play is to make a pass line bet, taking the odds when it is on a number, and only one come bet also taking the odds. You will have the excitement of the game but you will be relatively safe.

ABBY: For the darksider, a don’t pass with odds and a don’t come with odds. That would be it. You won’t enjoy betting as a darksider. Just watch a darksider come to the table and you’ll see that most of them seem hesitant.

CINDY: No other craps bets are worth making. Spare yourself long losing streaks and the dread that comes with losing your money. Stick to the good bets.

ABBY: Craps is a great game when well-played!