One, Two or a Few?

19 December 2024

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: The latest rage is to merely bet one bet in craps or maybe two but no more. I believe this has come to us from Frank Scoblete or through Frank Scoblete brought to you by the late Captain. His idea was to keep the wagering low so you could handle any eventuality. Something like that.

ABBY: I have found this way of play to be the best I have ever used at craps. I go up on two numbers once I am ahead. I never go to three or more.

CINDY: What bets do you bet?

ABBY: Pass line and a come bet, both taking at least double odds, usually more. I will wait until one bet hits and now I am ahead for that roll before I go for the two bets. I used to bet many bets when I first started playing, most of them what are called Crazy Crapper bets, and it was hard, almost impossible, to actually come out ahead on any trip to the casinos of more than a couple of days.

CINDY: Craps is a strange game isn’t it? You can make a load of bets, from some of the best in the casinos to some of the absolute worst in terms of the casinos’ edges over you.

ABBY: And the game is exciting.

CINDY: Definitely exciting but it is very dangerous too. You bet so many bets for most players that it is hard to actually be ahead at any given time. And as you spread those bets around you face huge house edges. The game might actually have the ability – I know this is going to sound weird – to turn off your rational brain.

ABBY: Players are making bets with house edges at or near the double digits. You can very rarely win anything for any length of time making those bets. I mean, you could literally have a dozen bets out there. Most of them bad bets too.

CINDY: Do you make any “place bets” such as the 6 or 8?

ABBY: Sometimes. If I am ahead and the pass-line bet has just won, I might go right up on the 6 or 8. The house edge on either of those numbers is pretty low, 1.52 percent, so they are not crazy bets to wager. But that would be it. Just one bet on one of those and I am done with my risk.

CINDY: How many players bet this way?

ABBY: Very few. As the game progresses, the players get more and more daring – even if they are losing.

CINDY: It is almost as if they can’t help themselves.

ABBY: They are kind of like those slot players who figure they will play slowly but as time marches on they make more and more decisions in shorter and shorter amounts of time. Games have a habit of getting away from us I guess.

CINDY: The heavy drinkers tend to get the most aggressive I think. Alcohol fuels spending. You can see that at a craps table sometimes.

ABBY: That might be true, yes.

CINDY: Moderation in all things a Greek philosopher said. Which philosopher it was I have forgotten. But the sentiment is true.

ABBY: That is true.