basic craps strategies

The Best Bets
In craps, a Pass bet gives the house a 1.41% edge. And a Don't Pass yields slightly less than 1.40% to the house. These are the Line Bets and they're the basis of a winning strategy. Craps is about dice and dice are about percentages. The smart money gives as little away as possible and that means Pass/Don't Pass at around 1.4%. Those bets and how to improve them form this basic craps strategy. Come/Don't Come bets follow the same odds and logic. The only thing different about them is the timing as to when they're placed.

Improve Your Bets
Okay, so the smart bets are Pass/Don't Pass (and Come/Don't Come). Now how can we improve the best bets in Craps? The Odds, that's how -- either by Buying Odds when you play "right" (Pass) or Laying Odds when you play "wrong" (Don't Pass). These are placed in addition to your initial bet after the Come Out roll and the reason they improve your initial bet is that the house takes no edge on Odds. That's right, zero house. All you're betting against is the straight dice. But you could spend a long time looking at the felt trying to find where the Odds bets are supposed to go. The truth is they're not marked. It's a "hidden" bet, so to speak.

The word is that in Vegas the big houses simply take the position that it's not their responsibility to inform the players of all their betting options, so the Odds stay unmarked. Needless to say, our online friends are not in the business of correcting Vegas so they take the same approach: no Odds to be seen. No biggie, it's an easy bet to make and it will improve your original Line bet by almost halving the house edge or better, if the house let's you do it.

Placing an Odds Bet
An Odds bet is made by supplementing your original Pass/Don't Pass bet by an additional amount after you've made it past the Come Out roll. The bets are placed right beside your initial bet on the Pass/Don't Pass line. In Vegas it's typical for the house to restrict these bets to Single Odds, meaning you can match your Come Out bet with an equal amount. And as we've shown, that cuts the house edge on your initial bet in half.

The good news is that many online casinos let you bet double your initial Line bet. This is called Double Odds and it cuts their edge even further, to a little more than 40% of their initial edge. So that 1.4% they originally had is now down to about 0.6%. It's a smart play. Generally speaking, buy the biggest Odds you can find because the larger the Odds bet, the more you shave off the house edge on your initial bet.

Buying Odds
When you play "right" and Buy Odds, you're supplementing a Pass bet and if you win you'll get your winnings based on the Point. So assuming a Pass Bet of $5:

These are your Odds win, not the total. In other words, on a right bet of $5, where the Come Out roll sets a Point of 10, your total take on the win will be $40: your original $5 bet back plus a winning on that of $5, plus your Odds bet back ($10) and the winnings from that ($20).

Laying Odds
Conversely, when you Lay Odds you're supplementing a Don't Pass Bet and win as follows (assume an initial $5 Don't Pass bet):

So to follow the Buy example above, an initial wrong bet of $5 on a Come Out roll of 10 will yield a total win of $25: your initial $5 back plus its win of $5, your $10 Odds bet back plus its win of $5.

Here's another little trick. Most casinos only pay in denominations as small as $1. In other words, you lose any fraction of a dollar that you would otherwise have coming. Because of the Odds your Laying, 3-2 and 6-5 in particular, you're losing fractions if you bet as given above because most multiples of 10 are not wholly divisible by 3 or 6. On the 5/9 Point you lose $0.67, and on the 6/8 Point you lose $0.33. Nothing much, you say? But we're talking about not giving the house anything more than they already have, right? So let's look at another scenario.

Let's say you place a wrong bet of $6 instead of $5. In that case your Double Odds bet can be $12. And as you'll see from the following table, you lose no fractions on this bet. You keep all the win you have coming because all multiples of 12 are wholly divisible by 3 (as in the 3-2 odds) and by 6 (as in the 6-5 Odds).

So basically, if you're going to Lay Odds, make your initial Don't Pass bet a multiple of $6, and bet full on your Double Odds for a multiple of $12.

The same logic applies with Buying Odds. Make your Pass bet a multiple of $5 so your Double Odds will be in multiples of $10. This is optimal because your divisions are going to be by 1, 2, and 5.

Testing the Strategy
Most players are going to prefer playing right and Buy the Odds because the payouts look larger, but then you're playing against slightly higher odds. If you're hardcore about playing to win you'd be well advised to look seriously at playing wrong, taking the smaller house edge, and grinding it out. The gurus sum it up by saying that playing right and Buying Odds is the more popular and a bit riskier. Playing wrong and Laying Odds is considerably less popular with the Craps crowds, shaves the house edge to a minimum and is for players with a large roll and the patience to grind out the winnings over extended play.

If you look at the Point frequencies you'll see that there are three ways to roll a 4 or 10, four ways to roll a 5 or 9, and five ways to roll a 6 or 8 and, finally, six ways to roll an Out 7. In other words, when betting wrong and always placing Double Odds, those 6's and 8's are gonna turn up fairly frequently and you're going to lose your bets. In short, it's a game of nerves to play that way and, for most it's not preferred. So what we've done is Double Odds on the 4 and 10 and let the rest ride. What we're doing, of course, is betting very conservatively since the 4/10 Points are the least likely to show and are therefore the safest wrong bets to Double up on. It makes for a slow game but we're almost always able to better our holdings if we've stuck with it.

Conclusion
So there you have it: Pass/Don't Pass (or Come/Don't Come) only, while playing the highest Odds you can get will help you shave the house edge to a minimum. Modify to suit your tastes, as we did in standing on every wrong bet save the 4/10 Points. And finally, don't give the house your fractions.

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advanced craps systems and strategy

Buy Bets
Many of the savvy crapshooters never make place bets on the 4, 5, 9 or 10 - they make buy bets instead. A buy bet will give you more bang for your buck - that is, you can decrease the casino's edge and take home a lot more of their money. Plus, there are two "secrets" about buy betting which you'll learn so you can make even more profits!

When you place a bet you do not get the number's "true" odds, unless you buy the bet. If you place the 4 or 10 you get 9:5 odds instead of 2:1, and on the 5 or 9 you get 7:5 instead of 3:2. In order to buy a number, though, the casino requires a 5% commission or "vig". You need to make this extra dollar or two turn from an advantage for the house to an advantage for you.

For example, if you were to place bet $40 on the ten or four you would win $72 at 9:5 odds. However if you were to buy the four or ten for $40, you would pay a $2 vig (5% of $40) and win $80 at 2:1 odds - so you would win more than you would have with a regular place bet.

If you placed $50 on the five or nine you would win $70 (at 7:5) but if you bought the same number you would win $75 (at 3:2).

Now here's where the first "secret" comes in. Many casinos will let you buy a bet for the same commission, but at a higher dollar level than 5%.

Lets look at the four and ten. The $2 vig mentioned before (5% of $40) would turn into $3 if you bought the four or ten for $60. However, most casinos will let you buy the four or ten for $50 (instead of $40) and still pay only the $2 vig! Buying the 4 or 10 for $50 will return $100 (at 2:1) instead of $90 (at 9:5).

On the five and nine, you will pay a $3 vig (rounded up from $2.50) on a $50 bet. But you can ask if you can buy the five or nine for $70 and still pay only the $3 vig! Buying the 5 or 9 for $70 will return $105 (at 3:2) instead of $98 (at 7:5).

Now, the second "secret" involves splitting your buy bets. For example, some casinos will let you buy both the four and ten for $25 each and still only charge the $2 vig! This way, if both the four and ten hits, you'll win $100 instead of $90. And, some casinos will only collect the vig if you win. These methods are not normal procedures, so you have to ask before you make your bets.

Buy bets are almost always more profitable than place bets, except for the six and eight. So, the next time you consider a place bet on the 4, 5, 9 or 10, try buying the number instead. You'll win more, and every single dollar counts - especially if it ends up in your pocket rather than the casino's!

Craps System - Classic Regression
Goal: To make a profit on one hit.

In this strategy, you wait until the shooter has made his/her point before placing your bets. After the Point is made you will place two units or $12.00 on both the 6 and 8. After one hit, you will ask the Dealer to come down one unit on both the 6 & 8.

Results: You now have a $2.00 profit and can no longer get hurt by the Seven. In addition, you now have $12.00 working for you. After another hit, bring down all bets and wait for the roller to make his/her point or 7 out, then start the process over.

On two hits your net profit is: $21.00. Now depending on how confident you are, you can come down after the first hit profiting $14.00 or keep betting on the 6 & 8. If you prefer to keep your bets riding make sure that both the 6 & 8 are covered.

Behind the System: There are ten combined ways to make a 6 and 8 and six combined ways for a seven.

Craps System - Three Point Molly
Goal: To have three numbers working for you at all times

In this craps system you will make a Pass Line bet and two Come bets.

• Make a Pass Line bet.
• Backup your Pass Line bet with single or double odds.
• Make a Come Line bet.
• Backup each Come Bets with single or double odds (two Come bets maximum).
• When one of your Come Bets wins, place another Come Bets.
• Continue this process until the shooter makes his/her Point or Seven-Out.

Behind the Theory: Each times you make a Come Bet you are protecting your Pass Line bets and taking advantage of a hot roller.

Craps Strategy - Anything But Seven
Goal: To win on any number thrown except a Seven.

• Don't place any bets on the Don't Pass or Pass Line, but wait until a point has been established.
• Place two units on 5, 6, & 8.
• Place one unit on the Field.

Results: This method is a little riskier than the previous strategies, since your total monetary risk is: $39.00. Therefore, it is suggested that you remove all bets after three rolls.

Should the shooter hold the dice for at least three rolls, you will stand to win anything from $15.00-$27.00(more if the numbers 2 or 12 are rolled).

Behind The Strategy: The average roller rolls the dice 5 times before rolling a 7.

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