TABLE GAMES By Al Moe
NEW TABLE LIMITS & YOUR BANKROLL Adjusting Your Scope Of Wagers At Craps And Roulette
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everal Arizona casinos have raised their table game limits from $1,300 to $4,000 since the new game expansion in July. Those that haven’t may be experiencing a loss of high-end players, but what about the challenges players are experiencing with bankroll requirements? Fortunately, most of us won’t be impacted by the increase because we simply won’t be betting $1,000 on the craps pass line and taking $2,500 odds. But craps and roulette can affect a players’ overall betting patterns and their ability to afford higher limits. We all know $100 doesn’t go as far as it used to. There’s no way to perfectly align your smaller wagers with larger ones at a slot machine. If you want to qualify for the main jackpot and the slot requires a maximum bet, you’re stuck. At craps and roulette, players run into a similar problem when spreading out their wagers and their bankrolls too thin. Roulette offers the same house percentage of 5.26% on every wager except the basket, where you are wagering on 0, 00, 1, 2, 3 and getting paid 6 to 1 for a house edge of 7.9%. Avoiding the basket wager will help. Avoiding the temptation to make too many wagers each spin will help too. Unlike blackjack with its single standard bet, roulette offers dozens of places to wager. The problem with not heeding the temptation to splash your chips around like a Jackson Pollack painting is that you’ll have color everywhere, so even when you hit something, the payoff won’t be enough to keep you ahead. You’ll basically be betting against yourself often and helping the casino make bank. If you bet the third column because your single number bets are all in the first column, you’ll get paid more often. Still, you won’t exactly win, so avoid the idea that you should back up your individual number wagers with a bet on red, even, or perhaps green to hedge your main bets. Successful roulette players can play the outside bets or inside numbers, but rarely both. My best advice is to get a color at the minimum per chip amount and concentrate your bets on as few as one or two num-
16 Arizona Gaming Guide | December 2021 | azgamingguide.com
bers straight-up and perhaps a few split or corner bets attached to them. You’ll lower your per-spin cost, and when you hit your numbers, you’ll get to keep most of the payoff instead of tossing back most of it on additional bets. Craps also offers many wagers, but unlike roulette, the Horn and Hard Way bets aren’t a friendly 5.26%; they can be as high as 16.6% each roll! Nothing will decimate your bankroll faster than a lousy series of rolls and a high house edge. To get the most out of your bankroll at craps, keep your eyes and wagers on the Pass or the Don’t Pass Line and take full odds. Then, consider a Come wager or two with odds and wait for a payoff. Craps players often must wait quite a while for their Pass Line or Come wagers to win or lose, but it’s better to be patient with your tiny 1.41% odds-against than losing a bunch of high-odds bets while waiting! Be cool. $ Writer Al Moe has worked in the casino industry for many years. He has lived and worked in Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe. He also attended the University of Nevada, Reno. He is an avid writer and blogger. His book, “Vegas and the Mob," is available online at Amazon.com. He is also the proud father of four beautiful girls.
