Craps

CRAPS: Pass Line and Come Bets

Craps is divided into two distinct types of betting choices. You can be a Rightside player, sometimes called a “Do” or Lightside player, or you can be a Darkside player, also known as a “Don’t” or Wrong player.

The Rightside player is hoping the shooter makes his Point and doesn’t throw the 7; while the Darkside player hopes the shooter doesn’t make his point but instead rolls the 7 to end his turn with the dice. These two types of players also have two other good bets they can make. For the Rightsider that would be Come bets; for the Darksider that would be Don’t Come bets.

Since 95 percent of all craps players are Rightside bettors, this column is devoted to maximizing the Rightsider’s Pass Line and Come bets; in short, this means reducing the house edge on the money the Rightsider bets.

The Pass Line and Come bets are essentially the same type of bet, just done at different times in the shooter’s hand. The Pass Line bet is put up immediately when the shooter is on the Come-Out roll. Once the shooter establishes his point, then a Rightsider can place a Come bet.

The house edge on the Pass Line and Come bets is a smallish 1.41 percent. In economic terms, that is a player expectation of losing $1.41 per $100 wagered. Not too bad. However, these bets can be enhanced by taking the Odds. Some casinos offer 2X odds, meaning you can put two times your Pass Line or Come bet in odds behind or on your bet. Many casinos now offer 3X, 4X, 5X – all the way up to 100X odds.

So if you are betting $10 on the Pass Line or Come, you can take $20 to $1,000 in odds on these wagers, depending on what odds the casino allows. The house edge drops dramatically when you figure in the odds bet. Take a look at this chart to see the effects of some of the odds bets on the player expectation: Now a major misunderstanding exists in the craps world about what taking odds actually means. If you are a $10 Pass Line bettor, your expectation is to lose approximately 14 cents per $10 wagered. You can take 1X odds or 100X odds and your expectation is still to lose that 14 cents. The odds bet does not decrease how much you will actually lose on the Pass Line, it merely reduces the house edge on the total money wagered.

Thus to make the best use of the odds bet to actually reduce the house’s impact on you money I recommend the following mind set when using the Pass Line or Come bets. Let us say you can afford to bet $60. You can put all $60 on the Pass Line and your expectation is to lose approximately 85 cents. Or a much better way is to bet that $10 on the Pass Line and back it with $50 in odds if the game is a 5X odds game. Now your expectation is to lose 14 cents. You are still betting $60 but the casino’s take on your money has been reduced dramatically.

Now, let us look at another scenario and my recommendations for this one might not sit well with many craps players. Let us say you have that same $60 at a 5X odds game at a $10 minimum table. What is better for your bankroll – to make two bets of $10 (one on the Pass Line and one on the Come) backing them with $20 in odds – or to make one bet backing that one with $50 in odds?

The answer is in the incontrovertible math of the game. Two bets of $10 each with $20 in odds will lose you 28 cents; one bet with $50 in odds will only lose you half of that – 14 cents. So, making one bet is the preferable way to play.

Since many craps players feel some kind of need to make more than one bet at the game, calling such bets their “action,” what they are really saying is they want to give the casino a bigger shot at their bankrolls with those multiple bets as opposed to a smaller shot with a single wager.

If you can refrain from the compulsion to make multiple bets at the game, the use of a small Pass Line or Come bet and odds is the best way to play the game.

Odds Allowed House Edge Expected Approx Loss per $100 1X Odds 0.848 percent 85 cents 2X Odds 0.606 percent 61 cents 3X Odds 0.471 percent 47 cents 5X Odds 0.326 percent 33 cents 10X Odds 0.184 percent 18 cents 20X Odds 0.099 percent 10 cents 100X Odds 0.021 percent 2 cents

by FRANK SCOBLETE

Frank Scoblete is casino gambling’s number one best-selling writer. For a free catalogue call 1-800-944-0406 or visit Frank’s web site at www. goldentouchcraps..com

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