Hone Your Craps Play
- By Nicholas Rodgers
- Published December 9, 2008
- Casinos
Sure you love playing craps, but are you playing as well as possible? To get the most out of playing craps you need to learn how to optimize your play. This topic affects players in live and online casinos alike, regardless of experience. By optimizing your craps play you have the highest chance of succeeding in this game of chance, and you will likely walk away from the table as a winner. This is not as simple as it might sound though. It may involve much more than just running the numbers and picking the safest bet. Before you even download casino software you should have a solid play book. If you would like to develop the perfect craps plan for you, read on.
Before we can put the perfect plan together for you, we need to examine why you play craps, and from there develop some goals. Very few players play for a steady source of income, because the game of craps is unlikely to offer this. Maybe it is the excitement of posting bets aggressively. If you have a taste for risk, you might love the thrill of winning several big stacks of chips in one fell swoop, even if it means losing big a few times too. Take whatever it is that drives you to keep playing, and form it into a goal in the form of “When playing craps I will…” where you describe the experience you are seeking.
Now that we have a specific goal in mind, we can start to develop your game plan. If you are unsure of the different types of craps bets make sure you brush up on them before continuing. There are two extremes for betting, in between which you will probably find a happy balance. On the conservative end of things you would be playing only don’t pass line bets with the largest possible odds bets. This technique offers the smallest possible house advantage, often less than 1%. On the aggressive end of the spectrum, you will likely be playing one roll bets. These bets yield huge payouts (up to 30 to 1) but can carry outrageous house edges (approaching 17%). Luckily for the vast majority, the more moderate players, there are a handful of bets in between these two extremes that can help you meet your goal.
A very important aspect that cannot necessarily be expressed in the house edge, is the excitement of the bet. Bets like the line/come bets force you to make a bet and then pretty much sit around waiting for a point. One roll bets (as the name suggests) will result in either a win or a loss each and every roll (but can quickly knock you out of the game). An interesting compromise between exciting play, and safe play can often be found in craps betting systems. The Iron Cross for example has you playing four bets at one time, and after each roll money is changing hands. Unlike the one roll bets though, the Iron Cross has a reasonable house edge hovering around 4%. Regardless of what style of play you choose, make sure you fully understand the bets involved and ensure that they help you meet your goals. Always keep an eye on how your play is going, and never hesitate to make adjustments as necessary.
Before we can put the perfect plan together for you, we need to examine why you play craps, and from there develop some goals. Very few players play for a steady source of income, because the game of craps is unlikely to offer this. Maybe it is the excitement of posting bets aggressively. If you have a taste for risk, you might love the thrill of winning several big stacks of chips in one fell swoop, even if it means losing big a few times too. Take whatever it is that drives you to keep playing, and form it into a goal in the form of “When playing craps I will…” where you describe the experience you are seeking.
Now that we have a specific goal in mind, we can start to develop your game plan. If you are unsure of the different types of craps bets make sure you brush up on them before continuing. There are two extremes for betting, in between which you will probably find a happy balance. On the conservative end of things you would be playing only don’t pass line bets with the largest possible odds bets. This technique offers the smallest possible house advantage, often less than 1%. On the aggressive end of the spectrum, you will likely be playing one roll bets. These bets yield huge payouts (up to 30 to 1) but can carry outrageous house edges (approaching 17%). Luckily for the vast majority, the more moderate players, there are a handful of bets in between these two extremes that can help you meet your goal.
A very important aspect that cannot necessarily be expressed in the house edge, is the excitement of the bet. Bets like the line/come bets force you to make a bet and then pretty much sit around waiting for a point. One roll bets (as the name suggests) will result in either a win or a loss each and every roll (but can quickly knock you out of the game). An interesting compromise between exciting play, and safe play can often be found in craps betting systems. The Iron Cross for example has you playing four bets at one time, and after each roll money is changing hands. Unlike the one roll bets though, the Iron Cross has a reasonable house edge hovering around 4%. Regardless of what style of play you choose, make sure you fully understand the bets involved and ensure that they help you meet your goals. Always keep an eye on how your play is going, and never hesitate to make adjustments as necessary.