Ask anyone who knows anything about craps and they’ll give you an opinion on how you should wager.
“Pass line and two come bets!”
“Don’t bet the pass line, place bets are the way to go!”
“The only way to make money in craps is the don’t pass!”
“A progressive field bet is how I make money in craps!”
You’ll notice I used exclamation points at the end of every statement. That’s because, generally a craps zealot with a system speaks VERY LOUDLY. Does that validate or negate the strength of their system? Actually no. All of the opinions above are valid. A pass line bet with two subsequent come bets will be a huge money maker if the shooter throws a couple repeating numbers and then makes his point. Same goes with place bets. If the shooter hits the five several times when you’ve got $44 inside, then it’s a fabulous strategy. Of course if the shooter goes point – seven out, then perhaps you should have been on the don’t pass line. The problem is not figuring out who’s opinion is right, the problem is figuring out when their opinion is going to be right. The person who goes to Vegas or Atlantic City with a single system in their pocket;
“I’m gonna use a progressive proposition bet system!”
well, in two words, they’re doomed.
A serious craps player must have a plethora of strategy knowledge. Notice I didn’t say “system.” Systems are like recipes, step one do this, step two do that and on and on. Sadly, most systems are missing a vital ingredient, that being, the player’s intelligence, Systems not only ignore intelligence, they in fact want the average craps player to check their intelligence at the casino door and leave all the thinking to the “system.” Do you know how many times I’ve heard, “In the hour I was at a table tonight, only two points were made!”?
And I say, “How much money did you make?” Of course, they didn’t make money, they lost their session stake because the system that they were using didn’t “tell them” to switch to the don’t if the table is stone cold.
Instead of concentrating on systems, concentrate on strategies*. Know all of the possible bets on the table. Know what the vig is on any given wager.
- Learn how to make money no matter what is happening at a table.
- Do not assume that because a table is cold, it is due to turn hot.
- Do not assume that because the seven has been showing early and often, that you should expect a shooter with a hot hand any minute now.
- Learn to walk away from the tables when nothing seems to be working (I promise, the tables will be there when you get back)
- Most importantly, never walk up to a table and put money at risk without observing the action for a while.
- Some players “chart” a table, while others can watch what’s happening at the table and instinctually get a feel for whether a table is cold, hot or choppy.
So, with so many craps opinions out there, who are you going to listen to?
No one! … and … Everyone!
But that’s just my opinion.
*check out the strategies area of this site or the Mad Professor’s playbook to add to YOUR strategy knowledge.
