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Craps
Strategy: 1, 2 Punch
by
Frank Scoblete
In this lesson, we explore the craps strategy known as the
1, 2 Punch.
Craps is unique among casino games. It is the only game in
the casino where the house gives the player the dice and says, “Here,
beat us
if you can.”
Craps can be divided into two separate games. There’s the
mathematical game based on the probabilities inherent in two six-sided
dice and
there’s the physical game where
people roll the dice.
If you are a novice craps player and you look at the layout,
it can be baffling – squiggles, designs, numbers, symbols. Checking out
the
action at a craps table can be frightening – it’s a game with its own
unique
and extensive language; it own rigorously imposed customs and
superstitions.
And a gazillion bets, mostly bad.
Yet, stripped of its makeup, language and dress, craps is
plain and simple.
The shooter places a bet on the Pass Line
and is given the
dice; this is called the “come-out” roll. He wants to roll a 7 or 11,
instant
winners; avoid the 2, 3, or 12, instant losers, or establish a “point,”
that
is, one of the following: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10.
If he
establishes a point, he
must hit that point before he rolls a 7 in order to win. If he rolls a
7 before
he rolls his point, he – and everyone who bet on the Pass Line – loses.
That’s
the game.
Add to the Pass Line bet the Come bet, which is
made after
the point is established, and follows the exact same rules as the Pass
Line
bet, and you have the two best bets of the game.
Yes, you can complicate things by throwing in the Don’t
Pass/Don’t Come options but we won’t as only a tiny minority of
despised
players approach the game from this angle.
Pass and Come
bets are good craps strategy as the
house has an approximately 1.4 percent edge on each. What does such an
edge
mean? Simply that for every $100 wagered on the Pass or Come, your long
run
expectation will be a loss of $1.40. Not too bad.
That edge
can be further
reduced by using the craps strategy of taking “odds” on the
point.
The odds is a bet
that can be equal to
or more than the amount you have on the Pass or Come. If you are
betting $5,
and the casino where you are playing allows double odds, you can place
$10 in
odds behind your Pass or Come bet. The house pays this bet off at “true
odds”
and therefore has no edge on the bet.
Making that Pass Line and Come bets and backing them with
odds gives you a solid mathematical approach and is good craps
strategy.
There are also
some other good
craps strategy betting options.
You can “Place” the 6 and/or
8 in multiples of $6 and,
if you
win on either, you’ll get paid $7. The house edge on this is a low 1.5
percent.
At some casinos, you can “buy” the 4 and/or 10 by paying a
commission of five
percent when the bet wins.
The house edge on a $25 buy bet
is around 1.3
percent. Or you can buy the 5 and 9 and only pay a $1 commission if the
bet
wins. That reduces the house edge to about 1 percent.
The physical
game
of craps contains a controversial area that is just now beginning to
reach the
consciousness of some craps players. When the casino hands you the
dice, it has
created a set of rules and a table structure intended to randomize the
roll.
You have to hit the back wall where foam rubber pyramids
deflect the dice. The
casino expects that the shooters have no real influence over the dice
once they
leave his hand. Most gaming writers agree that craps is random and that
shooters do not have any influence.
However, I think that
certain shooters
have, through practice and/or extensive play, refined their rolling to
the
point where they have enough influence over the dice to change a
slightly
negative game to a slightly positive game. This concept is called
“rhythmic
rolling” or “dice control” and involves setting the dice and delivering
the
dice in a consistent fashion.
If I am right about rhythmic
rolling then the right one-two
punch of craps becomes clear.
Punch 1.
Make the bets with the lowest house edges, Pass and
Come
Punch 2.
Learn how to deliver the dice to influence the
outcome in your favor.
Do these two steps and you might just score a craps
knockout!
Craps
Strategy is followed by Horn Bets
OR
Return
to Learn Craps Program
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