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Now to this week's subject:  Larry Edell, the publisher of "Crapshooter" recommends the following craps methods:

Because of the variety of the bets you can place on a craps table, some people are confused by all the different bets on the layout.  Some also don't like to bet the same way each session, so they prefer methods that are not only easy to play but profitable as well.  There are three easy-to-remember betting patterns, that Larry calls "Pass Line Conservative", "Pass Line Agressive" and "Basic Don't Come".

If you, like those people, are looking for a way to impose some order on the disarray of a busy craps table, give those systems a try and see if they suit your table manner.

Pass Line Conservative

The Pass Line bet is especially player-friendly because of the multiple "free odds" bets you can place behind it.  The free odds is such as good wager that it doesn't even appear on the table.  To place an odds bet, you literally place a stack of chips behind your main bet, and if your point comes up, you get paid at the true odds (hence the "odds") of that number being rolled. There is no house edge on the free odds (hence the "free," in my mind).

When using this approach, you should bet the table minimum (let's say $5) on the Pass Line, and start with single odds (another $5) behind it.  Then increase your odds bet by one unit after a win, and decrease it by one unit after a loss.  The $5 Pass bet remains the same - only the odds portion goes up or down.

Here's an example of what might happen when you play this system.   You make a $5 bet on the Pass Line and add $5 in odds to start.  The first point is 6, and you win your bet.  You add $5 to the odds portion, so now you bet $5 on the Pass Line and $10 on the odds.  You win this second point (5), so you make a third bet for $5 and this time take $15 in odds.  You win your third point (4), so for your fourth wager, you bet $5 and $20 on the odds.  So far, you've won three bets and lost none.  Let's say you lose your fourth wager for $5 plus $20 odds, as well as the fifth bet (for $5 plus $15 odds), and your sixth bet ($5 plus $10 odds).  How do you think you made out?  Let's follow the money.

The first bet was for $5 plus $5 odds, for which you won $5 for the Pass Line plus $6 for the odds bet on the 6 - a total of $11.  You won the second bet on the 5 for $5 plus $15, a total of $20.  The third bet, on the 4, brought you $5 plus $30, or $35.  So on these three bets you won a total of $66.  You did, however, lose the fourth ($5 + $20), fifth ($5 + $15) and sixth ($5 + $10) bets, amounting to a total loss of $60.  So with as many losses as you had wins, you're still left with a profit of $6.

This is the power of the casino's free odds on the Pass Line.  As long as you keep increasing your odds bet by one unit after a win, and decreasing it by one unit after a loss, you'll do much better than a flat-betting Pass Line player who keeps making the same wager over and over again.

This is a good method.  When the shooter looks good and sets the dice, however, you can take a more agressive approach.  It is an approach with a little more risk, but the rewards are greater also.

Pass Line Aggressive

This one gets a little more complicated, because you need to add a Come bet to your Pass Line bet.  You need to manipulate your Come bet as you did your Pass Line bet, increasing the odds portion only after a win and decreasing it only after a loss.

The reason it looks more complex is that you have to deal with two different points, which means keeping track of the betting levels on the odds bets for both of them.  Don't be afraid to use a pad and a pen at the craps table until you get used to doing it.  After you play this way a few times, it will seem much easier.

Here are the basics: you make a Pass Line bet for $5 and take single odds ($5) after the point is established,  just as you did before.  But then you place $5 in the Come box and, when the Come point is established, you take single odds (another $5) on that as well.  You'll find that the odds bet you're allowed to place behind the Come bet rarely matches the odds allowed on the Pass Line bet, so take it slow and keep careful track of all the money you have on the table. 

Let's look at an example.  The Pass Line point is 6 and the next number rolled is 8, so you have $5 plus $5 odds on the 6 and $5 plus $5 odds on the 8. (Remember the Come bet?)  The shooter throws another 8, so you win your first Come bet.  You make another $5 Come bet.  The shooter throws a 4, which becomes your new Come point.  You put $10 on the odds because you won last time.  A few rolls later he makes his 4, so you win your third Come bet and immediately put another $5 Come bet down.  Next, the shooter rolls a 5, so your $5 wager goes to the 5 and you take $15 in odds because you won the third Come bet.  A few rolls later he hits the 5 again, so you win and put $5 in the Come box for the fourth time.

The shooter rolls a 9, which becomes your fourth come point, and you place $20 in odds behind it.  The next roll, however, is a 7, so you lose both your Come bet and your Pass Line bet.  Your next bet on the Pass Line is $5 plus $5 odds, since you  lost your first and only Pass Line bet.  Your next Come bet is $5 plus $15 odds, because you lost your Come bet for $5 plus $20 odds.

Remember, all you're doing is making a Pass Line bet and a Come bet, then increasing the odds on either bet you win and decreasing them on either one you lose.

Now, these two approaches are pretty good for hot tables, and even choppy tables, but there is one for cold tables as well.  You can usually tell a table is cold if there are only a few bets on the Pass Line and many more on the Don't Pass.   Bet according to the table.  If it's cold, use the following system:

Basic Don't Come

On the Don't Come side, you always have to bet more to get less, so use primary flat bets only here, with no added odds.  Use the Don't Pass odds temporarily, but only for insurance.  After the Don't Come point is established, take down the Don't Pass odds bet.

Here's a sample run that will make it all clear.  You put $5 on the Don't Pass line, and the point is 6.  You lay $5 on the odds and place $5 in the Don't Come box.  The next roll is 10.   You now have $5 on the no-10 and $5 plus $5 in odds on the Don't Pass with a point of 6.  Now simply remove the odds behind the Don't Pass bet.  You will win $15 if a 7 comes up, and you are, in fact, favored to win this bet.  The reason you bet the $5 odds on the Don't Pass before the 10 was established was that is the shooter threw a 7 on that roll, you would have lost the $5 on the Don't Come but won the Don't Pass bet with odds, so you would have ended up with $5 in profit instead of just breaking even.

The above is Larry's original version.  Some customers pointed out that first you would need to place $6 odds on the don't bet to ensure proper payout, secondly, after removing the odds from the initial don't bet you would only win $10, if the
shooter then sevens out.

So, there they are - 3 favorite systems.  Once you know how to play them, you have to determine how long you should play them.  The standard answer of "until I run out of money" is not a good answer.  Here we are talking winning.  So you should make sure you minimize your losses and maximize your profits by using money management.  Set yourself a win goal and a loss limit.  It's easiest if you make them the same percentage of your total buy-in.

If you're a $5 bettor and buy in for $300, your win/loss goal could be a third of that.  This means that if you win $100 (or close to it), you should stop playing.  It also means that if you lose $100, you should stop playing.   Sometimes, nothing you do will work, and sometimes everything you do will work.   Don't let the excitement of a craps table run away with you.  But do have fun.   Talk to the other players.  Talk to the dealers and the pit crew.  Cheer when the shooter wins.  Boo when he loses.  And always, always keep track of all your bets.

Craps is a wonderful, fun way to spend a few hours - especially if you end up with some extra chips in your stack.  And at the end of a good run, you can rejoice your profits.

Best regards,
Until next week,
Izak 

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