Dear Mark,
I have a question for you on the subject of placing the 6
and 8. It seems to be open for some debate. People in the know, who I
trust, like you and Anthony Curtis, say it's a good bet, and I agree. But
others, like John "I write about craps for a living and never play"
Gollehon say it is still too big a house edge, that you should go through
the come instead with odds. Heck, I say do both and if it hits on the
first roll after the point is established, use the place bet for odds. If
it doesn't, well, you've got plenty of action — a pass line bet with odds
on the point of 8, a place bet on the 6, and come bet with odds on the 9
(or whatever is rolled). Hopefully it¹s a $2 table. It seems as if you did
nothing but place the 6 and 8 all night you would turn out OK. Please give
me your side of the argument. Josh N.
There are plenty of
reasons why I complement my Pass line wager and odds with a Place bet on
the 6 or 8; two quickly come to mind. First, it's a wager with a small
house advantage, 1.5%, and second, it's plenty cheap. A place bet can be
made for as little as $6. (Quick side note: When making a place bet on 6
or 8, you should always wager in multiplies of $6 [$12, $18, $24, etc.].
Why? 6 and 8 pay off at 7 to 6, so I win $7 for every $6 bet. A win on any
bet under $6 is spelled "shortchange", since the dealer will round down to
the nearest dollar and pay you less than you actually won.)
As for
Gollehon's guidance, playing craps is not a prerequisite to dispensing
sound advice, nor is Gollehon's advice chasing the wrong rabbit. This
column, as readers well know, has NOT slept through the topic of making
Pass line and Come bets and taking odds. Why just last week . . . Also,
neither Gollehon, Tony Curtis nor I represent the vanguard of faultless
play on a crap game. A lot depends on the amount of K-Ching weighing down
your pockets. Taking odds can be an expensive proposition, especially when
dealing in multiples of 10x or even 100x odds, even though the house edge
on the bet is a puny 0.09%. As minuscule as this sounds, Josh, you have to
be capitalized to the hilt — no, a bit beyond that — to embrace this wager. A
$5 pass line wager with 100x odds puts $505 of your hard-earned money in
play. Add a Come bet with full odds, and after just one seven-out, line
away call, you'll be begging for badly needed free drinks in the keno
lounge.All the suggestions in your question are sound gambling strategies,
Josh, and I especially like your pursuit of a $2 table. But let us all not
forget one important thing: All craps bets come at a cost. Craps is a
negative-expectation game, meaning, that no matter how you bet, even a $2
wager with 100x odds, the house has an edge on your action. No
nuts-and-bolts plan from the Providential (well, cut that to prudential)
wisdom of Gollehon, Curtis or me can beat a negative expectation
game. Here's the bottom line, Josh. I recommend that all players treat
craps like a bag of M&Ms. Eat (bet) only the colors (pass line and come
bets with odds) you like, and can afford (a $6 place bet on the 6 and/or
8). Just make sure to keep your wagers under the 2% house advantage
threshold.
Gambling quote of the week: "Because I know I'm
the worst bettor on football, I always make my pick, and then bet against
myself. -Mark Twain impressionist McAvoy Layne
