Every bet on the craps table has it's own house edge. There is no 'insurance' betting; each bet is separate and will lead to an ultimate house win over time. Your only 'win' at the craps table can be made if you enjoy the comps that are afforded you...free meals, rooms, drinks, gifts, etc.
In the overall, that's true... but think about a $10 line, with $10 behind it, a $12 6/8 & a $10 field, and the point is 5: You only lose with a 7. Every other roll makes you something. So, for each independent roll, you have a 30-to-6 probability of making some money on each roll. The reason the house wins in the long run is that you lose $54 on a rolled 7, and we know that it will show up eventually... if the dice had a memory, it would be a "bad" strategy - but when you remember that each and every roll provides you with a 30-to-6 (5:1) advantage, it becomes more likely than not that more "other numbers" will come up before the 7 - so, your hope is that that totals more than $54 in wins. For me, I would only press the 6 & 8 & field by $3, only with a field win (double or triple that if a 2 or 12 is hit). When the 6 & 8 get to $30, I'd "same bet" everything until the 5 is hit or a 7 comes up. You (initially) make $4 on a rolled 6/8 & $10-to-$30 on a field roll...$22 on the 5. So, if you hit four 6s or 8s, and one field, that's $34. Just a couple more 'non-sevens' and you're up. So, you need 6 or 7 rolls during the pass to make this work. Your edge is only 5:1, so the house edge is still there vs. 6 or 7 rolls, but again - the dice have no memory! Of course, you could also just make a minimum pass-line bet (if the point is 4,9 or 10), then bet a $18 6 & 8, and a $20 five and field bet, just get ONE non-seven roll, (hopefully a field roll) & then take everything down. PSO is the only thing that kills you! If the point is a 5, 6 or 8, then you make your odds bet to get close to $20 total on the line. ...but hey - I'm just spit-ballin' here... but I do always take advantage when the point is 5. (fixed math)
All correct. All legit. All good...unless you roll a seven. (On average, every 6th roll is a 7. You don't make enough on "at least you make something" to balance out the 7 loss...over time.) If you play a very tight game (only pass/come with odds) hopefully, the comps will make your losses less hurtful and even, if you're lucky, balance out the losses. But I find that makes for a boring game. I still throw out a horn bet once in a while (horrible house edge) and hard ways way more than I should.
And that's my issue too. Pass line with odds and place the 6 and 8 are my usual bets, but I like throwing out the C/E and hardways also. I'm looking forward to a chance at the new stadium craps at Borgata.
I prefer to play the IC from the Don’t. Moves the risk to a box number and making the 7 a winning number. *For the record, I play from the Darkside most of the time so many of my strats involve the 7 as a profit number.
Iron Cross is a bad bet. It consists of a Field Bet plus a Place Bet on 6 and 8. Field Bet: 2.78% House Advantage Place Bet on 6 and/or 8: 1.52% House Advantage Compare vs. a Pass/Come bettor taking 3x4x5xodds: 0.37% House Advantage
What if we compared it to the most prevalent form of gambling on the strip? Penny slots. Compare a field bet house advantage of 2.78% (for the bet that pays triple on the 12) versus Buffalo Gold, which probably has a house advantage of 12%. Is the field bet still a Bad bet? Is the Iron Cross really not a good way to play? All strategies fail on a negative expectation game, but you may just get lucky. The pass line bet is one of the smartest bet in the casino at 1,41% house advantage, and the blended passline and odds bet brings that HA down even further. However, people don’t fly to Vegas to watch paint dry either. The Iron Cross strategy, and derivations of it, are fine to play if you derive enjoyment out of it. No one knows the sequence of numbers rolled, and it’s possible that the iron cross can score lots of wins and pressing of the inside numbers each time, whereas those that sit on 6&8 literally just sit there with no action. Anything is possible because the number of rolls are so short and variance kicks in. On a theoretical level, none of us should play a negative expectation game, because you can’t expect to ever win if you keep playing. At a realistic level, craps remains one of the best, most exciting games to play in Vegas. It’s why I go. I love it. In my opinion, playing the tightest game of craps you can is the right way of playing, because you lose the least. However, to travel thousands of miles to do this is not exciting. There’s no thrill. Gambling must be seen as a thrill. It must be exciting, because otherwise why would a rational person participate in something they know they are most likely to lose at? The iron cross strategy allows the player to win (something) on every roll if the 7 is avoided. What’s not to like. It’s not long term sensible, but then again, playing craps isn’t sensible either. And I’ll still be at the table next month. Not being sensible.
I personally don’t like playing this way. But it’s absolutely a reasonable strategy to apply to the game. There is no such thing as a good or bad strategy at a craps table. All a “strategy” does is affect the variance. Each individual wager is independent in the sense that they each carry their own house edge on their own merit. Playing multiple bets means the bets are correlated in terms of when they pay and when they lose. But making more bets, and the higher the house edge, the less likely someone is going to come out on top in a given session. And the longer the session, the less likely someone is coming out on top. But people having different strategies only changes their variance, and the correlation of the independent bets. Play how you want to play…learn the house edge on the bets you like to play…understand how the way you play affects your variance. I’ve found that the more someone tells people the “right” and “wrong” way to play craps…the more likely it is that they don’t know nearly as much as they think they do. Iron cross it up y’all.
There is no right or wrong way to play craps. You’re being paid on odds. I’ve seen people flop thousands on the field . They hit a few times and walk. I’ve seen others play thousands and lose it immediately. Play what you want but understand the bets that minimise the casinos edge.
Honestly when I get pretty drunk at the table I am all over the place. I'll have a don't pass bet with odds on the 5....Place bets on the 6 and 8...come bet without odds on the 10...don't come no odds on the 4....and just for fun I'll throw a field bet down every now and then. I don't even know what I'm pulling for half the time....I just like to have a good time at the table.
mostly agree, and it's kind of above my mathematical pay-grade, but IIRC, there is such a thing as insurance betting in the case of being one away on the ATS and if you're heavy covering every other number, laying a don't on the last.? anyone, one time at Cosmo the dealers insisted I should, laid out the rest of my rack on it, missed the ATS, and I guess it semi worked that time? worst problem was when the last # was 11. Don't think I could've at that point, other than continually 3 way hopping big red.
