Table Games What is your strategy to leave the Craps table?

Craps has found its way into my list of favorite things to do in Vegas lately, but I believe I am leaving my chips on a craps table too long and always seem only walk away after a seven-out kills me.

I'm the kind of aggressive bettor who seeks out the hot streaks and loves to press my bets, but of course that makes me vulnerable for losing 3, 4 or 5 times my starting bet when the inevitable happens.

I'm curious to hear what other's strategies might be.
How can I improve my ways to profit?
How often and when do you take down your bets?
Do you ever walk way other than after a seven?

Your help is appreciated!

 

I’m a conservative bettor so take that for what it’s worth. I’m not into betting big so I’m also not going to lose my session bankroll in one swoop either. What I’m looking for at the table may differ each time I walk up - although I’m always looking to be ahead when I color up!

Here’s a few things I do:
• Set a % win/loss amount and step away at that point.
• Don’t be afraid to turn bets off, or take them down, once hitting so many rolls per shooter. I use this a lot to try and build bets up on the table so nothing comes from my rack when it’s my turn to shoot and I let them ride as long as I’m comfortable.
• Play games within the game.
• Don’t bet on every shooter.

 

Put chips in your pocket and set a loss limit...if I buy in for 400 I'm out when I lose 175 and walk away for awhile. A lot of will say you need to deal with the variance but I just go grab a drink then hit up a different table.

 

First, realize you are there for enjoyment and entertainment and not to win. Stop when you are no longer having fun. Certainly go with an idea of how much you are willing to lose and stick to it

second, I find it odd that people will say "quit when you double your money". If you travel hours (or more) to go to a casino and double you money in 20 minutes, are you heading home?

as for "pressing bets": I play a middle approach, not risky, not conservative. I play pass with single odds and then 2 or 3 place bets at the minimum. I'll collect the first 2 or 3 winners of any kind. At that point I am close to breaking even.

After that, when a place bet wins I say "up a unit". That means I am increasing my bet, but also putting some of the profit into my rack. I never full press. I'll continue to "up a unit" until a place bet is up to $30 or $40. At that point, I'll go up two units or more, but always taking more profit than I "re-invest".

when the shooter sevens out, start over again.

this allows you to ride a hot shooter while protecting against a quick seven out

 

I think there’s some differing trains of thought on this wording. It may actually be true of get up and go home for someone that is relatively close to a casino or plays often. For those who travel hours to get to a casino, then the “walk/step away” becomes more of a short-term breather than to actually leave. It can simply be to cover your chips to sit down and relax, get a bite to eat, or may even mean stop for the day. I think it all depends on your intentions.

 

Unless you're only covering one point, can you walk away after anything but a seven without leaving money on the table?

My strategy is to dupe myself into believing the dealers and boxman don't notice when I surreptitiously put chips in my pockets if I'm up and they've looked away for a moment.

If losing, I leave when my bankroll for that session has dwindled to the point I can't play the pass line with odds.

If winning, when I perceive my pockets are pretty full... I've tripled my buy-in or more, I leave when I perceive a change in temperature... e.g. been a winning table, but then one or two shooters make a point then seven-out in two or three rolls. Certainly illogical, but I feel tables are streaky.

And, irrationally, I've been known to pull down my odds and place bets, and let my flat bets play out when a group of wrong betters arrives at a table. Disproportionately detest people cheering at seven-out. Leave ASAP. It's only happened a few times in my life, but I've never missed on any big wins as a result.... (except now I've probably jinxed this quirky behavior.)

 

I hear you. But even then- do you walk away from a hot table if the first shooter doubles your money? Even if that "walk away" is only for a "short term breather"

Maybe I am in the minority, but when I go to play craps, I go to play craps, not to play for half an hour then color up. Not to take my bets down after 3 hits and take up space around the table until the next shooter.

I buy in for $300 or $500 and hope to play for a few hours. My approach seems to make that happen more often than not.

 

not sure why you do it "surreptitiously". They don't care if you are doing it for cash management purposes. If you have $300 of reds in you pocket, they might rather you color up before you leave, but a handful of greens or black are no big deal.

 

Any body remember the thread we had a while back where we talked about "ratholing". It was a term used among casino operators where people would store chips in their pockets.

Not illegal by any means, there was some back and forth about casinos frowning upon it. For myself, if I ever find myself in a situation where the chips are coming in faster than I can manage I'd sure as hell will store some in my pockets.

As far as leaving the table strategy, I usually play across and press the bet after it wins the second time. Each bet is treated individually. It must win the first time before I press it.

I also place 1/2 of my buy-in on the lower right hand corner of the rail. As I get dangerously close to this stack I will make a gut decision as to whether I still want to play. This depends on how the table is doing. If it is choppy most likely I will stay for one more round.

 

Its a behavior that started in the 90s at Tahoe.

Id be at the table. Another player would leave. Id always hear the pitboss or boxman ask the dealers how much the player left with as they entered info into the computer.

And, my stops at the players' club, (pre-kiosk days) the representative would tell me "you played xxxxxx for xxxx minutes, wagered xxxxxx, won xxxxxxx" Felt the win/loss was a part of the equation, albeit much smaller part than wager and time.

So, even though I believe most places dont care about tracking table game play, unless playing for very long periods at higher bets than I make..... its become part of my ritual.

 

My buy-in is roughly same as yours and most of the time I have same approach in mind - to stay for awhile. No matter what, I will go around the table twice playing my intended strategy for the day/session as I always want to shoot a minimum of two separate times. If the the table is hot (or stays hot) during that initial stay and I’m up, I may simply adjust betting so that I walk away with a profit even if I stay awhile.

If I’m playing a certain amount of rolls and off, I will tell the dealer what I’m doing upfront so he/she is ready and will know. I also have them in on bets more often and will toss money to inside of table to keep interest. Other times I may simply take most bets down and play “games” on specific bets to see if it can win. I’ve tried to see how many times I can have a single unit bet win; and other times I’ve tried to get a single unit bet pressed up to $500 or more by moving it around the table. As crazy as it may sound, it makes the game as a whole take on different shape and gets me thinking more.

 

I usually buy-in from $200-$500. I may walk for a while if I go down 50% of the buy-in. Sometimes I don't. As far as win limit, I have none. I do start to "protect" wins as I move up. First, 50% of my buy-in and then moving up as far as possible based on winnings accumulated. for example, if I buy-in for $400, get to $800, I will usually not let myself go below $600 before walking. There are no "exact" numbers to it; I just want to make sure a decent win remains just that. If I played more often, I might tighten the parameters but casinos are a 3-4 trip a year thing for us and some of those trips are for one day.

I do get aggressive on the presses, but not as aggressive as some. 6/8 betting $12, $18, $30, $42, $60, $72, $90, $120, $150, $180, $240, $300...well, that is as high as I have gotten so far!

I also bet higher on the pass line/odds (based on 3/4/5 odds) when there is a decent run.

Each roll has an individual outcome but sometimes a whole bunch of good ones happen a row. You won't catch me with someone rolling for 15 minutes, and good numbers coming up, without some decent sized bets on the table.

I'm there to have fun!

 

I would not bet on any other player until I watched them throw the dice. Let the dice go around the table. Bet big on the thoughtful shooter and take down the bets after two hits. Play the DC after the point is established on the Disney tourist that has not rolled more than a few times before rolling seven. If you liked the game battle ship when you were a kid place your money across and wait to see what happens. It's real fun to watch. During a convention the dice will return to you quickly. Make the most of it. No different than when you guy's are reading a poker table.

 

I've got the same problem of enjoying the game too much to leave.
There's an old saying "leave the table when the hot roll is over". Times when I have it's been fine, (also, if you color out, leave the table, don't stick around to watch and play what if..)
Now, if I stay I restart betting more conservatively. (that usually doesn't last long)

Last trip I've been trying some new strategies I've seen on Color Up. (the youtube Craps channel linked to CEG I think)
including:
-pressing onto more numbers with house money, (wins).
-placing more numbers instead of the come bets I used to do (supposedly gets you a bit better rating than pass/come and your unrated odds)
-using a collect once, press once, repeat technique.

last trip I was lucky enough to see a few incredible hot rolls, rathole a few chips, hit an all small, (just missing 10 for all tall & all), and had two rolls so long I was physically and mentally exhausted from the pressing.. I had to go to the bar to catch my breath, and slow down my heart. ever get that hot warm feeling inside while shooting, as if a spotlight is on you, and the world goes slow mo? It's strange and wonderful. A few rolls, presses, parlays after that I'm sometimes almost physically shaking.

I might walk away when I see the rotation get to a known "cold" side of the table. Then again I've been reminding myself you don't have to bet anything, or you could even don't (I never really don't), you can just stand at your spot and watch until you feel like betting..

 

I grind the Don't using a play that has worked pretty well.
I play for 1 hour and no more than that, but less if I double my buy-in before the hour is up.

ps. I scout for tables that seem "sour".not a lot of cheering and hi -fiving.
a choppy table is my best friend.

 

all that being said, I am also still looking for others answers to this.

flip side: during a point in my trip I was having so much fun, I rebought repeatedly, tapping out the days BR.. Still don't quite regret it. It was the rare convergence of very skilled dealers and great fun tablemates winning (and losing), and cheering (and groaning) as a team. I think that session was at least 6 hours.

 

It all comes down to getting everyones opinion and trying it and see what works for the moment for you. The fun thing about Craps is there are many ways to play it and have fun. It's what works for you that matters. I played with two hundred bucks recently on an empty table playing just the $25 Pass-line for two hours and had a fun afternoon. I was up and down but left with my original bank. I played $40 into Kronos and won some free games after that. I love Kronos.
There are days when that is all I want to do. And eat.

 

There’s no perfect or single strategy that will ensure a profit. You’re going to encounter risk no matter what, but here are some things I’ve employed previously (if you don’t mind the grind of the game):

• Place single unit on one number, collect first hit, then build out however you want after additional hits. You will have your initial single bet back plus small profit and everything on the table is profit too. Take bets down or keep playing as long as you desire.
• Bet the DP to establish point. Then place the point and await either a winner or 7-out. You will break even on Big Red or will be up difference if point winner. If points are hitting, you can take those winnings to cover hardways or save up enough winners to eventually cover other numbers.
• Lay 4 or 10 and wait for Big Red to show. This can be good for a come out roll when many people are trying for the 7.

Yes, I know these aren’t foolproof, but there is minimal risk to start and you can miss out on longer rolls at times. You can’t play the “what if” game though - that will get you every time!

 

yeah, I know how it feels when you have a lot of money on the table and the shooter 7 outs. Sometimes I have over $500 out on the table (when the shooter 7 outs) that I wish I could have back (too late though, lol).

One thing I do for my bets, I don't increase/press my bet until the shooter has hit that number a 2nd time. So that means that I won my initial/increased amount before I increase my bets again. I keep doing it as the shooter keeps going, win one and pocket winnings, shooter hits again and I press my bets. I only press the bets on the number that the shooter hits, I won't split my bet between that number and the corresponding number (like 6/8, 4/10, 5/9). The problem with this technique is that you won't win as much and it takes longer to get big winnings but at least you get to pocket your initial bets so you walk away with something.

Funny story, I was at MSS a little over 2 weeks ago. One night one shooter kept hitting only 1 number regularly! I normally place the 6 and 8 and the shooter kept hitting the 8 so I only pressed the 8. He rolled other numbers (2, 3, 11, 12) and once and a while hit the 6, 5 and 9 (no 4/10). It was so funny, I didn't have any bets on the 4 and 10 and very small bets on the 6, 5 and 9 but I had over $120 on the 8. One player even started playing the hop on 8. He won a couple of them.

It was almost like he was hitting the 8 every 3rd roll. And this was over a 35 minute roll so it was awesome for me.