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Dealing out some crap
Dear Mark,
Could you please give me some advice on which are
the best proposition
bets, percentage, wise on a crap game? Kent H.
Opportunities are everywhere on a crap game, Kent,
but as the wise man
said, “Abandon hope all yee who enter.” No
proposition bets, even if
they seem attractive with high payoffs, are worth
risking your
hard-earned money on. Nadda one! The stickman who is
barking their
performance is just inducing play on wagers that are
all "house bets,"
one carrying a casino advantage of more than 16%.
Allow me, Kent, to share a few (oh, there are plenty
of these land
mines on a crap table) of the many popular
proposition wagers and why
they are so damaging fiscally to your wallet.
Any Seven: The actual odds of an Any Seven wager are
5 to 1, but the
bet payoff is 4 to 1. The house edge on this one
roll bet is 16.67% to
one, the absolute worst on the crap game.
Snake Eyes (2) or Boxcars (12): There is only one
way to make a 2 or a
12. The odds against either are 35 to one, but the
house payoff is 30
to one. The house edge on this one roll bet is
13.89%.
Any Craps: Craps are the numbers 2, 3, and 12. The 2
and 12 can be made
just one way, the 3 two ways. The odds against any
craps happening are
36 to 4 or 9 to 1. The correct payoff should be 8 to
1, but the casino
is only willing to part with 7 to 1. The house edge
on this one-roll
bet is 11.1%.
Ace-Duece (1, 2) or the Yo Eleven (11): There are
two ways that the
three and eleven can be made out of the 36 possible
number
combinations. The odds of making either are 36 to
two or 18 to one. The
correct odds are 17 to one but the house payoff is
15 FOR one. The
house edge on this one roll bet is 11.1%.
Hardways: Hardways allows the player to bet that the
numbers 4, 6, 8
and 10 will show on the dice as matched pairs (2 and
2, 3 and 3, 4 and
4, 5 and 5) before the 7 occurs, or an easy way 4,
6, 8, and 10 (using
six as an example: 2 and 4, 4 and 2, 5 and 1, 1 and
5). For the hard 6
and 8, the correct odds on these two numbers is 10
to 1, with the
payoff being 9 to 1, and a house edge of 9.1%. As
for the hard four and
10, the correct odds on these numbers is 8 to 1, but
the payoff is only
7 to 1 giving the casino an 11.1% edge.
So next time, Kent, you here the stickman bellowing
the virtues of a
proposition wager, though it will eventually hit,
probability dictates
that it, like other proposition bets, will certainly
eat away at your
billfold until nothing is left in it but the smell
of old leather.
Choose instead to participate on low house edge
actions like a Pass
Line bet or Placing the 6 or 8. Both of these wagers
have a low house
advantage of less than 1.5%, making them arguably
the best bets in the
casino.
Online Gambling quote of the week: "A preponderance of good
players refuse to
accept a momentary defeat. They feel frustrated and
angry. Beads of
perspiration dot their foreheads. Faces are flushed,
palms sweaty. This
reaction obviously affects their playing ability."
--Ian Andersen,
Turning The Tables On Las Vegas (1976)
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