What is the 'Best' Progression for You?
You have read the books, you have taken the class and you have practiced your throw religiously for several weeks. You are finally to the point where you feel you can go attack the casino and make a 'withdrawal' at the craps table. When you finally arrive you notice a table that has your position available and it is not very crowded. You move to the table, buy in and the dice are about to be passed to you. You focus on the dice in the center of the table; determine what you need to do to quickly set the dice. The stickman slides the dice in your direction. You quickly set them, focus on your spot and launch them. They travel beautifully together, land softly, touch the back wall and die together. Your point is established and you place the six and eight for $12 each. You continue to roll for who knows how long. You are completely in the zone, hitting number after number. You are oblivious to your surroundings. All you energy and attention is on the dice. Eventually you are pulled from your zone by the inevitable words: 'Seven-out, line away.' You look at your watch – you have been rolling for 35 minutes. You are ecstatic. Everything has worked just the way you dreamed. Then you look at your chip rack and put the haphazardly placed collection of chips in order and count them. You find you are up 15 units. This is great, you think, but with a 35-minute roll it should have been more. Then it dawns on you – you did not press your bets.
This is a very common occurrence among those who are reasonably new to careful shooting. You get into the zone and just don't think about anything but throwing the dice. What you need to do is find a way to increase your bets and do it in a nearly automatic way. There are many progression methods available, but many of them require some mental gymnastics that tend to throw you out of the zone. Keep in mind that it is always prudent to only increase your bets on profits. If you are betting the six and eight, you will need at least two wins – three is better – before starting any progression. If you are betting the inside numbers you need three to four wins before increasing your bets.
A 'Buy' bet is the same as the place bet, only with a different payoff. When youBuy a point you pay a 5% commission and are paid true odds if the bet wins (2:1on the 4 and 10, 3:2 on the 5 and 9, and 6:5 on the 6 and 8). A craps dealer will have to calculate the same pass, place and come bets hundreds of times a day. While online casinos will use software to calculate payouts, dealers in land-based casinos gradually memorize the various payout odds in a craps game. The pass line and don't pass wagers are the most commonly placed bets in craps and also the most straightforward. A shooter will usually have to place one of them before making their come-out roll; and in some casinos, players must make one of them if they also want to place other wagers.
Two of the simplest progressions are the press-and-pull (or the pull-and-press variant) and the up-a-unit. As the name implies, the press-and-pull progression alternates between pressing the place bet when the number hits and pulling the profits when it hits. For example you place a $6 six. The first time it hits you take $6 of the $7 you win and press the six to $12. The next time a six rolls you take the $14 win (pull) and put it in your rack. Next hit on the six you use $12 of you $14 win and press the six to $24, etc. Since the dealer automatically knows the amounts you need in order to press a bet, the only thing you need to remember is whether you want to press or pull. This can be easily tracked by putting the same number of chips as you have place bets flat in the chip rack beside each other. For the press-and-pull progression have the chips pointing toward the table – indicating that you want to have the money go in that direction when the number hits. Once you press a bet, flip the corresponding chip to face you – indicating that you want to money to go in your direction when it hits the next time. Keep alternating as it hits.
The up-a-unit progression adds one unit to the place number each time it hits. Using the same $6 place bet on the six, the first time the six hits, you say 'up a unit, please' and the dealer will put $6 of your $7 win on the six and give you $1. The next time the six hits, the dealer will take $6 from your $14 win and add it to the bet on the six and give you $8. Each time the six hits, the dealer will add $6 to the bet and return the difference to you. This is the simplest progression of which I am aware. The only thing you have to remember is 'up a unit'. It is also noteworthy to mention that until you have hit a number at least 7 times, you will win more money playing up-a-unit than press-and-pull. The only exception is hitting the 5, 6, 8, or 9 exactly two times using the press-and-pull method.
So there you have it - two simple progression strategies. What could be simpler than just saying 'up a unit, please' each time a number hits? Also, this simpler method actually pays better most of the time. Remember two things, however, only raise your bets on winnings and practice is the key to performance and practicing progressions at home will make them a natural part of the routine. Make progressions a part of your winning strategy. For more please read more about progression betting strategies with Parts 2 and Part 3 in this series.
Also remember; accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
Stickman
It's amazing, but pass, don't pass, come, don't come, and odds (sometimes referred to as 'free odds') make up just a fraction of the bets available on a craps table. ThereBasil Nestor is the author of the new Playboy Complete Guide to Casino Gambling. This wonderful book teaches players how to avoid sucker bets and win more when playing gambling games. He is also the author of The Smarter Bet Guide series for video poker, slots, craps, and many other books about gambling. Basil's website is www.smarterbet.com are more than two dozen others!
None of them are as good as the wagers we've previously covered. You won't miss any bargains if you skip the next few articles and go our advanced craps strategy, but you will miss learning about some of the sneaky ways that a casino extracts a monster edge. Knowledge will also eliminate temptation, so you should read the next few sections to avoid being lured by whiz-bang payoffs and bets that are oh-so tempting to make.
Place Bets
Let's say a shooter throws the following sequence: 6,5,8,10,4,7. That's death to a do bettor; it's a bunch of points and then seven-out, a real drag. One alternative is to bet the don't, but there's no guarantee that the next sequence won't be 6,5,8,8,6,5. What can be done? Some players prefer to bet numbers directly so they'll pay off each time the shooter rolls those numbers.
A place bet is simply a wager that a number will appear before 7. The table below shows the various place bets, the odds, and how they pay.
Place Bets
True Odds | House Odds Pay | Place House Edge |
2:1 | $108 | |
5 | 7:5 | 4.0% |
6:5 | $70 | |
8 | 7:6 | 1.5% |
3:2 | $84 | |
10 | 9:5 | 6.7% |
Notice that the 6 and 8 have an edge that's just 0.1 percent worse than a bet on the line or come, but the edge nearly triples or quadruples on the rest of the numbers. A $60 bet on 4/10 pays $108, but odds would return $120. A bettor may not notice the $12 difference if the dice produce a lot of points, but in the long run the winning won't keep pace with the losing. A roll of 7 will appear frequently enough to wipe out the profits. When will that happen? It might take hours, days, years, or it could happen on the next roll. Remember, the house edge works. That's how casinos pay for the plush carpets and chandeliers.
A place bet is handled in a similar way to odds. Just put money down and say '$60 on the eight' or 'place it on the five.' A dealer will move the chips to the appropriate box. Also note that 6 and 8 should be wagered in multiples of six. If you bet $25 you'll only be paid for a win on $24.
Place bets are automatically off during a come-out. And of course, you can take them down at any time.
Buy Bets
Buy bets are similar to place bets, but they're paid at true odds. Sounds great! Did I mention the vig? What's a vig? We covered that in Chapter 2, but here's a quick refresher: Vig is short for vigorish, and it's basically a fee for making a bet. Strictly speaking, vigorish is synonymous with any casino house edge, but the word is mostly used in situations that involve a betting fee.
Buy bets are similar to place bets, but they're paid at true odds. Sounds great! Did I mention the vig? What's a vig? We covered that in Chapter 2, but here's a quick refresher: Vig is short for vigorish, and it's basically a fee for making a bet. Strictly speaking, vigorish is synonymous with any casino house edge, but the word is mostly used in situations that involve a betting fee.Craps Place Bets With Odds
Buy bets have a vig of five percent on the wager. Aside from that, they're handled like place bets. Tell the dealer which number you want to buy, and he'll take the vig and move the chips to the appropriate box.
True Odds (against) | 5% Vig | Buy House Edge (vig on win only) |
2:1 | 3 | 1.6% |
3:2 | 3 | 1.9% |
6:5 | 3 | 2.2% |
6:5 | 3 | 2.2% |
3:2 | 3 | 1.9% |
2:1 | 3 | 1.6% |
The vig is returned if the bet is taken down. An additional vig is charged every time the dice deliver a decision. Some casinos only charge a vig on winning wagers and that drops the edge considerably, particularly on the outside numbers (4/10).
As with place bets, buy bets are automatically off during a come-out, and you can take them down at any time.
Is there a casino in miami. Lay Bets
Lay bets (sometimes called no bets) are the mirror opposite of buy bets. They pay true odds when the shooter rolls a seven before the number. That makes a lay bet essentially the same as laying odds, except a five-percent vig is charged on the amount to be won.
Craps Come Bet Strategy
True Odds (against) | 5% Vig | Lay House Edge (vig on win only) |
1:2 | 3 | 1.6% |
2:3 | 4 | 1.9% |
5:6 | 5 | 2.2% |
5:6 | 5 | 2.2% |
2:3 | 4 | 1.9% |
1:2 | 3 | 1.6% |
As with buy bets, the vig is returned if the bet is taken down. An additional vig is charged every time the dice produce a decision. Also note that some casinos charge a vig only on winning wagers.
Lay bets are always on unless you request them to be turned off.
As with buy bets, the vig is returned if the bet is taken down. An additional vig is charged every time the dice produce a decision. Also note that some casinos charge a vig only on winning wagers.
Lay bets are always on unless you request them to be turned off. Play hail to the king.
Squeezing the House
Of course, if a player really wants to squeeze the house, then the best strategy is to avoid place, buy, and lay bets altogether. Some craps enthusiasts would argue that they're not 'bad' bets when compared to slots and roulette. That's true. The world won't end if you play them. But your bankroll may die prematurely. If you make these bets, just be aware that you're paying for the pleasure.
