Craps Aggressive Strategy

When playing craps, you can place a wide range of bets. Some of these bets have low house edges; a few have less than 2% and pay one-to-one. Other bets have slightly higher payouts with house edges of about 6% (give or take), and then there are what my mentor, the Captain of Craps, referred to as the Crazy Crapper proposition bets, which can pay out large sums on relatively small bets but have extremely high house edges, often exceeding 10%.

Please keep in mind that a 10% house edge translates into one dollar for every $10 wagered, or ten dollars for every $100 wagered. Based on the house edge percentage, this will provide an accurate description of what you will face. What you are dealing with is also referred to as your "expectation."

Players' betting options range from excellent craps bets to a full load of Crazy Crapper bets. However, most players operate in or near the middle of the spectrum, rather than at either end. These middle-of-the-road players follow a general pattern:

• A pass line bet with odds

• Some place bets on the box numbers

• Perhaps buy bets on the 4 and/or 10

• Perhaps come bets with odds

• Some single-roll proposition bets with generally high payouts but also high house edges

So, in this article, I'd like to talk about radical ways to play. These range from good ways to lower the house edge and keep your bankroll from taking a hit to really aggressive craps strategies that have the radical bettor going after the casino's gold even though the risks are as high as the player's high house edges.

Let's begin with the most aggressive player. He (or she) wants the thrill of knowing he can walk away with a large sum of money at the end of this session. He is aware that the bets he is placing have high house edges, but the lure of large payouts colors his vision - and that color is green, or whatever color the paper money is in the country where he is playing.

Please keep in mind that 90% to 95% of craps players are men. It is unusual to see a woman at a craps table without a companion. So I'll refer to the average craps player as "he."

Such players are consumed by the thrill of the chase for big money, the same thrill that drives players to major slot machine jackpots and state lotteries. When they play, they do not wait to test the waters; instead, they dive right in to sink or swim.

Even such aggressive radical players may make a pass line bet with odds, as most players do because it is traditional craps form (very few players go the darkside and don't pass or don't come even though these are good bets), but after that traditional pass line bet, the aggressive player lets it all hang out.

THE MOST RISKY BETTING PRACTICES

The following are the most popular bets for aggressive players: (most of these are one-roll bets except for the hardways bets of the 4, 6, 8 and 10)

• Hard 6 (made 3:3) or hard 8 (made 4:4), payout is nine to one and the house edge is 9.09%

• Hard 4 (made 2:2) or hard 10 (made 5:5), payout is seven to one and the house edge is 11.11%

• The C&E, which means the craps numbers and the 11, payout is three to one on the craps numbers and seven to one on the 11, and the house edge is 11.11%

• Any craps, which means 2, 3, 12, payout is seven to one and the house edge is 11.11%

• Straight up 2 (known as snake eyes), payout is 30 to one and the house edge is 13.89%

• Straight up 3, payout is 15 to one and the house edge is 11.11%

• Straight up 7 (known as big red), payout is four to one and the house edge is 16.67%

• Straight up 11 (known as yo-eleven), payout is 15 to one and the house edge is 11.11%

• Straight up 12 (known as boxcars or midnight), payout is 30 to one and the house edge is 13.89%

• The horn which numbers are 2, 3, 11, or 12, payout is 27 to four with 2 and 12, three to one with 3 and 11, and the house edge is 12.5%

• The whirl or world which are numbers 2, 3, 7, 11 or 12, payout is 26 to five with 2 or 12, 11 to five with 3 or 11, the 7 is a tie, and the house edge is 13.33%

• Individual hop bets where player calls out the combinations of the dice; the various edges will depend on how the player wishes the dice faces to appear

You can see how damaging these bets can be to a player's bankroll. Nonetheless, the payouts make these bets appealing because they all return far more than one-to-one. That allure is the impetus for betting on them.

Now, radical aggressive players tend to bet aggressively on these propositions. If you're at a table with them, you'll notice chips flying through the air as players yell, "Give me a Yo-Eleven!" "Big red, my man!" “C&E!” "Both high and low!" "All the difficult routes!"

The players who just keep winging their bets onto the layout even when the shooter has the dice and is ready to throw are the real annoyances (for me!). These players don't appear to be aware that a game is being played because the majority of their bets are one-rollers that have no bearing on the game itself.

Please keep in mind that because the aggressive players must throw their bets onto the layout and call out what they are, they must be extremely careful not to disrupt the flow of the game. Many are careful, and some will place their bet on the layout in front of the dealer closest to them and tell that dealer what bet they want; however, the most annoying, radical, and aggressive players are not at all careful.

Okay, it is obvious that I am not a fan of truly radical and aggressive players, particularly those who show little courtesy to other craps players at their tables, and I express my displeasure with the way they play. I'm well aware that my view of gambling and their view of gambling are completely different. In the world of betting our own hard-earned money, they have every right to cancel their bets on the propositions, as I do.

MANY PROBLEMS WHEN PLAYING AGGRESSIVELY

Because the aggressive player is seeking a massive win, he has a tendency to play for too long and to bet excessively if things do not go his way. The calculation is actually quite simple. "I have to win sooner or later!" he thinks. All gamblers are familiar with this adage, which, while seemingly true, can be devastating to a player when things go wrong—and things can go wrong for a long, long time.

The radical, aggressive player does not keep a gambling bankroll and instead gambles on the fly. In a very short period of time, his mental state can shift from hopeful to desperate. Many of the craps players who are grumbling the loudest and most frequently tend to be the most radical and aggressive players. I've been to tables where the most aggressive player is trailing while almost everyone else is ahead!

THE GENUINELY CONSERVATIVE RIGHT-SIDE PLAYERS

Many casino craps players consider conservative bettors to be those who place a pass line bet, back it with odds, and then place a couple of come bets with odds. Keeping the pass line and come bets as small as possible while increasing the odds gives the house a truly small edge over the multiple-bet conservative player.

Please keep in mind that very few craps players consider the darkside don't pass and don't come as options, despite the fact that these bets have the lowest house edges, which can be further reduced by laying the odds. This attitude is incorrect, but the craps culture sees darksiders as outsiders as well! The information in this section for the right side will generally apply to the darkside as well.

This right-handed multiple-bet player is unquestionably a conservative craps player. Less conservative bets include the 6 and/or 8, which have a house edge of 1.52 percent. One might wonder why I would say that placing the 6 and/or 8 is not a radical conservative bet when the only difference is a house edge of 1.41 percent on pass line and come bets versus a house edge of 1.52 percent on place bets.

The reason is often hidden, but it exists. To get the seven to six dollar payout, you must place the 6 and/or 8 in six dollar increments. The pass line or come bet can be placed in $5 increments. The difference now becomes an expected loss of nine cents for every six dollars bet on the 6 and/or 8, but only seven cents on the pass and come.

Let me repeat that: you will lose $90 on the 6 and/or 8 for every $70 you lose on the pass line and come bets. That figure, to me, speaks volumes. While placing the 6 and/or 8 is a good bet, it is not particularly daring in my opinion.

THE RIGHTSIDE RADICAL CONSERVATIVE BETTER

I am a true right-wing conservative bettor. I am no longer considered conservative because I will never have more than one bet open at any given time. That is a pass line bet with odds or a come bet with odds, but not both. So it's one bet for me versus the seven against me—a one-on-one match!

Yes, I am aware that even conservative bettors believe that placing only one bet is insane; where is the action in that?

The myth that action is good for players is promoted by casinos and, yes, by players who crave multiple bets as well as those who enjoy making high house edge bets. That does not sit well with me. To me, I can play craps for much longer in any given session, day, week, month, and year. In fact, most years, I could be found gambling for 130 days.

It was my number versus the 7, and no other numbers existed. I chose to ignore them. I treated them the same way I treat all the numbers that are currently rolling in casinos around the world; they don't exist for me.

Please keep in mind that if a conservative player makes three bets at once using pass and come, he reduces his bankroll hit by two-thirds. Even if the one-bet bettor plays twice as long as usual, he will reduce the house's hit on his bankroll by one-third.

Betting one bet relaxes me and allows me to enjoy the game's swings. Darkside players should adhere to the same rule: one bet only.

THE COMPLIANCE QUESTION

Radical aggressive players can call them up if they enjoy receiving comps from casinos. The fact that these players might lose money excites casinos, and casinos will definitely give comps to these players. A large number of high house-edge bets will result in a large number of comps.

The comp formula will not benefit the one-bet bettor. Such players are not particularly valuable to the casino unless the pass line or come bet is extremely large, say $100 or more.

That doesn't bother me at all. I can pay for my own meals and the shows I want to see. My savings from playing allow me to spend money on other things.

You've seen both ends of the betting spectrum. What role do you play?