Craps: Seven Deadly Sins

Craps is the most exciting game in the casinos. Craps players are an interesting and diverse lot too – from working-class men and women betting a small percentage of their incomes, all the way up to the economic elite of society betting tens of thousands of dollars on a single roll of the dice.

“Baby needs a new pair of shoes,” one says. Another says, “I need a new Lear jet!” It doesn’t matter what category you are in, the game holds fascination and thrills galore no matter your betting level.

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Craps: Ruining Your Fun

Okay, this column might ruin your fun if you are a craps player. That is correct. As a busy-bodied gambling writer I want everyone to see craps the way I see it because, well, I am right.

First, as craps players know and as many novices hovering near the table can readily see, craps has such a variety of bets that it can give a new player a headache. Watching players throwing out their chips and calling out weird names (“I’ll take a C and E.” “Give me a Yo for five dollars!” “All the hard ways my man!”) will make many a wishful thinking would-be players scoot right back over to the slots. (“That craps game is crazy!”)

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Ask the Experts: How do I use the 5-count in Craps?

Featured Question: I like to play the Pass Line plus odds and two Come bets plus odds in craps. How would I use the 5-Count method? Do I play the Pass Line with no odds and wait for the 5-Count and then play odds on the Pass Line and then my two Come bets plus odds?

Or should I wait for the 5-Count and then play three Come bets plus odds or play the Pass Line plus odds and then wait for the 3-Count and start to play my Come bet plus odds? –Tim Dircksen

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Craps: Confessions of a Crazy Crapper

crapsCraps has a cornucopia of bets, ranging from the truly awful to the quite good in terms of the house edges. There are any number of ways you can bet the 11 numbers at the game (those 11 numbers being 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12). Some of these ways have low house edges and some — you guessed it! — have high house edges and some — you probably guessed it — have everything in between.The best bets at the game are Pass and Come or Don’t Pass and Don’t Come. All of these bets come in with a house edge of about 1.4 percent (with the “don’t” bets coming in a fraction of a percentage point less).

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