I Love Craps

I play craps for fun. While winning is awesome, as long as I get a good long run for my money, I consider it entertainment.

With that in mind, I devised a new (to me at least) strategy for playing my favourite game involving dice and betting and 7. At a $5 table, the most I can lose with my general strategy (pass line, full odds on a 3-4-5 table, and come bets with full odds) is $155. That would only happen if every point was rolled only once, followed by a 7.

This scales up easily. $10 = $310 loss, $15 = $465 loss, $20 = $620, etc..

So, once I show a profit of $310, I planned to up my betting to $10 + full odds. This way, a total loss would bring me back to even, and I'd drop to my $5 betting. Remember, I'm doing this for fun, and don't mind losing the house's money. The plan would then lead to a $775 profit meaning $15 bets (drop to the $10 level on a loss), $1395 profit means $20 bets, etc..

Yesterday, it didn't start so well. There were a couple tight spaces on the table to fit into, and I dropped my usual $500 on the table (I just don't think less than 10x the min bet gets you enough space to play on craps if you don't start out winning. And reaching for the wallet is a sure way to kill your mojo). This promptly started dropping as the table was a bit chilly. Not cold yet, but certainly not a winning environment. Some bad shooters, yours truly included, kept that chip stack dropping. I was soon looking down at somewhere around $200, while X had already bought in three times (having gone in for less than me to start... see what I mean?). $200 isn't nearly enough for comfort with the way I play.

But then the old guy got the dice.

I love old guys at a craps table. Especially when a wife isn't around. Craps isn't a game you pick up when you're 70, it's a game you've played for decades at that point. These guys have seen ups, downs, huge runs and terrible losses, and they keep coming back for more. I'll let some old, slow, toothless guy in a faded baseball cap roll the dice any day of the week. And I'll cheer for him twice as loudly.

This one didn't disappoint. A 4-point firebet, with 7 points hit, later, I was looking at my first profit of the game. And with me and my posse (6 of us in total) at the table, he ended up with a smile splitting his face with all the cheering and pointing and high-fiving coming his way.

From there, there was a steady climb. Up a bit, break-even, up a bit more... and I kept track of my profit rack. It passed the $310 mark and on the next roller, I upped my bets.

And didn't really go anywhere. It was a break-even roll. Then I lost some on E's roll and dropped below the threshold.

Then the mean old supervisor announced that they'd be upping the limit after 3 more shooters.

Well, damn.

X was rolling next, and I have to have faith in my friends (except Recess "The Iceman" Rampage, screw that guy at the craps table). $5 on the firebet, and the $10 bets continue, despite being below the $310 profit mark.

And X promptly got me back over that mark, but only hit a single point on the way.

Next shooter was a quick bust, and we were down to the last shooter before the table price doubled.

He did everything in his power to hold off that rate increase. 4 points hit, and loooong rolls between them, with me betting $10 the whole way. I was quickly in "cruise control" mode, where all I had to do was take the chips being offered me and watch my rack fill up. $70 on every roll came my way. When the 7 was finally rolled, and we all coloured up, I had the biggest stack going into the middle. Just under $1700 in green and reds getting turned into a nice stack of blacks. $1200 profit baby!

Which of course meant that I should have upped to $15/bet $400 earlier. Which would technically have increased my profit approximately another $200. I can live with missing out on that opportunity.

So yah... I love craps.

Slots? Still the abusive sugar-momma in my relationship with gambling. She pays me just enough to keep me coming back, but likes to remind who's boss by slapping me around when I get too cocky. $200 lost to that gaping maw. Which is actually lower than average when the wheels don't spin my way.

**Bayne pointed out a miscalculation on my part. The $5 I have on the come wins 1:1 on a 7-out. I always forget this because it's so minor compared to the loss. But it does adjust the total possible loss at $5 to $145. This makes the next level up $290 profit, then $735 profit, then $1315, etc.. Same idea applies, just my numbers were off.