Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?

How about the secrets of winning at crapless craps?

Many casinos have Crapless Craps now, and it looks promising. You cant lose on the comeout to a 2, 3, or 12, and yet you still win on the seven! Sounds good, but if its such a great deal, why are the regular tables so much more crowded than the crapless craps ones?

One reason is the casino advantage. The slight come out advantage is offset by the fact that all of the other numbers besides the seven can become the point. So, on a pass line bet you can now end up with a point of 2, 3, 11 or 12. This actually increases the pass line casino edge from 1.4% to 5.3%! Plus, there are no dont come, dont pass or lay bets, so a regular game offers more of an advantage to the player than does a crapless game.

Wanna know how craps pros win at Crapless Craps?

Lets find out!

One of the worst bets now is the pass line bet (5.3% casino edge), so this should be avoided at all costs. The standard 6 & 8 place bets is still there, same as in a regular craps game. A lot of people just play that and get along fine. After a seven rolls, just place both the six and eight for $30 each and when either hits take them both down and then wait for another seven before betting again. But there is a way to make some unique bets on this layout if you dont mind getting a little adventurous.

The outside numbers in this game are the craps numbers in the regular game - 2, 3, 11 and 12. When you place the 2/12 you get 11:2 odds. When you place the 3/11 you get 11:4 odds. However when you BUY the same numbers (and pay a 5% vig) you get 6:1 on the 2/12, and 3:1 on the 3/11. Your job is to ask the friendly dealer to give you a better deal than the table advertises. You do this by "pushing the house" to decrease the vig charged.

If you buy the 2, 3, 11 or 12 for $20 (the minimum buy bet) you pay 5% or $1. If you buy it for $40 you pay $2 vig. Ask the friendly dealer if you can buy the 2, 3, 11 or 12 for $36 and still only pay $1 vig. If he says yes, ask him then if you can split up your bet and instead of betting $36 on one number, ask him if you can bet $9 each on all four numbers and still pay $1 vig for everything. If he says yes to this (you do tip the dealers, dont you?) then youve got a super deal and should stay with this dealer as long as possible.

With a $9 bet on the 2 and 12 you win $54 (at 6:1) and on the 3/11 you win $27. If your dealer is really, really friendly (look for a nice smiling dealer on a fairly empty table) you can make this bet and take everything down after one hit and then wait for another seven before putting them all back up again.

If the dealer resists your offer, just come back later and try it with someone else, or bet the 6 & 8 method described above. But you should try to push the house whenever possible! Its lots of fun to do - and very profitable!

Pssst...! Now you know the secrets of winning at Crapless Craps!

(c) 2006 by Larry Edell