Craps is a very popular game, mostly for the fact that it is so easy to play and takes place under an interactive atmosphere of intimacy and camaraderie. The premise of the game remains the same no matter where you are and with whom you play: the dice are rolled, and the players bet on the roll of the dice. It can be played in formal or informal settings, in brick-and-mortar or craps casinos online, and money is wagered against the casino or other players, depending upon the situation you chose. (To find good craps casino sites with top-notch service, don’t forget to visit bestcrapscasinosites.com for an impressive collection)
Craps might be as easy a game as any might even be more familiar to most people than Donald Trump (probably?), but that does not mean players don’t make mistakes. Most people don’t necessarily understand the odds and math behind the play. These small blunders are usually the very things that cost them a nice profit.
Here are four of the most common mistakes craps players make that they later regret:
Making bets without being familiar with the odds
Craps offers a lot of wagers, which is another reason why it is so popular with players. Seeing so many options in which to bet, inexperienced participants think they might have a chance to win no matter what they stake their money on. But here’s where the catch comes in. Certain craps prop bets have house edges ranging in the double digits, like Any 7 (16.6%), Hard 4 / Hard 10 (11.11%), and Place 4 / Place 10 (6.67%). This is even worse knowledge for a losing player when he/she comes to realize that there are so many other, better wagers they could have played at. For example, don’t pass line / don’t come bet has a house edge of 1.36%, Pass line/ come bet of 1.41%, and Place 6 / Place 8 has a house edge of 1.52%.
These bets are quite easy to find if a player only keeps his/her head and looks. They are written in big letters on the table.
Not knowing or failing to take advantage of Craps odds
Craps is a truly unique game in that, though it offers bets with staggeringly high house edges, it also has a bet with no house edge at all. What is unfortunate is that many craps players fail to take advantage of this opportunity since they don’t even know about it.
Odds is a bet a player places behind a pass line or don’t pass line wager. A player ‘takes odds’ when he/she wagers behind pass line and ‘lays odds’ when wagering behind don’t pass line. This bet plays at true odds, that being the reason why it doesn’t have any house edge.
A player should wait for the establishment of a certain point before backing either a pass line or don’t pass line wager with odds. Don’t forget to notify the dealer while making these bets in a land-based casino since there isn’t any specific box on the table. In an online casino, make as many odds bets as you can you the maximum profit out of it.
Expecting more profit by hedging bets
Most amateur craps players think that by hedging their bets, they can make sure they win something per every round. The idea behind hedging is to cover multiple numbers per round so that they have strong chances of winning at least one wager.
Hedging bets look good on paper, and might even work out rarely, but the main problem with this stratagem is that there is no plan to overcome the house edge, especially in high stake bets like Any Craps, which has a whopping house edge of 11.11%.
Hedging bets might be a fun way of adding more intrigue and action to the game, but often players don’t look at their long-term odds of winning and end up losing more than they profit.
Believing that dice control will make winning at craps a certainty
There are many casino games that now have advantage-play methods that give a player an opportunity to win long term profits. Amongst advantage-play techniques, there is one called dice control, which some believe is the perfect way to beat craps.
Dice control works on a simple system. An expert holds the dice in a specific way and tosses it in the belief that he/she can control the roll. In carps, a controlled shooter is mostly looking to avoid throwing 7s. He/she does not have to produce the desired result too often, only that they avoid throwing 7 once in a while.
Though dice control has many advocates to beat craps, most industry experts have a consensus that it is all a big hoax. There are too many variables in craps, it is noted, and it is almost impossible to control crap tosses with any lasting certainty. The diamond-patterned back wall off which the dice are tossed also make controlling a throw more impossible than not.
Players should avoid falling for dice control as the ultimate secret to winning at craps.