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Lesson Two
Playing Right! The Dice Will Pass
Okay, you now have the language of the
game, the dance steps to dance. You also know what a game of craps looks like and some of the
movements of the game. Thus far we have covered,
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The language of the game
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Craps and Dice
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The personal of the game, dealers,
stickman and boxman
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What a game looks like in action
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The Buy-in
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Shooting the dice
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Pass Line Bet
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Don’t Pass Line
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Bet The math of the game
Let’s move on to a more detailed and
important aspect of dice, Playing Right, or Playing the Pass
Line. The Pass Line bet is the backbone of your game. It has the least house advantage
(1.4%) so, everything, every movement of your game is built on a Pass Line
bet first. (or at lease it is recommended)
We already know that the Pass Line bet is
made during a Come Out roll. The Pass Line bet is a contract bet and is paid
even money when it wins. It wins when either a 7
or 11 roll on a Come Out, or after repeating the point number,
4 ,5, 6, 8, 9, 10 when establishing a
point on the Come Out roll.
The Best Kept
Secret
A bet not advertised on the table layout is the
odds bet. Often referred to as Free Odds. But as you recall, from studying
of
the language of the game, in order to make a Free Odds bet, you must first have a Line bet down. I guess I do not
understand the phrase Free Odds. It costs a line bet in order to have a free bet??
Okay, where is this Free Odds bet on the
layout. Just about every bet allowed is labeled on the layout except the one that the casino has
the least advantage over. That’s right, there is a place for this bet but nowhere is it advertised. You
have to know about it like some kind of secret word to get in a club. Usually the dealers will be kind
enough to tell you about the Free Odds bet and where to place it. Do not get into
the habit of taking dealers advice. True they are there to help you and they
are employees of the casino. It is by far a smarter move to know the game
than depend on the casino to supply your knowledge.
The Free Odds bet, also know as the Odds
bet, is placed behind your Line
bet, toward you. You should have space between your Line bet and your Odds
bet, about two inches. The Odds bet is not placed in or on the Pass Line
space but in the apron, on the layout. The reason for spacing is to keep a
die from landing as a leaner between your chips.
The amount you may bet in Odds varies from
casino to casino. It is recommended that until you have a command of the
game that you stick with double odds in the beginning. Double Odds is twice
whatever your line bet is. If you have a $5 line bet, you make an Odds bet
of $10. 2 X 5 = 10
The house advantage on a Line bet with
double odds is about .4%
When the bet wins, you are paid even money
for the line bet and true odds for the Odds portion of the wager. The
true
odds paid is determined by the point number. Odds are express by the number of ways a point has of winning
verses the number of ways of losing to the 7.
Lets look at the 6/8 for example. Referring
back to the table in lesson one, (see below) the 6 or 8 have five
combinations of rolling.
The six has 1/5, 5/1, 2/4, 4/2 and 3/3.
The eight has 2/6, 6/2, 3/5, 5/3, and 4/4.
Those are the five ways of rolling 6 or 8.
The seven has six combinations of rolling.
1/6, 6/1, 2/5, 5/2, 3/4, 4/3.
So, with the 6/8, we have 5 ways to
win and with the 7, we have six ways
to lose. Thus the odds for the 6 or the 8 are 6:5.
A $5 line bet with double odds, $10, is
paid a total of $17. $5 is paid for the line at even money and $6 is paid
for every $5 bet in odds. You have two $5 chips = $10 in odds. 2 X 6
= 12. 12+5=17.
The Odds bet pays true odds for each of the
box numbers, 4,5,6,8,9,10. See the
table below for more clarity.
Some casinos offer raiser odds, and or
multiple odds greater than raiser odds. Again, when you are just learning,
double odds will be plenty for you to play, win or lose.
For you convenience we repeat the table for
true odds so you can figure the odds for your self when
making a Free Odds bet.
TRUE ODDS
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
|
2 to 1 |
3 to 2 |
6 to 5 |
6 to 5 |
3 to 2 |
2 to 1 |
|
Pays 2 units for
every 1 unit bet |
Pays 3 units for
every 2 units bet |
Pays 6 units for
every 5 units bet |
Pays 6 units for
every 5 units bet |
Pays 3 units for
every 2 units bet |
Pays 2 units for
every 1 unit bet |
There are six sides to a die and with two
dice; there are thirty-six combinations possible. Below is a table of the
thirty-six possibilities for rolling the eleven numbers.
The 36 Possible Combinations of Two
Dice:
|
Number |
Dice Combinations
|
Ways of Rolling |
|
2 |
1-1 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
2 |
|
4 |
1-3, 2-2, 3-1 |
3 |
|
5 |
1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1 |
4 |
|
6 |
1-5, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2,
5-1 |
5 |
|
7 |
1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3,
5-2, 6-1 |
6 |
|
8 |
2-6, 3-5, 4-4, 5-3,
6-2 |
5 |
|
9 |
3-6, 4-5, 5-4, 6-3 |
4 |
|
10 |
|
3 |
|
11 |
5-6, 6-5 |
2 |
|
12 |
6-6 |
1 |
|
|
|
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The odds are expressed as a ratio of the
number of ways of rolling a certain number, divided by the total possible combinations. Examples:
There is one possible combination of rolling 12, 6/6. Thus the odds of 12
rolling is one in thirty-six or 1/36. There are six possible combinations
for 7 to roll, thus the odds of a 7 rolling are 6/36 or 1/6.
True odds are an expression of the number
of possible winning combinations to the number of losing combinations of the
seven. Example: For the 6 or 8 the true odds are 6 to 5. Six ways of losing
to five ways of winning, 6:5
This concludes your lesson 2 on playing
the Pass Line.
To review, the best bet in craps is a Pass
Line
bet with odds. The odds portion of the bet is paid true odds and thus
reduces the house advantage over the Line bet with double odds to about .4%
In Lesson 3, you
will learn how to make a Don’t Pass Line bet and Lay the Odds. Till then, may all your
Come Outs be Front Line Winners!
Lesson 3
Return to Free Craps Lessons
Table of Contents
Copyright © 2006 Flying
Pig Productions Inc.
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