This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
AC Says: This article corrects the errant thinking that there are ways to hedge bets in craps that will overcome the house advantage. Author John Grochowski addresses three specific betting strategies that crap players employ, explaining where the logic behind the systems is flawed. However, the important lesson here is that betting in combinations doesn’t alter the underlying negative expectation that those bets have when made individually, and this applies to all games where the casino has the edge. Bottom line: There’s no magic in applying betting systems to negative-expectation games. The same goes for money-management techniques, which may seem good in theory, but won’t change expectation
This article was written by John Grochowski in association with 888Casino.
THE FLAWED LOGIC OF CRAPS SYSTEMS: UNCOVERING THE REALITY OF THE HOUSE EDGE
Practically every craps system has an internal logic that makes sense to the people who use it in casinos.
If you place 6 and 8 at the same time, you have 10 ways to win and only six ways to lose, right? If you bet pass and don’t pass at the same time, then lay odds on don’t without taking them on pass, don’t you have your big bets down when you’re favored to win?
And if you bet don’t pass, then lay odds on 4, 5, 9 or 10 but not on 6 and 8, aren’t you skipping the numbers that are most in the shooter’s favor?
Every one of those systems comes with a big “Yes … but …”
There are flaws in the logic that disguise the reality of the unchanging house edge.
Let’s take a closer look at each.