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Should you always play max odds in craps?

When betting odds on a craps game, keep your Pass line bet at the table minimum and odds at the highest amount you are comfortable with.

freep.com - Mark Pilarski: Taking odds in craps is tricky business - Detroit Free Press

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Mark Pilarski

Special to the Detroit Free Press

QUESTION: When playing craps, I like the Pass line with odds, place the 6 and 8 and then feed the Come line and place odds on each. My question is on the odds. Most casinos offer 10X odds. Do I need to max that out to get the best house edge, and, if I only double my Pass line bet, does this still work to my advantage? To go 10X odds requires a sizable bankroll. — Robert C. ANSWER: I like that you complement your Pass line wager and odds with a Place bet on the 6 or 8. It's a cheap bet to make (as little as $6), and placing either of those two numbers has a small casino edge of just 1.5%. As for taking odds, this is a wager that is distinct from all other craps wagers in that odds carry no house edge. Although this bet doesn’t have a casino advantage, you have to use it to back up a Pass line wager that does. For instance, let’s say you place a $5 bet on the Pass line, followed by the point becoming a 10. On a 10X odds table, you can back your Pass line bet ($5) with $50 ($5 X 10) in free odds. So how does the word "free" come into play for you? Well, with two dice (six sides each), there are six ways of making a seven (loser) and three ways of making a winner 10. The odds against your winning are 2:1. But if you win, your Pass line bet is paid at even money ($5) and your odds bet is paid at the 2:1 true odds, bringing you a $100 payoff. With a casino advantage of 1.4% on your Pass wager, grouped with 10X in free odds, the two wagers carry a minuscule 0.18% percent house edge. The casino advantage on your total bet when taking odds combined with your Pass line wager on 1X odds is 0.85%; on 2X odds, 0.61%; on 5X odds, 0.33%, and on 10X odds, 0.18%. So, yes, Robert, double odds do work in your favor. The more odds you take, the greater the reduction in the house edge. Which leads me to what you also stated: “To go 10X odds requires a sizable bankroll.” Correct again! Taking odds can be an expensive proposition, especially when dealing with multiples of 10X. For a low-budget gambler, putting $50 on the layout, even for those free odds, is some serious ka-ching. A couple of quick seven-outs at the onset of your play and you could easily exhaust your daily gambling bankroll. The lesson here — and it is an important one — is to bet only as much odds as your gambling budget allows. Another sound gambling strategy is this: If you decide to take max odds, pursue the lowest table limit available. When betting odds on a craps game, keep your Pass line bet at the table minimum and odds at the highest amount you are comfortable with. Finally, let’s not forget one important fact: All craps bets come at a cost. Craps is a negative-expectation game, meaning that no matter how you bet, even if it's a $2 Pass line wager with 10X odds, the house always has an edge on your action.

Mark Pilarski: Always play on game with fewest decks

Mark Pilarski is a contributing editor for numerous gambling publications. E-mail questions to pilarski@markpilarski.com.

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