Gaming Guru

Can I Use a Controlled Throw and Bet the Hardways?

To Golden Touch Craps:

Let me get this clear. When you guys go to a casino you mostly go with three to four guys. And when you bet you never play the hard ways and mostly the way you wager your bets its on the come and the place bets. Seeing I have the hots for the hardways why can't I just shoot like on your DVD and try to make hardways instead of playing conservative?

Yours truly,
William

Dear William:

Okay, William, you got some things right and some things wrong. Since GTC members are friends there are many times when groups of us go to the casinos together. I have a group we call "The Five Horsemen," all relatively high rollers, and we like to travel as a group and play as a group. However, we all also play alone.

Some of our members will on occasion make those hardways bets. These are stupid bets even for them. The best bets are the Pass Line, Come, and also Place bets of the 6 and 8; with buy bets of $25 or $50 of the 4 and 10 if the vig is taken out on wins only.

So why are these the best bets? The house edge is approximately a mere 1.4 percent on these bets. Contrast this with the house edge on those hardways bets with the 4 and 10 coming in at 11 percent and the 6 and 8 coming in at 9 percent. If you were a random roller you lose about $1.40 cents on $100 wagered on the good bets; but you lose between $9 and $11 on the hardways. That is a huge difference.

Let us say that you now practice a controlled throw based on our excellent DVD Beat Craps by Controlling the Dice (which is available on Amazon.com). Let us say you become very good at controlled shooting to the point where you have a five percent edge.

Now when you shoot for the 6 and 8 or any of the better bets, the house edge now shifts to you. You will be able to have about a 3.5 edge now, which means you will win $3.50 for every $100 you bet. But if you make those high house edge bets you are still substantially behind the house by four to six percent. So making those hardways bets is still a bad idea. So having "the hots" for hardways is like having the hots for a person who is bad for you.

Playing conservative is not really playing conservative --- it is playing smart.

For your letter I am giving you a free 10-day subscription to my private, members-only web site at www.goldentouchcraps.com. We have over 5,000 members on this site and the discussions are interesting, enlightening and fun. Enjoy!

All the best in and out of the casinos.

Frank Scoblete