There are Cherry Dice Chest in place in certain states where an outcome will not be determined through a toss of the dice. This means Craps games, once we know them, are prohibited. However, clever casino operators have installed Craps games using cards rather than dice. Contrary to popular belief, this is the great opportunity because it offers an advantage to the player that’s not available in a standard dice game of Craps.
The game of Craps played with cards is played just as is Craps with dice. The table layout may be the same (with the possible addition of two colored boxes that determine the shoe to be utilized. You can also bet on those colored boxes.
The casino uses cards numbered ace through six (1 – 6) rather than dice. They also work with a shuffle machine known as a “constant shuffle machine” because they don’t bury cards as they are exposed, instead, they’re immediately returned to the shuffle machine (that is why it’s called constant). The same cards used to get a point on the come out roll may not be open to be drawn again until a new shelf is hit, rendering it disproportionately more likely to throw a seven instead, producing a win for the wrong bettor. Understand that fact – we’ll use it later.
After the point is established, two more cards are dealt to represent another roll of the dice. That continues until the point is manufactured or the “shooter” sevens out.
For the purpose of this article, I’m not going into the rules and/or strategies of the game of Craps. I’m assuming you already know them, and the goal of this article is to point out differences and similarities of the Craps game used cards instead of the dice Craps game.
The short and very sweet difference between the two is this: there is a very distinct and big advantage to playing Craps with cards if you’re a “wrong bettor”. You, the ball player, actually have the advantage on the casino which is not found in any game nor in any dice version of Craps.
Conversely you will find a bigger advantage for the house if you’re a “right bettor”.
Is there any question concerning the method that you should play the card version of Craps? The answer is obvious – you must be a wrong bettor. Reserve all objections you ever had to betting with the house and against the shooter. You are playing Craps to make money – not friends.
Why are the wrong bettors now in a position of positive odds? In other words, why do we players have an advantage over the casino? That’s unusual – after all, you can find strategies that get the house advantage down towards “0” where in fact the house advantage is small (in dice Craps as well as in other games), but nowhere at any time has the player actually had the benefit over the house – until now.
Here’s the amazing news:
first, as mentioned above, the cards that established the point cannot be used again throughout a shooter’s attempts to make the point. This makes a seven even more likely to come up prior to the point, resulting in a win. That’s important, but that isn’t the best part…
In a game of Craps used dice, laying odds may be the way we obtain the overall odds against winning right down to the lowest (best) number possible. That means we can reduce the house advantage to near zero.
However, in a game of Craps used cards, by knowing when to lay odds against lots and just how much to lay against lots, we get the odds down, past zero and into a very healthy advantage for the ball player. Here are the numbers:
laying odds against a 4 or 10 in a dice Craps game, results in zero advantage to the house (after figuring the don’t pass and or the don’t come – the actual odds supply the advantage to the home: 1.364)
but, laying odds contrary to the 4 or 10 in a card Craps game gets the house advantage at -0.253. Yep – that is a negative number, and thus the benefit goes to the player – absolutely unusual! California casinos just like the Viejas in NORTH PARK generously offer 10x odds (up to $1,000 winnings), which means you should take full advantage of maximum odds against a 4 and 10.
Laying odds against a 5 or 9 in both games remains at zero – no advantage to the home nor to the player. So, lay your “normal” odds against a 5 or 9.
Laying odds against a 6 or 8 in a dice Craps game, results in zero advantage to the home.
But, laying odds contrary to the 6 or 8 in a card Craps game has the house advantage at -0.207. Yep, another advantage for the ball player! Again, in California, lay maximum odds.
So, if the player laid the utmost odds on points of 4, 6, 8, and 10, then the overall player edge between your don’t pass and laying odds will be +0.022%. That’s amazing!