 |
Progress Publishing Co. |
|
|
Dice Control for Casino Craps / Gambling Disciples of God |
|
|
Progress Publishing Co. |
|
|
Dice Control for Casino Craps / Gambling Disciples of God |
From Chapter 2
Craps Free Odds Bet
*****************************************************************
In This Chapter
**********************************************************
Free Odds
As I stated before, the bets in the game of craps are nothing, but the vehicles for the house advantage over the player. There is, however, one exception from that rule – the bet called Free Odds. The name Free Odds means, that when a player makes that bet, the house has no advantage. A Free Odds bet is allowed to be made only in combination with the Pass and Don’t Pass bets and with Come and Don’t Come bets. The house advantage on the Pass and Come bets is 1.414% and the advantage on the Don’t Pass and Don’t Come bets is 1.402%. If you’ll back those odds with the Free Odds bets, you’ll drop the house advantage to 0.8% in case of single free odds. If double free odds are permissible, the house advantage is cut down to 0.6%.
Let’s see how the Free Odds bet works with the Pass and Come bets. A shooter starts with the come out roll. If he rolls a 7 or 11 for an automatic win for a Pass Line bet, or a 2, 3 or 12 for an instant loss, you have no chance to use a Free Odds bet. You have to wait until the point is established on a come out roll to take free odds on the Pass Line bet. The same applies to a Come bet. The come point must be established to let you make a Free Odds bet with a come bet. Suppose the point number is rolled and it is a 10 (or 4). Assume that your bet on the Pass Line or your Come Bet is $10. If single odds are allowed, you can make an additional $10 Free Odds bet by placing it behind the pass line next to your original pass bet. The Free Odds bet wins or loses with the Pass or Come bet – if a 10 repeats before a 7, your $10 Free Odds bet wins. It will be paid according to the correct odds of 2 to 1, because the odds of a 10 beating a 7 are 2 to 1 against it (see Table 4). Thus a player wins $20 for his Free Odds bet plus $10 for the Pass Line bet for the total of $30. You can’t make a Free Odds bet with a Come bet by yourself – you have to instruct a dealer, that you want to take odds on a come number. Some casinos permit to take double free odds. In that case, your Free Odds bet can be $20, and your possible win will be $40 for the Free Odds bet plus $10 for your original bet for the total of $50.
If, in the example above, a point number is a 5 or 9, then the payoff will be at 3 to 2 ratio (the correct odds for a 5 or 9) equal to $15 for the Free Odds bet. The point numbers of a 6 and 8 will have the payoffs made at 6 to 5 ratio, or $12.
Sometimes the house lets you slightly increase the amount of your Free Odds bet in order to make the payoffs easier. Suppose your Pass Line bet is $5 and a point is a 5 or 9. The correct odds of 3 to 2 will give you a payoff of $7.50. The house, however, does not pay in half-dollars. To avoid that problem, it allows you to increase your original bet to $6 to make your possible payoff the round figure – $9. If you’re not sure about the right amount of the Free Odds bet, you can always ask a dealer. The Free Odds bets can be removed or reduced by a player at any time prior to a roll.
Let’s look at the combination of the Free Odds bet and the Don’t Pass and Don’t Come bets. In order to make a Free Odds bet a player has to wait until the point is established. This time, however, a player has an advantage against the house because he wins when a 7 shows up before the point number. That’s why, in that case, a player lays the odds instead of taking them. Laying the odds means that the Don’t Pass and Don’t Come players have to bet more money than they can possibly win. How much they have to bet? The payoff and the correct odds determine the amount. If a player bets $10 on the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come, he is allowed to win additional $10 in case of single free odds. Suppose the point number is a 10 (or 4). According to the correct odds of 2 o 1, he has to wage $20 to win $10 on his Free Odds bet. If double odds are permitted, the payoff on the Free Odds bet can be $20. To win that amount a player has to lay $40.
If a point number is a 5 or 9, a player has to lay $15 to win $10. For the point numbers 6 and 8 the amount is $12.
While the Come bets are always working, the Free Odds bets made with the Come bets are “off” on a come out roll. The Free Odds bets made with the Don’t Come bets are always “on” including a come out roll.
Copyright Progress Publishing 1998
