If you haven’t noticed it yet you will soon enough so I may as well go ahead and mention the sexist side of craps. Ladies, if you are easily offended – please skip this article.
Take a look at any craps table when you walk into a casino and what do you see. Hmmm. Let me tell you what you probably won’t see. You won’t see a lot of rocket scientists – and you won’t see a lot of ladies.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had a couple of rocket scientists in my dice control classes before, along with a few nuclear physicists, dozens of engineers, actuaries, doctors, dentists, business executives, attorneys, university professors, insurance professionals, CPA’s, two Pixar motion picture animators, one Producer/Director, one screenwriter, an Oscar award winning Hollywood sound man, an Emmy winning make-up artist, and many other professionals. With that said, I’ve also had students who were auto mechanics, janitors, letter carriers, car salesmen, nurses, house painters, photographers, ice men, cowboys, and con men – not to mention more than a few guys with more than questionable careers in “imports.”
Craps is, at its heart, a community game. As such, it is representative of the community. That means you’ll find all of these people, be they Millennials, Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, or an occasional survivor of the Greatest Generation – rich man, poor man, beggar man and thief – all standing elbow to elbow at the table – and they’re mostly men. And yes, that’s something I personally would love to see change. Why? Because almost without exception, the women I have trained as precision dice shooters have become some of the best dice influencers around. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. What I wanted to talk about was our next two bets – the Come and Don’t Come – and the Sexist Side of Craps.
Think about it. The first two bets we talked about in my training series were the Pass and Don’t Pass. Now we’re going to talk about the Come and Don’t Come. At some point we’ll talk about the Hardways. And trust me, ladies. If you DO play craps at some point you’ll hear a stickman call “Hard Ten – the Ladies Friend.” It. Just. Happens. You may even hear a player toss in a “two-way” bet or (Heaven forbid) a “three-way” bet or a “Horn bet.” Then there’s that guy on the end who is just “Playing the Field.” Take a deep breath. It’s not aimed at you. It’s just the sexy (sexist) jargon of the game, so as they say down South – brace yourself.
Simply put, the Come and Don’t Come bets are played exactly the same as the Pass and Don’t Pass bets we talked about last time. The difference? The Pass and Don’t Pass bets are made before the initial point is established. The Come and Don’t Come bets are made after the point is established. They are bets designed for the player who wants more “action” in the game and wants additional numbers working for him or her. These bets are, in fact, a game within the game that’s already going on. Here’s how they work.
Let’s say a point is established and the player has his Free Odds bet established as well. Next he plays a $10 Come bet. The next number to roll is a Seven. Two things happen. First, the player WINS his Come bet because it was the Come Out roll for it. But he Loses his Pass Line Bet and Odds because it was a contract bet. His net loss is equivalent to his Free Odds wager. But what if another number had rolled? Let’s say the Five was established as the point already and the Eight rolled next. In that case the Come bet travels to the Eight and the dealer will ask you if you want Odds on the Eight. Typically the player will take odds – it’s a great bet. Let’s say you take $25 odds and you now have a $10 Pass Line bet with $30 odds on the Five and a $10 Come bet with $25 odds on the Eight. You can stop betting and wait for a decision on those bets – or continue making Come Bets with odds if you want more numbers working for you. Just remember, if the seven rolls before your numbers then ALL of them – and the Free Odds wagered – lose. Nevertheless, this is one of the most cost efficient ways to play over the long run. It has an extremely low house edge.
The Don’t Come can be played exactly the same way. If an eleven or seven roll when you make a Don’t Come be then that bet loses. The two or three craps win. Remember the twelve is a “push” or tie. Any other number becomes the point. You can then Lay odds just as you did on the Don’t Pass bet. And you can continue to make as many Don’t Pass bets as you wish. Just remember, whenever one of those numbers repeats it loses. But you can only lose one bet at a time. If a shooter tosses a single seven you’ll win them all.
Want to know what the real sexy side of craps is? It has nothing to do with the names of the bets or the innuendo behind the stick calls. It has everything to do with the sound of those chips sliding across the table toward you and the feel of them beneath your fingertips in the chip rack. The sexy side of craps is winning.
