Cutthroat Craps Strategies

Most gambling writers are cautious, timid souls and with good reason. We don’t want to offer information that might lead players to jump off the deep end of the casino diving board, whoopingFrank Scoblete is the one of the most popular gaming authors in America. He has released sixteen books, three audiotapes, three videotapes, and his own imprint, the Scoblete Get-the-Edge Guides.  Frank's website is www.goldentouchcraps.com  and hollering as their bankrolls go “splat!” on the concrete floor of the empty pool below.

This is especially true in craps, where the traditional thinking has been to make a Pass Line bet and back it with full odds and then do the same with a few Come bets as well. Still, the choice for casino players is not merely “either/or” as in either I play cautiously betting Pass, Come and Odds -- or I go completely berserk!

There is a great in-between, an area of craps play that can be rather daring, yet still based on sound principles of both math and logic and can, when things are going right, yield much more in the way of return than can traditional approaches -- and all this without more risk, in fact, all this with substantially less risk in most cases.

It is called Cutthroat Craps. It is played to win money at the tables and drain the casinos dry with comps. Cutthroat Crappers are more interested in betting on selected shooters than they are betting the lowest possible house-edge bets -- and with good reason.

In fact, Cutthroat Crappers are banking on select shooters changing the actual odds on the game to favor other kinds of betting than the traditional Pass and/or Come with Odds.

1. Certain shooters can change a slightly negative game into a slightly positive game for certain players who know to bet these shooters. These shooters are dubbed “rhythmic rollers” or, more recently, “Golden Shooters.” Some shooters can and do control their rolls to the extent necessary to achieve this shift from slightly negative to slightly positive.

2. Golden Shooters will tend to be consistent in their dice rolling and in the resultant dice faces that show. This consistency will be seen with their dice-sets, delivery and style of betting.

To take advantage of a Golden Shooter, you must adapt your betting style to the Golden Shooter as “one size” does not fit all in this realm. That will often mean deviating from the mathematically best bets.

There are two shooters in this tale: A and B.

Shooter A just winged the dice down the layout as if he were trying to not only hit the back wall but send the dice right through it. Shooter B, however, took great care with his dice sets, grip, and delivery. But is Shooter B, the shooter who takes deliberate care with his rolls, really a Golden Shooter? Is he really capable of changing the nature of the game so that an astute bettor, such as you, can take advantage of his roll? From the information I’ve given you, you could not state definitively one way or the other.

Here is what the above information tells us:

1. Shooter A is definitely a random roller, not a rhythmic roller. He couldn’t possibly have any control over the dice at all. You bet on all the shooter A’s of the world and craps can’t possibly be anything more than its mathematical underpinnings -- which is to say, you will lose in the long run that percentage of your total action based on the types of bets you make. Period. Shooter A is a waste of your time. Why risk your money on him?

2. Shooter B has a chance to be a Golden Shooter as he seems to be very careful with his dice set, delivery and betting. As you watch Shooter B, it is obvious that he thinks he has some effect on the dice or he would not take such deliberate care with his roll.

3. If both Shooter A and Shooter B have absolutely no control whatsoever over the dice, or if rhythmic rolling does not exist and Golden Shooters are merely a figment of my overactive imagination then betting only on Shooter B and avoiding Shooter A is still a smart move! Why? Because you have cut your exposure to the house edge!

4. Shooter B is also very much aware that he is playing two distinct games against the casino when he rolls. He is playing the game of craps and all that that entails, but he is also playing the comp game. That’s right. His deciding to Place his numbers before his come-out roll and leaving them off during the come-out roll indicates that he is aware the floor person will record his maximum spread -- $170 + his Pass Line wager -- and not his spread when his Pass Line bet might bump down the Place bet. Bumping down the Place bet and taking Odds usually reduces the “comp” spread because most casinos do not give you credit for the Odds bet -- an important thing to consider. Another important thing to consider is that his bets are not working, not at risk, yet still earning him comp credit.

5. Therefore, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by assuming that Shooter B is a Golden Shooter. If he isn’t, so what? You have cut your exposure to the house edge so you are actually reducing your losses. That’s a gain. But if he is a Golden Shooter, then you have a chance to play a positive-expectation craps game! And that could be a terrific gain indeed.

Cutthroat Craps continues next month in Part 2.