# Going to a casino this weekend, any advice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-a-casino-this-weekend-any-advice/289585 "2005-02-11T15:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-a-casino-this-weekend-any-advice/289585/21 "2005-02-12T06:53:33Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I’d say for craps (and **Ellis Dee** might disagree with me on this one), consider making only about three bets. Bet the minimum on the pass line, take the maximum odds (although I’d probably stop at 5x), and make $6 place bets on the 6 and 8. If 6 or 8 is the point, make a $12 place bet on the other one. All you have to do is tell the dealer “$6 on 6 and 8,” give them $12 in chips, and they’ll get you from there. I do disagree, but not how you’d think. Play the Pass with max odds, (up to 5x as noted; ideally do a 3-4-5 style, as is common at Indian casinos), and make your Place bets on 5 and 9 instead of 6 and 8. They pay the same, but cost $5 instead of $6. Here’s an excellent newbie strategy: Find a $5 table that has room for you. Since you can’t, park yourself at a $10 table and play: $10 Pass, with $15 odds on 4/10, $20 odds on 5/9, and $25 odds on 6/8. (This simulates 3-4-5 odds for a $5 table on a $10 table.) Also play two Place bet progressions: $10 5 and $10 9, skipping one if it is the point. When either hits, (paying $14), toss down your lowest denomination chip and say “press to 25”, which is all the pressing that number gets. If either Place bet hits again, press the other one to $25 as well. Leave them both at $25. That’s a ton of action, and the variance is survivable. The potential wins are astronomical. (Every $25 hit pays $35, and I’ve seen five or six consecutive 5s/9s, not to mention how many total for a single shooter.) As a low variance alternative, try the darkside instead: $10 Don’t Pass $10 Don’t Come every single roll once a point is established The downside to the darkside is that nobody cheers with you. If you somehow manage to fight your way onto a $5 table, nothing changes in either strategy, except that you only need to put $5 on the Pass Line instead of $10. (Assuming they allow 3-4-5 odds.) 5/9 is superior to 6/8 because the numbers are multples of 5, instead of 6, and the payout ratio is 7:5 instead of 7:6. You see more 6/8 rolls than 5/9, but trust me, that extra white chip is nothing but an annoying nuisance. Instead of $25 paying $35, you have to put up $30 to win $35, and instead of the initial $22 outlay, which is basically a single point’s worth of money, you need to lay out $32, and the pressing is much more annoying for the dealer. This advice assumes you are unfamiliar with craps and are looking to have fun. If you knew craps inside and out, and wanted the best chance to win big with the least possible risk, my advice would be completely different. In fact, because you wrote the following: _“That being said, I also know that there are things I can do that, at the very least, will slow the amount of time it takes for me to lose all my money.”_, I will offer that strategy to you. But be warned: it’s boring as hell, especially for a newbie to craps who doesn’t understand what’s going on. And everyone at the table will helpfully let you know that the odds are “smart” bets. Bring exactly $300 to a $10 table. Play: $10 Pass Line, no odds. If you lose, keep trying. If you win, let it ride and add another $10, for a total of $30. If you win, let it ride and add another $10, for a total of $70. If you win, let it ride and add another $10, for a total of $150. If you lose at any point, restart at $10. Once you win the $150, take that $300 off the table and put it in your pocket. That matches the $300 you bought in with. Keep playing until you run out of the original $300. You have (approximately) a 49% chance to break even, 27% chance to lose $300, and 24% chance to win $300. This strategy will take about 2 hours, regardless of how you do. This strategy is designed to meet the criteria I quoted, and is my personal preferred method of play. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-a-casino-this-weekend-any-advice/289585/22 "2005-02-12T07:03:29Z")
> [@Guy\_Incognito](#): > > If you get down on yourself for losing too much, go the thr roulette tables and play top and bottom third. You’ve got a 2/3 chance of winning 1.5x your bet. If you play for long enough, you’ll eventually make back your losses. That’s if you don’t get kicked out of the casino for being the most obnoxious, pathetic, desperate, spineless player in the building. Nobody plays top and bottom third for very long. I know this from personal experience… Instead of top and bottom, follow the table. When I do this, I generally play a row, a column, and a color, and follow the table on all three. Thus, when the inevitable two identical spins in a row happens, you win all three. I have tried the fixed thirds approach, and I was _amazed_ at how many times the uncovered third hit consecutively. It was truly remarkable. And sad. There is no shame in losing to a choppy table. But just imagine how dumb you’d feel if you walked up, played (for example) red 10 times in a row, and all 10 spins landed on black. That’s how I felt when I played two fixed thirds. > [@asterion](#): > > $1 pass > $5 odds You’re dreaming if you think he can find those table rules at an Indian casino. He’ll be _lucky_ to find room at a $10 table, and the one or two $5 tables in the whole casino will be packed to the gills until 4:30am Tuesday morning. Trust me on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-a-casino-this-weekend-any-advice/289585/23 "2005-02-14T18:26:35Z")
Hey **bouv** , let us know what you played and how did you do? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-a-casino-this-weekend-any-advice/289585.md?page=1)