Craps Don't Pass Line Bet

I have tried it, the Azure machines don't allow pass/don't pass or come/don't come at the same time. They also require at least one bet per machine (8 seats) on either the pass or don't pass line for the come out roll to happen. Otherwise it just loops waiting for someone. I know you didn't ask about this, but I find it mildly interesting. The Pass Line Bet is the most common bet in craps. It’s a very easy bet and you can easily get through a whole night of gambling only knowing this one bet. All you have to do is put your chips on the pass line on the table. You'll be able to tell were that is because it will say 'Pass Line' in big letters. You can make the Pass Line bet on a come out roll, which is designated by a black marker on the table that says ‘off’.

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THE DARK SIDE

What is the dark side of craps? It’s not some evil plot by the casino, although it may feel like it when the dice are cold.

The dark side refers to a family of bets which have the opposite win-loss conditions of the pass types bets. It can also be an adjective that describes players who bet on the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come.

It’s actually called the dark side for a very simple reason. The betting area for the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come bet is usually written, on the felt, in darker lettering then the Pass or Come bet. It’s written in darker lettering so that players do not confuse the bets, ensuring that a dark side bettor knows that he or she is betting on the ‘Don’t Pass’ or ‘Don’t Come’.

TERMS USED

The term ‘dark side’ is craps parlance which is a catch-all for the Don’t Pass bet, Don’t Pass odds bets, Don’t Come bet, Don’t Come odds bet, Place-to-Lose bets, Lay Against buy bets, Don’t Pass bettor, and Don’t Come bettor.

In a casino, most of the time, you will hear a dark side action referred to simply as ‘Don’t’, which is another catch-all term.

The letters ‘DC’, which is probably the most commonly spoken dark side term at a craps table, refers specifically to the ‘Don’t Come’ bet. This term is not a catch-all term.

So if you want to make a last minute Don’t bet, and you want to avoid sticking your hand in the throwing area, say, for example, ‘$10 DC’ for the Don’t Come; or ‘$10 Don’t’ for the Don’t Pass (I’ve never heard of the Don’t Pass referred to as the ‘DP’ in a live game). If you want to bet an amount other than $10, just state the amount.

When in doubt as to what to call your bet, just say the amount and then the word, ‘Don’t’. For example, if the puck is OFF and no point has been established, and you say ‘$10 DC’, the dealer will clarify your bet or perhaps ‘no bet’ you. The Don’t Come is not in play at that moment, so saying ‘$10 DC’ may be construed as a nonsensical bet. Most dealers will understand what you meant to bet, correct you, and say, ‘$10 don’t pass’. But if you run into a rookie dealer, don’t be surprised if the response is either a look of confusion or ‘no bet’.

WIN-LOSS CONDITIONS OF THE DARK SIDE

In a pass line bet, the bettor will win on a come out roll of 7 or 11, lose on a come out 2,3 or 12, and must repeat the point numbers (4,5,6,8,9,10) before the 7 in order to win. The pass line bettor will lose if the 7 rolls before a point if there is a point established.

If a player bets the opposite of the pass bet, then the player assumes the opposite conditions that I described for the pass line. On a dark side come out roll, the dark side bettor will win on a 2 or 3 and lose on a 7 or 11. The player will push/tie on a 12 (this push is how the house retains the advantage on the bettor). If the dark side bettor establishes a point, then the dark side bettor will win if the 7 rolls before the point. That’s nearly the exact opposite of the pass line bettor, barring the 12 on the come out.

LAYING ODDS ON THE DARK SIDE

The vast majority of players are pass line, or ‘right side’ bettors. One of the reasons why players do not like the dark side is because the odds bet requires players to lay odds for the house. This means that all payouts on the pass line are reversed. Players who bet on the dark side must bet the following to win the following:

Point is 4 or 10, the player must wager $2 to win $1. For example, a $100 lay on the point 4 or 10 will win $50.

Point is 5 or 9, the player must lay $3 to win $2. For example, a $75 lay on the point of 5 or 9 will win $50.

Point is 6 or 8, the player must lay $6 to win 5. For example, a $60 lay on the point of 6 or 8 will pay $50.

If you notice, it is the exact opposite of the odds payouts offered on the pass line odds.

HOUSE EDGE ON THE DON’T PASS AND DON’T COME

The house edge on the Don’t Pass and Don’t Come is 1.36% of the bet. So if you bet $100 worth of action on the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come, you can expect to lose $1.36 over the long run.

With odds, the house edge on the combined bet falls significantly. At 10x odds, the house edge on the combined bet falls to .12% of total action.

Many players hate the fact that laying odds requires a larger wager than the collected win, and thus try to bypass the perceived inequity by making a larger come out wager. If the player can survive the come out wager, the player will then possess a significant advantage over the house. If the dark side player can survive the come out roll, the player will have an advantage of 2-1, 3-2, or 6-5. However, the problem is that on the come out roll, the player is at a severe and stomach-churning disadvantage. On the come out roll the player is at an 8-3 disadvantage, with only 3 ways to win and 8 ways to lose.

On a combinatorial analysis, with all possibilities calculated, is it far better, over the long run, for the player to separate his total bet into a minimum Don’t Pass or Don’t Come bet and wager the rest by laying odds. This means that if you have $50, you are better off betting $5 (if that’s the minimum) on the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come and putting the remains $45 on laying the odds; rather than putting the entire $50 on the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come.

SHOOTING FROM THE DON’T

Players often ask if a shooter may ‘bet against himself’ and shoot from the dark side. The answer is yes. A player may shoot from the dark side. When a player elects to shoot from the dark side (which doesn’t happen often), the stick person will usually announce, as a matter of custom, ‘shooting from the don’t’.

PICKING UP THE DARK SIDE DON’T PASS OR DON’T COME BET

Unlike the pass line or come bet, the player may pick up his Don’t Pass or Don’t Come bet after the point has rolled. The reason the casino allows the withdrawal of the Don’t bet is that after the come out roll, the player is now at an advantage over the house. Thus, the player should never pick up his Don’t Pass or Don’t Come bet after the come out roll.

Of course, having the advantage is not the same as actually winning, which leads us to…

Don't Pass Line Bet

MATHEMATICALLY EXPENSIVE STRATEGIES COMMONLY EMPLOYED

There are two common strategies often employed by dark side bettors that are expensive in the long run: ensuring the dark side bet with ‘any 7’ and picking up the Don’t Come or Don’t Pass if the point is 6 or 8.

It’s a fact that combining bets will not turn a negative expectation bet into a positive expectation bet. In other words, the player is not protecting his bets, over the long run, by combining bets; despite appearances of the bets being ‘insured’. By combining a low house edge bet (the Don’t Come or Don’t Pass bet) with a high house edge bet (the Any 7), the player is only increasing his total loss and would have been better of not betting the Any 7.

As to the strategy of picking up on a 6 or 8, the player is giving up a 6 to 5 advantage over the house. Of all the bad dark side strategies, this strategy is the most difficult to explain to dark side players. It seems to be way too easy to roll a 6 or 8, so many dark side bettors will fear to continue the bet. Mathematically, this is a disastrous strategy in the long run, because the player has a 6-5 edge over the house on a point of 6 or 8.

Rather than trying to use math to try and convince dark side players not to pick up on the point of 6 or 8, I explain it this way, ‘if the point is 6, you get a free roll on the house if either of the dice shows a 6’; alternatively, if ‘the point is 8, then your free roll is either dice show a 1’. Why would you ever give up a free roll?

For those who aren’t aware, a free roll is a situation or bet where the bettor can only win and cannot lose.

Generally, I’m not a fan of the argument, ‘if the house offers it, it must be a bad bet’; however, in this case, the house is only offering the ability to withdraw the bet because withdrawing heavily favors the house. So, the house is only offering it because it’s a bad bet.

WARNING ABOUT THE DARKSIDE

It’s a simple warning: betting on the dark side can be a lonely and sometimes hostile experience because most players are pass line bettors. If the table wins, the dark side bettor loses; and if the dark side bettor wins, the table loses. Sometimes, if there is a table bully, some nasty words may be said towards the dark side bettor.

Posted in: Casino, Craps, Gambling

I’m writing a series of blog posts about casino games and the good and bad strategies for playing those games.

Craps is one of my favorite casino games, so I’ve been looking forward to writing this one.

And the beautiful thing about craps is that it’s a game of pure chance. The best strategy is just to choose the bets with the lowest edge for the house and have fun.

But I’ll have some things to say about some of the strategies and systems that other writers promote, too.

They’re mostly bad craps strategies.

Here’s the Only Craps Strategy You Need

When you’re dealing with an entirely random game – like craps – the only strategy that matters is choosing the bets with the lowest house edge and having fun.

I’ll have something to say about shooters and whether they have control over the outcomes later in this post, but for now, let’s just agree that games like craps are purely chance.

In other games that are entirely random, like slot machines, you don’t even really need to decide which bet to place. It’s chosen for you before you sit down.

When playing craps for real money, you have a handful of good bets you can make, but most of the bets on the table are bad. Just skip the bad bets, and you’re all set.

The Bests Bets at the Craps Table

The best bets at the craps table are the pass line bet and the don’t pass bet.

The come and don’t come bets are also great wagers.

I always advise casino gamblers to try to limit their gambling to games where the house edge is lower than 2% — preferably 1.5% or lower.

The house edge for the pass and come bets is the same, 1.41%, which means they qualify.

The house edge for the don’t pass and don’t come bets is even lower, 1.36%, but the 0.05% isn’t worth worrying about. Most people prefer to root for the shooter to succeed.

The other bet to think about at the craps table is the odds bet. This is a bet you can only place after making one of the 4 bets I already mentioned and when the shooter has set a point.

This is one of the only bets in the casino that has no house edge. It’s a break-even bet, but it can be expensive.

It can also drive the effective house edge on the money you have in action down to almost nothing.

Here’s how that works.

How the Odds Bet Changes the House Edge for the Better

If you’re betting on the pass line and the shooter sets a point, you can expect to lose $1.41 for every $100 you bet. That’s on average and in the long run.

If you’re playing at a casino that only allows you to place an odds bet at 1X the size of your pass line bet, you can put another $100 into action.

Your expected loss remains $1.41, though, which effectively cuts the house edge in half, from 1.41% to 0.71%.

If you’re able to bet 2X your original bet on the odds bet, you can lower that even further to 0.36%. (You have $300 in action, but your expected loss is still only $1.41.)

The more you’re able to bet on the odds bet, the lower the house edge for all the money you have in action becomes.

It’s clear why betting on the pass line and taking the most odds that you can is an effective strategy. With the odds bet, you can get the house edge in craps lower than 0.5% at least some of the time at the table, making it an even better game than blackjack.

And what’s more, you don’t have to memorize basic strategy to get the low house edge at craps.

You just need a big enough casino bankroll to make the right bets, and you need enough sense to avoid the bad bets at the table – of which there are many.

Any Strategy that Involves Placing ANY Other Bets at the Craps Table Is a BAD Craps Strategy

There’s a reason gambling experts measure bets according to their house edge. That’s because it’s the single best indicator of how good or bad a bet is.

The house edge is a statistical estimate of how much money you’ll lose as a percentage of your original bet over the long run.

If the house edge is 1.41%, the casino expects to win an average of $1.41 every time you bet $100.

Don't Pass Line Craps

If the house edge is 16.66%, the casino expects to win an average of $16.66 every time you bet $100.

Which bet looks like the better bet for the casino?

And which one looks like the better bet for the gambler?

It shouldn’t be hard to make the distinction.

Don't Pass Line Bet Craps

Even the best of the bad bets on the craps table are inferior to the 1.41% or 1.36% you can get from the pass, don’t pass, come, and don’t come bets.

And trust me on this:

You can have PLENTY of fun sticking with the basic bets at the craps table.

Betting Systems Where You Raise and Lower the Size of Your Bets Are Bad Strategies

The classic example of this kind of betting system is the Martingale System, where you double the size of your bets after each loss. When you do this repeatedly, you eventually win back the money you’ve lost along with a profit of one unit.

The problem with a system like the Martingale is that you’ll eventually run into a big enough losing streak that it will wipe out all those small profits and then some.

Most people underestimate how quickly a bet’s size gets when doubling after every loss.

They also overestimate how likely they are to avoid long losing streaks.

If you double a $5 bet once, that’s $10.

But if you run into a losing streak of 8 bets in a row, you’re looking at having to bet $640 to make up for your losses.

Also, every roll of the dice is an independent event. The odds don’t change based on how many times you’ve won or lost in a row.

You might think the probability of losing that 8^th bet is lower than the likelihood of losing the first one, but the truth is that the dice have no memory. They have the same 6 sides, no matter how many times you’ve lost in a row.

Each bet in craps is an independent event, and any betting system will assume that the odds are changing based on how many times in a row you’ve won or lost.

Money Management Strategies Don’t Hurt Anything, but They Won’t Improve Your Odds of Winning, Either

Money management strategies involve having strict gambling discipline about how much of your bankroll you’re willing to risk before quitting the game. They also require you to stop when you’ve won an arbitrary amount of money.

Money management techniques are often used in conjunction with betting systems.

Here’s an example of a money management strategy in craps:

You decide your bankroll for the session is $250, and you’re playing for $5 per roll of the dice.

Your stop-loss limit is $100, so, if your bankroll drops to $150, you must quit the craps session and go do something else.

Your win goal is $250, so once your bankroll gets up to $500, you must quit the game and go do something else.

This kind of strategy might increase your chances of walking away from the game a winner.

Don't Pass Bet

But that’s only because a lot of gamblers will just keep playing until they’ve lost their entire stake. They just don’t generally have a lot of sense about that sort of thing.

The Jury’s Out on Dice Setting or Dice Control

I’ve seen multiple reputable gambling writers express interest and some belief that some craps shooters can influence the probability of specific outcomes. I’m skeptical – in the extreme – but I’ll give it an appropriate amount of credence.

The idea is that you hold the dice a specific way – “setting” the dice – then throw with a minimum amount of force – just enough to hit the back wall and eliminate most of the rolling action.

A controlled shooting expert doesn’t have to be perfect. Instead, they’re trying to be like someone who’s playing darts. They improve the probability enough to change the negative expectation on a bet to a positive expectation.

You can buy books and videos explaining how to get an edge at craps this way, but I can’t imagine the amount of practice and record-keeping required to have any confidence in your ability to change the odds.

Craps Don't Pass Line Odds

Imagine if you spent 1000 hours trying to learn how to control the dice and coming up short. Maybe you just don’t have the knack for it.

Craps Pass Bet

That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.

I’d rather learn to count cards in blackjack.

Conclusion

Those are the best and the worst of the strategies I know of for playing craps in the casino. I know plenty of people who would disagree with every recommendation I’ve made, but the math behind the game doesn’t lie.

The best strategy is to stick with the bets with the lowest house edge and have as much fun as you can.