The Crapshooter © 2006 by Larry Edell
The Secrets of Electronic Craps

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?
How about the secrets of winning at electronic craps slot machines?
There are a lot of new slot machines in casinos, and a few might resemble a craps layout. These are especially popular in places where real craps is illegal - like in some Indian casinos. Technically these games are just slot machines, the casinos say, and not illegal dice games.
Wanna know how craps pros increase their winnings at electronic craps?
Let’s find out!
The first thing you should do is look at the playing area. You will probably see no hard ways, no don’t come, and no don’t pass. You also need to read the instructions on the side of the machine, as there are two basic machine types.
The first type is like a normal craps game - You win on the 7/11 comeout and lose if a 2, 3 or 12 is rolled.
The second basic type is a "crapless" machine - You win only on the seven comeout, there are no craps numbers, and any other number (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 ,11, or 12) becomes the point. This crapless game is very bad for the player as the casino edge is higher than the regular game. If you have a choice, play the regular game rather than the crapless one.
In either case, find the chart depicting the payoffs for all the numbers. You may be surprised to find totally different odds than you are used to. In addition, the machine only pays off even dollars. Let’s look at an example.
Let’s say you normally bet $6 on both the six and eight, and for this bet you get 7:6 odds, or $7 when you win. But now you look at the chart and it says that 6 & 8 place bets pay 2.15 for 1. Wow, you think, this pays more than a regular bet! But 2.15 for 1 means 1.15 to 1, so if you bet $1 you only get $1.15. Plus, you usually get paid in even dollars and if the payoff is $1.50, you only get $1.
So, if you bet $6 you will get $7 (1.15 x $6 = $6.90), but if you bet $3 you win $3 (rounded down from $3.45). This 1.15 to 1 casino odds turns out to be a 2.3% casino advantage, compared to 1.5% in "normal" craps. Make sure that you always bet the right amount so the machine "rounds up" your win instead of rounding it down.
One advantage to playing electronic craps lies in the minimum bet - it’s usually only 25 cents. And most machines have a 25 cent minimum and a $25 maximum bet so you can test your craps systems very inexpensively!
For example, let’s look at a simple double as you lose Martingale type system. In a normal seven level $5 minimum game ($5, $10, $20, $40, $80, $160, $320) you can lose up to $635.00 . But now you can test at the same seven levels (.25, .50, $1, $2, $4, $8, $16) and lose only a maximum of $31.75 . This is a perfect way to test a new or developing system!
The other advantage to electronic craps is that the machines usually have a place to swipe your comp card. Your comps here, however, are counted as slot machine credit, not for table games. You can also use slot coupons and special slot promotions to play electronic craps.
So, the next time you see a craps slot machine, give it a try - it’s certainly worth a quarter!
Pssst...! Now you know the secrets of electronic craps!

You can get a FREE issue of The Crapshooter Newsletter, the only publication devoted exclusively to craps! Just send two first class stamps to The Crapshooter, Dept CCC , PO Box 421440, San Diego CA 92142, or you can subscribe at http://www.TheCrapShooter.com . You’ll also receive a special FREE offer and a FREE catalog!

You can get a FREE copy of Richard Armstrong’s book, “Get Paid to Gamble!” You’ll learn a lot from this book but I especially liked these three items – (1) How to ask for a comp that the pit boss can not refuse. (2) How to get gambling credit while you’re in your room watching TV, and (3) Sneaky tricks for making it look like you’re gambling more than you really are. You can download this entire book for FREE at http://www.GodDoesntShootCraps.com .

NEWSLETTER SPONSORS