Should you play blackjack with one hand or two? I’ve been asked this question numerous times from blackjack players. My answer is this: “It depends on whether you have the edge or not.” Let me explain.

First let me focus on the majority of players who don’t have the edge when they play blackjack. (This includes blackjack basic strategy players.) 

 

 

Sometimes you’ll see a blackjack player playing two hands on every round. Other times a player may start a shoe playing one hand, and then suddenly, in the middle of the shoe, spread to two hands.  Why do some players do the latter? Mostly to “change the flow of the cards,” which they mistakenly believe will change their luck. (Because the house edge is the same on both hands, spreading to two hands will not guarantee that your luck will change.)

The one obvious thing that happens when you spread from one hand to two is that you will be dealt more hands per hour. For example, if you play with two other players, you can expect to be dealt roughly 100 rounds per hour. If, instead, you play two hands, you’ll get about 80 rounds dealt to you per hour, or a total of 160 hands per hour (that’s 60 more hands per hour). This isn’t a good idea because when the house has the edge and you play more hands per hour, you’re exposing more of your casino bankroll to that house edge, and you will lose more money.

But let’s say that instead of betting $20 on one hand, you split your bet evenly and wager $10 on each of two hands. Your theoretical hourly loss when you bet $20 on one hand is roughly $10 (assumes 100 hands per hour). Betting two hands of $10 each, your theoretical loss drops to $8 per hour (assumes 80 hands played per spot per hour, or 160 total). Therefore, you will decrease your hourly loss if instead of putting all your money on one hand, you bet half as much on each of two hands. (Note: The amount of the decrease of loss depends on how many other players are at the blackjack table with you.)

What if, instead of betting $20 on one hand, you bet $20 on each of two hands? Now you’ve increased the total amount bet in each round from $20 (one hand) to $40 (spread over two hands). In this scenario, the total amount that you wager per hour would be greater betting two hands than betting one, and your theoretical hourly loss will increase. Betting in this manner on two hands is, therefore, not recommended. 

On the surface you would think that the swings in your bankroll would be the same whether you bet, say, $50 on one hand or $25 on each of two hands, since the total amount wagered per round is the same ($50).  However, the two hands are really not independent because they are associated with the same dealer’s hand, so if the live casino dealer has a lousy hand, you are likely to win both hands (and vice versa if she has a strong hand). What this means in practical terms is that your bankroll will not fluctuate as much when you bet $25 on each of two hands compared to betting $50 on one hand.

Many blackjack players are happy if they can stretch their bankroll so it gives them a reasonable amount of time on the table (e.g., a three-hour session). Others are happy if they can achieve a predetermined win-goal (say, winning $150 with a $300 bankroll). Will betting more than one hand help you to achieve these objectives?

To answer this question, several years ago Norm Wattenberger, who is one of the foremost blackjack software developers, ran some computer simulations for different betting options (assuming the player started with a $300 bankroll) to determine what were the player’s chances of his bankroll’s surviving over a three-hour playing session (second column in table), and independently, the chances of a player’s winning $150 and quitting (third column). (Assumes100 hands per hour.)

What the data in the table show are:

1. For the same total amount wagered per round, betting two hands improves the chances of your bankroll’s lasting three hours but it also lowers the likelihood of winning $150.
2. Increasing the total amount wagered per round from $10 to $20 increases your chances of winning $150, but it also decreases the chances that your bankroll will last for three hours. Unfortunately, you can’t have it both ways.

The bottom line on playing two hands with half as much bet on each hand vs. betting it all on one hand is this: you will experience less fluctuation in your bankroll, and you are less likely to tap out during a session, but, you will have less chance of achieving a win goal. 

Now, what about a player who is card counting … is there an advantage to spreading to two hands? The answer is, yes, for several reasons.

1. Playing two hands is an excellent way of increasing your bet spread when the count is in your favor.
2. You can also bet 50% of what you would have bet on one hand, on each of two hands, with less risk and variance.
3. You can also keep your risk the same by betting 73% of what you would have bet on one hand on each of two hands instead. (For example, instead of betting, say, $50 on one hand, you could bet $35 on each of two spots with the same risk but greater expectation, assuming you are not playing alone.)
4. When the count is negative, you can spread to two hands with minimum bets to “eat” the small cards (i.e., by removing the small-value cards, the remaining unplayed cards become richer in the more player-favorable, high-value cards).
5. In a double-deck game, when the count is positive prior to the last round before the cut card appears, spreading to two hands will give a counter a slightly greater penetration (which increases his advantage).
6. If you are playing heads-up and spread to two hands, your chances of being dealt the high-value cards increase since you will be playing two hands against the dealer’s one hand.
7. Another way to camouflage your play and “eat” the small cards is to start a shoe betting two hands with minimum bets then reduce to one hand with larger bets when the count becomes favorable.

There are other reasons why spreading to two hands is advantageous to a card counter; if you want to learn more, I encourage you to consult Chapter 10 of my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide. 

(Note: Most, but not all, casinos may have the requirement that when you spread to two (or more) hands, you must bet double the table minimum on each hand. Also, if you are card counting, spreading to two hands may bring attention your way from the pit. For details on this, see Chapter 10 of the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.)

Most land-based and online blackjack players have no idea of what taking “Even Money” means to their game. Yet, most players gladly take the even money when it’s offered. In fact, most dealers and fellow players, and sometimes even pit bosses, will encourage players to take the even money because "it’s a sure win." After all, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, right?

The even-money proposition comes into play whenever you’re dealt a blackjack hand and the dealer shows an Ace upcard. Say you bet $20 and you happily get a blackjack, but cringe when you see the dealer’s Ace upcard. You have the option to tell the dealer, before she peeks at her downcard, that you would like even money. She will pay you $20 and then remove your cards from the layout. You’ve won even money for your blackjack, even if the dealer subsequently flips over a blackjack of her own.

On the surface, taking even money looks like a “can’t lose” proposition, just as the dealers and pit bosses said. If you take even money, you'll be $20 richer regardless of what happens to the dealer’s hand. On the other hand, if you decline the even money, something very bad can happen; namely, the dealer could also have a blackjack, and you’d end up with nada for your beautiful blackjack. The choice looks clear: Take the sure money. 

But hold on, because there’s more to this story.

The problem here is what might happen if you decline the even money. What happens if the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack?

If you have a blackjack, decline the even money, and the dealer doesn't have blackjack, you are going to get paid $30 for your blackjack, which is 1.5 times your initial bet (equal to a 3-2 payout). That's something to consider before you take that “sure” even money.

So let’s review your choices when you get a blackjack and the dealer shows the Ace:

Choice #1: Take the even money and the sure twenty bucks.
Choice #2: Decline the even money and either:

• Win nothing, if the dealer has blackjack
• Win thirty bucks, if the dealer doesn't have blackjack.

It all boils down to this:

• Is it better to take the sure $20 by taking even money
• to decline even money and win $30, or get stuck with zilch? 

Most players don't want to risk getting nothing for their blackjack, so they opt for even money and the sure payoff. But guess what? That's the wrong play mathematically, and here’s why. 

 

 

Say you're sitting tight with your blackjack when the casino says it wants to pay you $20 for the hand. (That is, in fact, exactly what’s going on when the dealer asks you if you want “even money.”) Why, do you suppose, is the casino willing to give you $20 for your blackjack, right there and then, before the dealer peeks at the hole card? It’s certainly not because of your good looks. It’s definitely not because casino managers are being generous. 

No, the real reason that casinos are willing to give you twenty bucks for your blackjack is because they know that your hand is worth more than twenty bucks.

How? If you wager $20 and take even money, you'll win $20 one hundred percent of the time. But if you decline the even money, can you guess what percent of the time the dealer will have a blackjack (and you push) vs. the percent of the time she will not have a blackjack, and you joyously win thirty bucks? 

Check it out: A six-deck game contains 312 cards, of which 96 are ten-value cards (24 each of tens, jacks, queens, and kings). If you hold a blackjack and the dealer shows an Ace, there are 309 cards left, of which 95 are ten-value cards (remember that you're already holding one ten-value card in your blackjack hand). 

Therefore, the chance that the dealer has a ten in the hole is the ratio of 95 over 309, which is 30.7 percent. In other words, 30.7 percent of the time the dealer will get a blackjack and push your blackjack. 

It also means that a whopping 69.3 percent of the time, the dealer won't have the ten in the hole, and you'll be $30 richer!

With these percentages, you can easily compute the value of your blackjack hand. Here's how:

• 30.7 percent of the time you win 0 betting units
• 69.3 percent of the time you win 1.5 betting units.

If you average these numbers, you arrive at what many will find to be a surprising result—your blackjack hand is worth about 1.04 betting units. This means that for your $20 initial wager, your blackjack hand is actually worth about $20.80. No wonder the casinos are willing to pay you twenty bucks for your blackjack—they know it’s worth almost $20.80 (and they ain’t telling you). 

Here's another fact about even money that most players don't know: Taking even money when you have a blackjack and the dealer shows the Ace is the same as taking insurance on the blackjack. 

Suppose you bet $20 and get the blackjack, but the dealer happens to have an Ace upcard. If you want insurance, you make a $10 insurance wager (half your bet). What if the dealer checks her down card and she also has blackjack? Your blackjack ties hers and you push, but you get $20 for your winning $10 insurance wager (2 to 1 payoff), giving you a net profit of $20. 

If the dealer doesn't have the blackjack, you lose the $10 insurance bet, but you win $30 on your blackjack (3-2 payoff), for a net profit of—you guessed it—$20. Since insuring your blackjack yields a $20 profit whether the dealer has a blackjack or not, the casino offers players even money right up front. 

The bottom line with even money is this: If you always take it, in the long run you'll be giving away approximately four percent of your average profits on the hand. The casino is counting on you to take the even money; next time, surprise them and decline it. 

Note: There are three opportunities where it might sense to take even money. First is if a casino is paying 6-5 for a blackjack and offers even money, in which case you will have the advantage. (Don’t get too excited because firstly, you should never play in a 6-5 blackjack game, and secondly, most casinos are not that stupid to offer even money on their 6-5 tables.) The second time is to take even money as a strategic play on a last hand in a blackjack tournament to either overtake an opponent’s bankroll or preserve your bankroll from a potentially nasty negative swing. The third is if you are a card counter and know that there is a greater chance the dealer has a ten-value card in the hole. (I’ll cover these points in future articles.)

Almost all casino games are based on numbers. Even in games such as blackjack and baccarat the non-numbered picture cards are given their own numbers, 10 and 0 respectively. Who says math isn’t important? It certainly is in casino games.

Still many casino players are not fully aware of how all these numbers work. Many players will make bets that the numbers tell us are poor or, to be totally honest, terrible. Players get so caught up in the games that numbers are just some dreamlike side issue when such numbers are in fact the main purpose of the games.

Take a look at the payouts in roulette. A hit on a number pays 35-to-1 when the true payout in a game with no house edge should be 37-to-1 on the American double-zero wheel and 36-to-1 on the European single-zero wheel. The difference in those numbers shows clearly that one game is far better than the other game.

Dollars and cents make sense to the casinos and these should make sense to the players as well. Make bets with the wrong numbers, meaning house edge percentages, and you are asking for trouble if not tonight then as time goes on. Poor bets inevitably lead to poor monetary expectation. Adding more speed to the games, meaning more decisions per hour, will make even small house edges more difficult to overcome.

Craps is a game totally built on the numbers. There are 11 of them 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12. These are made with two dice, each with six sides showing six pits, one, two, three, four, five and six. The combinations of these pips make up the 11 numbers shown above.

[Please note: With two dice of six sides each, there are 36 possible combinations as six times six equals 36. All of craps exists within those 36 numbers. These 11 numbers are made with combinations of the following pips:

2 = 1:1
3 = 2:1, 1:2
4 = 2:2, 3:1, 1:3
5 = 3:2, 2:3, 4:1, 1:4
6 = 3:3, 4:2, 2:4, 5:1, 1:5
7 = 4:3, 3:4, 5:2, 2:5, 6:1, 1:6
8 = 4:4, 5:3, 3:5, 6:2, 2:6
9 = 5:4, 4:5, 6:3, 3:6
10 = 5:5, 6:4, 4:6
11 = 6:5, 5:6
12 = 6:6

Interestingly enough all these numbers have select nicknames which I will discuss in another column.]

THE MORE THE LESS MERRY

Typical craps players will tend to make combinations of bets. Most will go with three. Such players will make their Pass Line bets with two Come bets and/or Place bets. Some players will go further by consistently putting out Come bets until the Craps shooter sevens-out. Still other players will add “Crazy Crapper” bets such as the Horn, Any Craps, Any Seven, and the Hardway bets among a host of others. These bets come in with astounding house edges – meaning large numbers which will ultimately soak a player’s bankroll.

The more bets a player makes at craps, the less merry that player will be in a relatively short period of time. You can’t beat a game with a house edge by making multiple wagers and you certainly can’t beat such a game by making more and more outrageous selections.

In the past I used to recommend the three-bet wagering technique at the game but over recent years I have changed my mind. I am, in short, an old dog that has learned a new trick. I still use the Captain’s 5-Count before I bet on any shooters other than me, but I no longer subscribe to the multi-bet syndrome. (I shall discuss the Captain’s 5-Count in a future column.) 

So what is my new method of playing craps? Strap yourselves in!

ONE IS NOT THE LONELIEST NUMBER

I am now suggesting that instead of making multiple bets at the game of craps that you limit yourself to one. That’s correct; one bet on one shooter. My reasoning is simple – your negative expectation is lowered significantly by just going up against the house edge on a single number. Consequently it becomes a completely focused game for you; your single number versus the casino’s single number, the seven.

If the player makes two of the best bets at craps, the Pass Line and Come bet, and goes on three of them at once, he will face a house edge of 1.41 percent on each of the numbers he bets. So a $10 bettor’s expectation is to lose around 42 cents. If the player only makes one such bet, his expectation is to lose 14 cents.

Take a look at players who make more than three bets; say these players go up on four numbers? Five numbers? Six numbers? Throw in some Crazy Crapper bets for icing on the poisonous cake and what have you? The casino’s dream player.

Now start multiplying, not bets, but how much a player comparatively loses over time based on the number of bets he makes. When I write one Pass and one Come bet (or more) that can actually be multiple Come bets with no Pass Line bet. Now watch how scary this can get:

[Please note: Obviously winning and losing is not a smooth process. It’s up and down, in and out, but the above figures give you an idea of how bad the best bets can get over a rather short period of time. Most craps players, even those only betting $10 on the Pass and Come wagers, can see a lot of money being worked on by a rather small house edge.]

The above totals are indicative of how the losses grow based on the amount of money being wagered. A $10 bettor of the best bets will get to that $1,000 mark quite quickly.

Now think of attaching poorer bets such as Place bets instead of Come bets. The Place bets will come in with the following edges: 6.67 percent on the 4 and 10; four percent on the 5 and 9, and 1.52 percent on the 6 and 8. These edges will add significantly to a player’s losses.

Okay, let me go the route: Think of adding Crazy Crapper bets with edges of 16.67 percent, 13.89 percent, 12.5 percent, 11.11 percent, 9.09 and 5.56 percent, etc., to get an idea of how hard it is to come out just a little behind, or even or perhaps slightly ahead with a multiple bet approach to the game. A player trying that approach is just asking for trouble and he will get it too.

Now look at this chart and see how a single bet works based on what number you are betting. Dead time is the appearance of all numbers except the two that count for you, meaning the 7 and your specific number. 

PLAYERS’ QUESTIONS ON SINGLE NUMBER BETTING

Question: Shouldn’t I go up on some other numbers because watching all those other numbers appearing will cause me to be bored?

Answer: The key is not to think of those numbers as actual numbers. They are not a part of your game. Right now as you read this article numbers are being rolled all over the world. Those numbers are dead time to you right now. You aren’t concerned with them. You aren’t even thinking about them. The numbers rolled while you are at your table don’t count; it’s as if they are being rolled on another table. By the way, the same holds true if you are taking a break and while you are away from the table a friend of yours tells you about his or her great roll. So what? There’s a great rolls going on right now in many casinos across the world and you really don’t care about them.

Question: Do I take Odds on the number that is mine or do I just go with a plain Pass Line or Come bet?

Answer: I recommend taking Odds on your bet. If you are playing at a 5X Odds game and you want to bet $60, you are better doing that with a $10 Pass or Come bet with $50 in Odds. Your expected loss is only 14 cents. If you bet $60 on the 6 or 8 your expected loss is 91 cents. That’s a big difference. The differences are much bigger using Place bets on the 4, 5, 9 and 10.

Question: What if my number doesn’t hit? How will that make me feel? I’ll be missing out on something.

Answer: Once you get used to playing this way, you will feel nothing. You will also feel nothing when the shooter sevens-out and everyone takes a thumping at the table and you have lost only a single bet. You will also feel nothing when your number hits and then a quick seven-out occurs and everyone is moaning and groaning because they have lost multiple bets. The key thing to remember: Play your game and ignore what happens to everyone else. They don’t exist and those other numbers don’t exist either. Getting in that mindset will take a little while but you’ll hopefully get there.

Question: Won’t I lose comp time if I bet this way? 

Answer: Probably. Remember that your comps are based on the size and number of bets you make and how much time you are at the table. But so what? Comps are given based on your expected losses over time. They aren’t given to you because you are a heck of a nice person. You’re better off buying your own sandwich or gourmet dinner than losing so much money you could be a partner in the restaurant.

Question: How did you come up with this idea? It is as radical as I can think and I have a feeling very, very few craps players ever think of playing this way. What gave you this concept?

Answer: Over the years I looked at various gamblers and types of gambling and one thing stuck in my mind; part of the fun of gambling is the anticipation of the decision or event. Lottery players dream about winning the big one and they can’t wait for the drawing of the numbers. Slot players can’t wait to get to the casinos to play. This holds true of sports bettors, craps players and every other type of gambling. The anticipation is a large part of the fun!

But something happens when you play too much, you become somewhat numb to what’s happening. Before you go to the craps table you are supercharged but once you make countless multiple bets you seemingly become immune to that anticipatory set. You have too much happening. You are kind of numb. So playing that one-number bet continues the anticipatory set more strongly than throwing multiple bets out time and again. 

Aside from being the best money-management system, the single bet rewards you in a more emotional context. Anyway that’s the origin of the idea, a mixture of emotion and math.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Very few players alive today had the privilege that I had; that is, knowing and learning from the legendary Captain of craps, the late, great dice player, craps expert and teacher who called Atlantic City his domain. I was lucky to know him, play with him, and learn the game of craps and casino gambling in general under his tutelage. 

There are only two living members of his great “crew,” Satch and me. At the time of our early 1990’s dealings with the Captain we two were basically low rollers; in short, five-dollar bettors. The 22-member Captain’s Crew that we joined were high rollers of the really, really high sort. There were more orange chips on the table than red that is for sure. And browns! Many gamblers were intimidated by such wagering levels. I know I was.

Of course, Satch’s wife and my wife the Beautiful AP were with us every step of the way with the Captain. So that leaves four of us. It was some ride! 

Satch has more or less retired from playing craps so I am the only active member still playing the game remaining, I do find that sad but life has a way of taking all of us out of itself as time swiftly passes everybody by. Craps games do not last forever.

 

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT SHOOTING THE DICE? 

Everyone at a craps table knows one thing for sure; the casino will pass the dice to him or her and give them a chance to beat the house. This is a wonderful thing if the shooter does well and a horrible thing if the shooter does not do well.

There are only two games in the casinos (one of them will also apply to a licensed online casino) where the player has the opportunity to take the bull by horns and try to beat the house. The first is the high-roller room baccarat of the big table where players actually get to deal the cards. The second is the game of craps where every player is given the opportunity to shoot the dice in order to try to bring home the money.

[Please note: In high-roller baccarat, the players get to deal the cards but all decisions are prescribed by the rules of the game. Since the game is dealt out of a shoe, the player who is dealer has no control over anything although, yes, dealing is fun.]

Most players will take their turn shooting those cubes. There are a few individuals who won’t and they will pass up their turn with the dice. If you do play craps by all means take those dice and try to make some money from your own roll. It is a unique opportunity.

Can players actually throw the dice in a way that gives them a chance to overcome the house edges at the game? Almost none can – except for a few outliers who actually have developed what the Captain called the “rhythmic rolling” ability. That hard-earned skill I will get to at the end of this article.

The Captain categorized shooters based on their proper attitude towards shooting or lack thereof. True, almost all shooters had to face the random game but how they played it meant something to him. Form and style had meaning to him.

THE “I DON’T CARE” SHOOTER

I am sure all craps players have experienced this shooter and probably most of them feel as the Captain does; these “I don’t care” shooters don’t take their shooting seriously. They just whip the dice down the layout and effect an arrogant, uncaring haughtiness thereby letting everyone betting on them know that rolling is meaningless at a game such as craps.

The “I don’t care” shooters are right too. But they are wrong as well. 

Players’ money means something to those players. Certainly the game is random as life itself could be random; as the universe could be, as our individual selves could be but we give meaning to ourselves, our family, friends, jobs and our activities and all the things we think and do and one such thing many of us do is shooting the dice at craps. 

The Captain said, “I want to think the person shooting the dice whether a random shooter or not; I want to see that shooter look serious; knowing players’ money is at stake in the game. That means something to me. Style is important in all aspects of craps and of life. I take the game seriously and I expect other players to take the game seriously as well. If I have money bet on them I want them to care about that.”

The “I don’t care” shooter makes the game less important than the other players think it is. He degrades their seriousness and concern. Craps is far more fun when this person is not at the game.

[Please note: A corollary to this shooter is the same type who also criticizes other shooters for taking their shooting seriously. “Come on, shoot the stinking dice, will you?” Add such admonitions from the “I don’t care” shooter and the game loses its appeal.]

 

THE AVERAGE SHOOTER 

Most shooters care about having a good roll. Just ask them. Sure everyone knows the game is random but that doesn’t stop them from giving it the old college try. They want to do well and their faces show it. When they are having a hot roll, they look as if they are having a hot roll. You see joy written on their faces. When they quickly seven-out, they are crest fallen. You see that emotion too. 

The Captain said, “How a player looks is the key to how they feel. I want the player to want to do well. That caring? Does it translate into a good roll? No, not at all, but it does tell you that you and the shooter are in this game together. Our fates are linked.”

[Please note: Only don’t players, those darksiders, want a quick seven-out when other players shoot the dice or when they roll the dice. Still, many of these darksiders never shoot the dice or they shoot in the “I don’t care” manner showing all the other players that they want to lose. Many right-side players find such darksiders intolerable and actively root for them to lose. It is rare, however, for darksiders to cheer when a shooter sevens-out.]

THE CAREFUL SHOOTER

I am seeing more and more careful shooters in the past 20 years; that is, shooters who take care with fixing their dice on certain pips and taking great care with their rolls. You just know they want to do well and they are sincerely (somewhat) sure that if they can just get those dice to do what they want everyone at the table will make some good money. They believe that in some way their rolls will be good.

The Captain said, “When I go to a gourmet restaurant I want to dress up. I like seeing men and women looking their best. It adds to the dining experience. The shooters who fix the dice in certain ways and take some time with their throws give me a charge. I am so rooting for them to do well, not just so I can win money, but so they feel a sense of accomplishment. If you meet a shooter such as this who did have a good roll; you meet him in a restaurant or the cashier, you thank them. They feel great when you do that. They cared.”

[Please note: “Fixing the dice” is the same as “setting the dice.” It is making sure certain pips on the dice are aligned the way as you want them to be.]

THE RHYTHMIC ROLLER

The Captain of craps believed that some small segment of dice shooters actually had the skills to change the nature of the game when they rolled. These shooters went from random to controlled. They could hit certain numbers more often than the math of the game indicated or they could avoid certain numbers such as the seven. He called these shooters “rhythmic rollers.”

It wasn’t too hard for him to believe in such since he was himself a rhythmic roller. Indeed, the greatest rhythmic roller I ever saw was the woman called “the Arm” who was truly an amazing sight to behold. She was the shooting glue that held the Captain and the Crew (and me!) in her grip. I have never seen a shooter since her that can match her.

For years I taught a course in rhythmic rolling but I found that most students just couldn’t do what was necessary to achieve this ability. It was not any physical limitations, it was discipline coupled with the ability to completely change one’s perception of the game.

My estimation was that for most novice rhythmic rollers it would take at least six months of practice to become somewhat proficient. A huge segment of the students did not want to wait that long and headed right to the casinos to try out what they had just learned. That would be like taking a first week little-league ballplayer and having him play in the major leagues. Success would not happen except through luck. In short, these craps players would be random shooters who fancied themselves rhythmic rollers. Sadly some teachers would egg these poor souls on to hop to the casinos and jointly play together at the same tables.

The next problem was huge. Most of the players could not rid themselves of their poor betting choices. Even those players who actually achieved some mastery of a rhythmic roll just couldn’t stop wagering on propositions that they had no ability to beat. They made the worst bets and then bragged if luck was in their corner on any given session. This luck they mistook for skill but they paid the price for such foolishness.

Many teachers of rhythmic rolling do not have the actual skill but pretend they do. They can be dangerous individuals with which to throw one’s lot. You will learn poor betting methods and a host of supposedly legitimate throws which are not really legitimate at all. So that is one big caveat to achieving a real skill.

[Please note: Rhythmic rolling was coined by the Captain but since his time other words or phrases have also been used to describe this skill such as precision shooting, dice control, dice influence and rhythm rolling. These are all synonyms.] 

ELEMENTS OF THE RHYTHMIC ROLL 

There essentially 10 elements to the rhythmic roll. 

• Proper setting the dice in a way that encourages certain numbers to appear or in order to reduce the appearance of the seven.
• Proper gripping of the dice so there is little or no friction when released.
• Proper arc on the dice, which changes depending on the table.
• Proper bounce of the dice on the table so there is not too much friction or activity on the dice from a table’s layout or the pyramids at the back wall.
• Playing at good tables for one’s throw.
• Proper betting on oneself.
• Avoidance of all poor bets such as the hardways, the horn, the field, and all place bets except perhaps the six and the eight. 
• Extremely small bets on other players. One small Come or Pass Line bet is recommended.
• Regular at-home practice.
• Honesty about your actual skill.

SUMMARY

Listen to the Captain. His words and his ideas have revolutionized much of craps play – at least to those of us who listen to him. How you shoot the dice is a reflection of your character. Be serious about it even if you are playing the random game with your actual shot.

I have written several books about him and I have based my writing on his ideas. Following a player such as the Captain is a smart move.

The Captain has stood me in good stead for three decades.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Note in the title of this article that I put the word best in quotes (“best”) because despite my use of the word not one of these systems of play yields the player an advantage over the house. That’s the truth and smart roulette players are fully aware of the fact that other than playing a biased wheel (something almost impossible to find nowadays with our much more sophisticated wheels), betting strategies are the be-all and end-all of play.

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The underlying math of the game just doesn’t give us a betting method that can overcome the edge but I will give you some methods that can reduce the hit on your bankroll. Essentially these all fall into the category of “play fewer decisions and enjoy them as much or more than all those decisions of the past.” (Well, something like that.)

Still, the eight methods I will outline here have been used for a long time by roulette players. Roulette betting method #1 is slightly different as in no way, shape or form can I recommend it because of its ultimate destructive properties but it is probably the most common betting method casino gamblers use (to their dismay).

#1 - THE MARTINGALE

You might not know the name of this one but I am guessing that many of you have played this or some form of this roulette strategy, especially when you started your casino gambling career

The Martingale method is a double your bet after a loss strategy. So if you lose your first bet (say five units), you then bet 10 units. Win that you make up for the five unit loss and you are now ahead five units.

This might sound good but a moderate losing streak of between seven to nine losses in a row will clobber you since you are doubling your bet after every loss: 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280. Think of it, you are betting 1280 units to win? Just five!

In the first week (or so) of my gambling career I played the Martingale and did just fine for two days and then…bam!

#2 - THE LABOUCHERE

You take a row of numbers, say 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 with each number representing betting units; the lowest being 10 units for our example. You add the first and last number which is 60 units. With each loss you add the bet to the end of the line so now the number line is 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60. If you win the next bet (10+60) for 70 units you are ahead 10 units.

You now subtract the 10 and the 60. If you lose that bet, you add a 70 to the end of the number string and try again.

Every time you win a bet, the first and last numbers are dropped. If you cancel all the numbers, you have won for that sequence. If you run out of money then…well you know what that means.

The Labouchere method is similar to the Martingale but it moves along in a seemingly better fashion and that’s why many roulette players use it.

#3 - THE D’ALEMBERT

The D'Alembert method is also known as the Gambler’s Fallacy because its basis is an incorrect idea – that the universe evens things out. Sometimes this is thought of as the maturity of chances.


If the James Bond’s number 17 came up a lot in the last 100 spins then it is going to slow down so stop betting it because the universe wants the other numbers to catch up. I wish that were true. All studies show that it is an idea that sounds correct, feels correct and --- is wrong.

 

 

#4 - THE FIBONACCI

Fibonacci is a number system that seems to be found throughout nature and many gamblers use it as a betting system. This is the Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144… it goes on and on until well past your death.

You see the pattern, correct? If not look carefully: 1+1 =2; 1+2 = 3; 2+3 = 5; 3+5 = 8. The numbers are combinations of the two that came before.

So now you use this as a betting barometer: You bet 10 units. If you lose you bet another 10 units. If you lose you bet 10 units + 10 units for 20 units --- and up you go if you keep losing.

#5 - THE PAROLI

Many of you have probably played this system but you used the word “parley” to describe it. Paroli is an increase your bet as you win method of play. You win a 10 unit bet and the next bet is 20 units. You win that bet and the next bet can be 40 units.

You can stop increasing your bet at any time or just increase with smaller units but up you go with the hope that your winning streak keeps going. You can be an aggressive “parolee” or a moderate one but no matter, up you go!

#6 - THE CHAOS

This system could be based on those dinosaurs running amok in Jurassic Park because chaos, the inability to accurately predict events will then cause events, such as dinosaurs devouring you, to occur.

I know it does sound a little nutty. But chaos is actually a branch of scientific study.

Now the roulette “chaosticians” say you must not think about what you are about to bet. Just jump into the game and throw bets all over the layout in no particular order or amount. I think you can also call this system “I am being eaten by a damn dinosaur!”

#7 - THE GRAND MARTINGALE

Simple logic here: If the Martingale is a horrible bet then is the Grand Martingale better? Yes! Just kidding. No, it isn’t. Here you increase your bet not by doubling after a loss but by tripling after a loss. This system should also be called “take my money, please.”

#8 - A TRULY GOOD ONE

All right I saved the best betting system for last but I have to tell you that you won’t find this option at most roulette games. That’s sad because it really helps the savvy player hang in the game.

On the even-money bets of red/black, odd/even, and high/low some casinos will only take half your bet on these should the 0 or 00 hits. (There are two types of roulette games, with wheels having a double-zero and wheels with only a single-zero --- if possible only play the single-zero.)

If the casino returns half your bet, the house edge is reduced in half. That’s the best betting system at the game!

 

Everybody walks into a casino hoping to bring down the house and force management to its knees. However, unless you rank among the James Grosjeans or Don Johnsons of the world, there is an argument to be made that you will have to rely on good luck and every perk you can possibly extract. While luck is something you can hope for but not control, casino generosity, which comes in the forms of free stuff – such as rooms, food, cocktails, fight tickets, etc – can be engineered. If it's an online casino you will find promotions, free spins and plenty more entertaining offers as well.

Scoring a free dinner in the steakhouse won’t make you rich, bit it will make the casino experience more rewarding and take some of the sting out of your double downs and split aces that failed to deliver. “Guys come to Vegas for three days, without a host or a players card, and then they complain, ‘I lost three grand and nobody even said hello to me,’” explains superstar casino host Steve Cyr. Subject of the book Whale Hunt in the Desert, Cyr has hosted high rollers at Vegas casinos such as Hard Rock, Caesars Palace, Palms and Golden Nugget. He’s wined and dined winners and losers alike, lining them up for free rooms on the low end and $10,000 shopping sprees on the high. “The first lesson there is that you should have been rated.”

By “rated,” Cyr means that gamblers should have their gambling tracked. In order to do that, upon arriving at your gambling destination of choice, you go up to a counter, generally designated as the “players club,” and ask for a players card. It resembles a credit card and allows the casino to monitor, for example, how you play blackjack, whether you win or lose, what your games of choice are, and, most importantly, the free stuff that you will be entitled to.

 

But you do need to remember to use it every time you so much as stick a quarter into the slot machine. “I still get people telling me that they hate using the card,” admits Cyr. “I tell them, ‘If you don’t use it, don’t expect a comp.’ By getting rated, you prove your worth to the casino. Everybody says that they gamble a lot.”

So now you are gambling away and your play is being monitored by a computer. What will it take to get a free room? “You want to gamble $1,000 a day,” says Cyr, meaning that you provide the casino with likelihood of winning $1,000. “That’s what it takes to get a free room. This means that your average bet is $50 and you play for three hours a day.”

That value of that play-level can be amped up by coming in on the right day and going to the right gambling spot. “Come mid-week and I might get you a mini suite instead of a standard room,” vows Cyr. It also pays to go to a Vegas casino – which you might hit just once or twice per year – that is affiliated with a casino where you routinely gamble close to home. Companies such as MGM Resorts International (owners of Bellagio, Mirage and MGM) and Caesars Entertainment (owners of Caesars Palace, Rio and Flamingo) have gaming outposts around the world. “Smart players gamble at their little, local casinos that are affiliated with big casinos in Vegas,” says Cyr. “Then you use your clout and points” – generated by gambling close to home – “when you’re playing with the big guys.”

It’s also worth making sure that your casino host knows your value. Your host – you can get one just by calling the casino, asking to speak with a host and letting him know that you are coming to town – can never be certain that you’re willing to gamble at the level you promise. But he can have a better indication of it after you put your gambling money on deposit with the casino.  If, say, you put $5,000 on deposit - once it is logged in, you extract portions of that money at the cashier’s cage or at the table – it increases the generosity that your host is willing to extend in terms of room, food, beverage, etc.. Additionally, it means that you do not need to fly to Vegas with a ridiculous sum of cash in your pocket. 

 

 

 

Upon sitting at the table and doing your gambling, it is worth noting that all games are not created equally. Some favor the house more than others. And if your game of choice is one in which the house has a high win rate, the comps you get should reflect that. According to Cyr, the casino’s profit on blackjack tends to be 12- to 14-percent per $100,000 wagered. Craps is around 11 percent and roulette, says Cyr, “is over 20 percent.” He adds, “If it’s midnight and I have one suite left, it’s going to the guy who plays the wheel. If you play the wheel and you want a little extra, you should say something.”

Other reasons to align with hosts is because they can get you rooms when all the rooms appear to be booked. Same goes for good reservation times at popular casino restaurants. “When you call Scotch 80 [the hot, new steakhouse at Palms in Las Vegas] and they tell you that the only reservations are 6:00 and 10:00, it’s because all the good ones have been taken by hosts,” says Cyr. “If you have a host he might be able to get you in there for the 8:00 dinner you desire.”

And if you gamble high enough, you can offset your loses against rebates paid back by the casino. Known as “discounts,” this is money given back to the largest players. “If you lose $80,000, I will pick up your airfare,” says Cyr, laying out an offer that doesn’t sound so generous. “But if you drop 150-grand, you get back 10 percent. There’s one guy who gets back 20 percent per $1 million he loses.”

But you don’t have to drop that kind of money to draw the attention of a casino host and benefit from the freebies that casinos dole out to gamblers who warrant them. Look like enough of a player and you’ll get courted. “If I see a guy I don’t know and watch him gambling for an hour, I can tell if he is a real player,” says Cyr, pointing out that you draw attention by gambling at the highest limit table that your bankroll and appetite for risk can withstand. “Then, if I think he is a real player, I tell him to check out our room and send a limo to bring him over from wherever else he might be staying.”

There is a supposed quote by Einstein that “the only way to make money at a roulette wheel is to steal it when the dealer isn’t looking”. Whether or not this is a true quote of the great scientist, the fact is that many players have actually tried to cheat at the table. Sometimes with success and other times ending up beaten by the casino staff.

Here are some cheats that have been actually applied at roulette. I am not suggesting that you should do anything funny while at the roulette table. These are only for your information and entertainment. Casino security personnel are aware of these tricks – or they should be – and they are not very friendly to cheaters.

The 4 roulette cheats methods that have actually worked are:

1. Sleight of Hand

2. Roulette Computers

3. Biased Wheels & AP
4. Rigged Wheels, Balls & Magnets

 

SLEIGHT OF HAND

The pro cheaters are often posing as players in high action roulette tables. Their techniques involve extreme misdirection and perfect sleight of hand skills, acquired after years of practice.

What if you could make a bet after the ball has landed on the wheel?  Well, there are people who can do it and have done it. Welcome to the art of Past Posting.

Have you noticed that when the ball lands, the croupier puts a piece of fiberglass on top of the straight up bets on the winning number? This little item is called “Dolly” and casinos started using it in order to deter cheaters from putting chips on the winning number after the ball has landed. This should tell you how widespread the trick of late betting was and still is.

Since casinos made it almost impossible for cheaters to bet directly on the winning number for a 35 to 1 payout, the sharks focused their “skills” in the outside bets. Here is a demonstration of how it is done: There are various methods of past posting. The undisputed master of this type of techniques is the famous casino cheater Richard Marcus. In his own blog, you can read how he performed special cheating moves and tricks like The Savannah, The Roulette Mix-Up and The Roulette Section.

The Chip Cup scam involves teaming up with a croupier and using a little plastic prop called Chip Cup. The croupier then gives you hundred dollar chips, instead of five dollar ones, when you exchange your money. Watch how it is performed in the video:

Using distraction techniques and fast, perfectly coordinated moves, trickster, often working in teams, can steal colored chips from other player’s stacks or the bets on the table or even from the dealer.

ROULETTE COMPUTERS

No article about roulette cheats would be complete without exploring the use of roulette computers. They are a really big issue in roulette. There are completely opposite views about them. Some say they don’t work in real casino conditions and the people, who sell roulette computers to wannabe cheaters, are scammers themselves. Others claim that they are the only way to make a scientific prediction and win. Then there are those who would never use an illegal device in casino and end up in jail or beaten up by casino security. And some others go to great pains to find casinos in faraway countries where the use of computers inside the casino is not strictly prohibited.

How do roulette computers work?

Every roulette computer set-up is different, that’s why it gets hard to understand how they work. They are usually a group of various small devices that do different things:

1. The tracker. A device that records the data of the wheel, either by human input or laser scanning, The tracker device registers the speed of the wheel track and of the roulette ball, and their relative position.
2. The calculator. A program that is on a stand-alone device or embedded in a smartphone. It takes the data from the tracker and by doing complex calculations tries to almost instantly predict where the ball will land.
3. The earpiece. The prediction by the calculator is then transmitted by audio to the player via an earpiece.

In theory this concept might work. Take measurements, using physics equations calculate where on the wheel the ball will land, and transmit this info to the player to make the correct bet. There are also some cases that prove that the idea of roulette computers can work in practice.

The Eudemons, a group of four UCSC students, have had moderate success in Las Vegas casinos in the 70s using some sort of roulette computer, which they hide in their shoes. They made in excess of $10,000, but an incident in which the insulation failed and the solenoid burned one of the players, brought the project to a screeching halt.

Before them, in 1961, Edward Thorp, the mathematician who wrote the first book on card counting “Beat the Dealer”, and the father of electronic communications and information theory,  Claude Shannon had created their own roulette computer, which is actually the first wearable computer ever made.  In lab conditions, it worked brilliantly, but real-life posed some unique challenges, that the professors had a hard time overcoming.

In 2004, two Serbian men and a Hungarian woman, won over £1.2million in two visits to the Ritz casino in London. After the casino reviewed their game, as recorded by the security cameras, they concluded that the players used a laser scanner and roulette computer to beat the wheel. Subsequently, they were arrested and their funds were frozen. However the players were ultimately allowed kept their winnings, because no hard evidence has been found of any wrongdoing.

That said, I don’t consider roulette computers as a viable method of cheating casinos. Here’s why:

1. In most countries roulette computers are illegal to use in a casino. You risk ending up in jail.
2. Most casinos have strict security measures, including electronic machines detection, before entering their premises. You risk being blacklisted for life.
3. Especially after the 2004 Ritz casino incident (described before), casinos are very aware of the possible use of roulette computers and seriously looking out for them.
4. In real casino conditions it is very hard to get exact measuring and the time allowed to make a bet after the ball is spun is very limited. It is unrealistic to expect perfect operation of a hidden device under such psychological, environmental and time pressure.
5. Various people claim that they sell roulette computers. Most of them sell bad devices that make wrong predictions. It is a feat in itself to find a roulette computer that can make a good prediction.
6. The computer sellers hope to make a fortune by selling the devices instead of beating the casinos. This should tell you enough about how easy it is to cheat the casino.

In short, roulette computers are an unfavorable bet. There are more chances that you will lose your money on one than you will manage to get rich by using them. Nonetheless, they are a very interesting subject and you can learn everything about them on our roulette 30 articles.

Now, how about if you could make all the calculations of a computer in your head? Wouldn’t that be great?

BIASED WHEELS AND ADVANTAGE PLAY

Advantage Play means taking advantage of inefficiencies of the way the game is performed. One such “inefficiency” is the bias the roulette wheel can show favoring specific numbers. Despite the expertise and high quality control of roulette manufacturers, a wheel can never be 100% perfect; there will always be imperfections that will slightly favor a sector. This little bias can get worse if you add the wear and tear of old wheels, especially if they are not often tested and serviced. The bias player spots and exploits the bias of such wheels.

The most famous Bias player is García Pelayo from Spain. In the 1990’s, he collected data of thousands of roulette spins of various roulette wheels at Casino Gran Madrid. Then he analyzed the data with a computer program and identified strong bias in some of the wheels. Pelayo, together with his family, went on and did the same bias attack in various casinos all over the world. His story became a documentary and a movie.

RIGGED WHEELS, BALLS AND MAGNETS

There have been rare reports of cheaters rigging roulette wheels or putting an extremely small undetected magnet onto the ball in order to control it remotely. This is done when the casino is closed to the public and sometimes with the cooperation of corrupted casino staff.

in the 1800s, Pierre Dugal, when the casino closed its doors, hid in the toilet and when all the staff went away he rigged the roulette wheel to hit specific numbers more often.

In the 1973, Monique Laurent became known as the Frenchman with the cigarette pack. With the cooperation of his brother, who worked as a croupier, he rigged the roulette ball with a miniature radio receiver and then controlled it with a transmitter hidden in a supposed cigarette pack. Over a period of time the team “won” over $1mil  until they were busted.

It is a “battle to the finish” between the casinos’ two most popular table games, blackjack and craps. Which is the better game? 

There are many ways to look at the contest. Of course, you can state house edges but these are often obscured or enhanced by the number of decisions players make at each game. A fast game with a low edge can be just as dangerous as or even more dangerous than a slow game with a bigger edge.

For example, how many hands of blackjack does a player actually play at a full table of seven? Of six? What about that player going head-to-head against the dealer; how many hands does such a player play and what’s the long-term edge in such games? How much is this player expected to lose per hour?

At craps there are so many various bets, some good, some bad, some awful. A player can be playing a strong game against the house or find himself in the equivalent of a burning building. Which bets and what edges are players willing to face? Is it best to play alone at a table or with one or two others or with a whole crowd? 

There are so many scenarios when playing either table game that it can make a player dizzy. What bets does a player make at craps and how many of them? What strategies does a player use at blackjack? How many decks does the player go up against?

[Please note: I will assume all blackjack players are playing basic strategy. There are different basic strategies for the various numbers of decks. These strategies have been created by computers and they explain how to play every hand a player gets versus the dealer’s up card. While there are many different basic strategies, they are not all that different from each other. We’ll assume all blackjack players are playing the correct strategy.]

I will also give you some comments from blackjack and craps players about why and how they play the game they like.

A REASONABLE BLACKJACK GAME

Most players play a multiple-deck blackjack game, composed of either six or eight decks. Six decks will be our reasonable game. In the good old days of Las Vegas blackjack players could challenge single-deck games with outstanding blackjack rules; you’ll be hard-pressed to find such games today.

Most players play a multiple-deck blackjack game, composed of either six or eight decks. Six decks will be our reasonable game. In the good old days of Las Vegas blackjack players could challenge single-deck games with outstanding rules; you’ll be hard-pressed to find such games today.

A general rule of thumb is to speculate that blackjack games come in with about a half-percent edge against the player, which translates into a loss of 50 cents per $100 wagered. Therefore I will use one-half percent as our median edge; above that is a game that is poorer or getting poorer. Below that is a game that is getting better and better. 

Many games will mix up the rules, some good, some bad; but our chart is not going to do such mixing. I am also only using rules and situations that are most often found in casinos. So obscure rules found in individual casinos but not throughout the world will be ignored. 

The number of decisions per hour combined with the house edge will create an edge that can be viciously sharp or somewhat blunt. We can see why certain situations add to the speed of the game and other situations reduce the speed of the game. While a game’s edge on individual wagers technically remains the same, the speed of the game gives that edge more money to work on and thus more money that the player can lose over time.

So let me take a look at a few of the above rules and situations:

Blackjack at a full table will see a player play about 60 hands an hour. Blackjack with the player going head-to-head against the dealer will see a player playing around 100 hands per hour. The more decisions the faster that long-run kicks in. So playing at a full table is a good thing, a very good thing.

The auto-shuffler will increase the number of decisions per hour by about 20 percent. Best to play at games where the dealer shuffles as these are far slower.

A talkative dealer will tend to slow down a game, meaning fewer decisions. A silent dealer will tend to speed up a game, meaning more decisions. 

Deep cuts of the cards are good for card counters but they are not good for basic strategy players. Shallow cuts are the best for basic strategy players as the dealer will need to shuffle more frequently.

You can see that the good rules give you a chance to get more money into action when the game is more favorable for you or to reduce your losses. Casinos that limit your ability to utilize these options are restricting your chances to have success at any given session.

WHAT PLAYERS SAY ABOUT THE GAME

RONALD: “Blackjack can go back and forth between the player and the casino. At rare times a dealer gets hot and the players lose consistently or the player goes on a rather big winning streak but usually the house wins slowly. Since blackjack players basically face that one-half percent house edge, many sessions are winners for them. This keeps most of them coming back for more. It keeps me coming back that’s for sure.”

MARTA: “I am a social person and at many blackjack tables I get into good conversations with the other players and even the friendly-type dealers. I find the game is somewhat relaxing and I win many sessions that I play. I do not like to play against the dealer alone because the game goes too fast.”

JIMMY: “I go to the casino with the best rules. That makes sense to me. You want to play the games that give you the best chance to win.”

FRANCES: “I am not a card counter or anything but I have read a lot about the game. I play at full tables at games with the best rules that I can find. I like cuts that are not deep. I think overall I am a good player and I certainly do enjoy the game.”

BLACKJACK VOLATILITY

While blackjack is a back-and-forth game, there are times when it can jump in the favor of the players or jump in the favor of the casino. When a player has some double downs, splits and doubles after splits, a winning streak at these times can be a strong positive enhancement to his or her bankroll. However, if the player loses on these options a severe slide can happen.

 

CRAPS THOUGHTS 

Craps is probably the most exciting and frustrating game played in the casinos. It is a communal game where players shoot the dice and feel they have some control of what is otherwise a random game. In short, craps players feel they take the game into their own hands. Except for true dice controllers such a feeling of control is an illusion. Still there are better and worse ways to play the game and these ways determine how much of a monetary edge the casinos have over the players.

Most craps games across the world are usually similar with one glaring exception, the number of Odds that players can take on the Pass Line, Come wagers, Don’t Pass, and Don’t Come wagers. The more a player can place in Odds, a bet with no house edge, and the less a player bets on the above mentioned good bets, the better he will fare over time.

Let me give you a short list of the good bets, the medium bets and the bad bets at the game of craps. Here they are with their house edges:

[Please note: Sometimes it is good to translate the house edges into money. That is easy to do. Any Seven comes in with an edge of 16.67 percent and that means the house will win $16.67 on $100 wagered over time. For a $10 wager the loss is $1.67. A good bet on blackjack will lose 50 cents per $100 wagered, while a bet on the Pass Line will lose $1.41 per $100. The faster the game, the more likely such a monetary edge reveals itself.]

Quickly: All bets in the first two columns are a waste of time and money. The higher the edge, the worse the bet; it is really as simple as that. Since most craps players are rightside bettors let me stick with those as our example. If you bet the bad and medium numbers then you might like the game of craps but it will not be economically rewarding for you.

Most craps players have it in their heads (as I used to) that betting three numbers is the way to go. Of course, some other players prefer to bet a slew of numbers. I once saw a high roller lose 1.4 million dollars in one hour betting almost every number and proposition. Yikes! What happened to him in Vegas stayed in Vegas.

If you bet three Pass Line and/or Come bets then you triple the money that goes against the 1.41 percent house edge. That’s tripling your expected loss.

ONE BET ON ONE NUMBER 

Now my idea that craps players should only bet one number at the game is radical (I will cover this fully in my article “A Game of Numbers”) and most craps players will think I am out of my mind. However, a single bet on a single number puts the game in league with blackjack in terms of hourly losses for the same amount of a player’s wager.

With 36 possible combinations on the dice, most rolls will have no effect on the player; only the player’s number and the 7 matter. When numbers other than the mentioned two are rolled, that is dead time. Dead time can’t hurt you.

CRAPS VOLATILITY

Craps might be slightly more volatile than blackjack but it is not so volatile that it can crush you in the one-bet one-number strategy.

WHAT PLAYERS SAY ABOUT THE GAME

THOMAS: “Craps gets my juices flowing. No other game does that for me.”

WEYWARD: “When you are winning several bets in a row and the shooter is having a decent roll, nothing matches that!”

MARCUS: “Craps is the game. Once you get into it all other games seem relatively calm.”

So, folks, what is the best game? I have no idea. I guess it all comes down to a matter of taste.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Multi-Strike Poker has been with us since the early 2000s – multiple lifetimes as electronic casino games go. That it’s held onto a niche in casinos and is also available on online casino after all this time speaks to the quality the concept. 

It’s an intriguing game that can create some huge wins, but getting the most out of Multi-Strike requires some changes from normal video poker strategy.

THE BASICS OF MULTI-STRIKE POKER

Multi-Strike, which was created by Leading Edge Design and is distributed by International Game Technology, is available in many of IGT’s video poker game families. You can play Multi-Strike versions of games including Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Bonus Poker Deluxe and Deuces Wild.

• You have the opportunity to play four hands per play, but that is not guaranteed. 
• Accordingly, the maximum bet usually is 20 credits – four times the usual five-credit max.
• That buys you a chance to advance through hands that pay one, two, four and eight times normal payoffs.
• You advance by either winning or getting a randomly dealt free pass. 
• Lose at the 1x level, and you’re done. You’ve lost 20 coins for one hand. That’s the downside. The upside is that if you win at video poker or get a free pass at the 1x level, you’re dealt a 2x hand. Win or get a free pass there, and you get to play a 4x hand, and a win or free pass there brings you the 8x hand.
• There’s potential gold in that hill. At the 8x level, a royal flush isn’t worth just 4,000 coins, or $1,000 on a 25-cent machine. It’s worth 32,000 coins, an $8,000 bonanza for a 25-cent player, plus any winnings at the lower levels.
• Even smaller pays become nice bankroll padders as you move up the latter. If at each level you just got a pair of Jacks – normally a five-credit pay for a five-coin bet --- you’d get five credits at the 1x hand, 10 at 2x, 20 at 4x and 40 at 8x for a total of 75 credits. That’ll keep you going for a few hands.

MULTI-STRIKE POKER ODDS

If winning hands were the only way to advance, Multi-Strike would be a much tougher game. To use 9-6 Jacks or Better as an example, about 45.4 percent of hands are winners given optimal strategy.

To make Multi-Strike an attractive game for players, Leading Edge added free passes to move you up a level. They occur often enough that you’ll advance from each level about 50 percent of the time.

That means you have a 1 in 2 chance of reaching the 2x hand, a 1 in 4 chance of reaching the 4x hand and a 1 in 8 chance of reaching the 8x hand.

Payoffs at higher levels raise the overall payback percentages of the games, if only slightly. Instead of the usual 99.5 percent with expert play, 9-6 Jacks or Better pays 99.8 percent on Multi-Strike. Percentages on 8-5 Bonus Poker rise from 99.2 percent to 99.4 percent, and 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker rises from 99 percent to 99.2 percent.

STRATEGY ADAPTATIONS 

The big potential paybacks mean players need to prioritize advancing at early levels.

Instead of the best play being the one that will bring the highest average return, that has to be tempered with plays that bring more frequent wins.

One feature of regular video poker strategy is that the play that wins most often doesn’t necessarily win the most money. 

Let’s use 9-6 Jacks or Better as an example. Holding low pairs from 2s through 10s win less often than holding one or more unpaired high cards. But the low pairs bring a higher average return, so they rank higher than unpaired Jacks or higher on strategy charts.

In Multi-Strike, the need to advance is so strong that if you have two or more unpaired high cards at the 1x level, you’ll want to hold them instead of a low pair.

The strategy switches change at each level. The higher you get, the fewer changes are called for until at the 8x level, Multi-Strike strategy is the same as single-hand strategy.

Specifics change depending on game, but a grounding in 9-6 Jacks or Better strategy is a good place to start. Check out a sampling of how Multi-Strike strategy changes from level to level in that game.

1X LEVEL

Four parts of a straight flush: In regular 9-6 Jacks or Better, you’d hold a hand such as 8-9-10-Jack of another suit even if the fifth card was another Jack. In Multi-Strike, it’s better to hold a high pair to guarantee advancing a level.

There is an exception. If your four parts of a straight flush are 10-Jack-Queen-King, then you have a chance with a royal with an Ace as well as a straight flush with a 9. In that case, you’d still hold all four instead of a high pair.

Low pair: Here’s where the most frequent strategy differences come. In normal Jacks or Better strategy, hands that rank higher than low pairs are any paying hand; four parts of a royal or straight flush; three parts of a royal; four parts of a flush; and 10-Jack-Queen-King of mixed suits.

But in Multi-Strike, high cards have extra value because of the advancement factor. Adapted strategy doesn’t call for you to hold single high cards instead of low pairs, but it does call for discarding low pairs to hold any two high cards.

Given a hand such as 8 of spades, 8 of diamonds, 3 of clubs, Jack of hearts and Ace of spades, you’d hold 8-8 in regular Jacks or Better. In Multi-Strike, you hold Ace-Jack instead to maximize chances of getting to the 2x level.

High cards of the same suit are more valuable than high cards of different suits because they leave open royal flush and straight flush possibilities. But regardless of whether the suits are mixed, holding two or more high cards instead of a low pair is a play to make at the 1X Multi-Strike level.

A note on multiple high cards: Unless they’re the same suit, leaving royal flush possibilities, 

Four parts of a straight: Except in rare instances, Multi-Strike players don’t hold four parts of a straight.

The most valuable four-card straight with no straight flush possibilities is 10-Jack-Queen-King of mixed suits. That’s not as good a hold as four-card flushes or three parts of a royal, but it’s better than low pairs, two or more high cards of mixed suits or two high cards of the same suit.

On other four-card straights including high cards, the high cards are more valuable at this level than the straight potential. For example, a chart at wizardofodds.com lists the expected value of 8-9-10-J as 1.68 coins, but lists the Jack by itself at 1.79.

Even the four-card straight Ace-King-Queen-Jack misses the strategy list at this level. It’s better to play King-Queen-Jack.

With no high cards, discard four-card straights at this level.

2X LEVEL 

At this level, you’re still holding high pairs instead of four-card straight flushes except for 10-Jack-Queen-King, and you’re still holding two or more high cards instead of low pairs.

The main difference comes on straights. Four-card open-ended straights with no high cards, such as 4-5-6-7, don’t rank high on the strategy table, but they’re not throwaway hands. If the hand also includes a high card or a pair, hold that while breaking up the straight. If not, go for the straight.

4X LEVEL

With four times pay and only one more level to advance, strategy starts to become more like regular Jacks or Better. 

Four-card straight flushes: Revert to holding a four-card, open-ended straight flush such as 7-8-9-10 of the same suit instead of a high pair.

However, continue to hold a high pair if you have an inside draw to a four-card straight flush, such as 7-8-10-Jack suited and a Jack of another suit.

Low pairs: At earlier levels, low pairs were pushed behind multiple high cards regardless of whether they were suited or of mixed suits. 

At 4x level, three-card royals remain ahead of low pairs. So does the four-card open-ended straight 10-Jack-Queen-King of mixed suits.

However, low pairs move ahead of two high cards, suited or unsuited, and three or four unsuited high cards.

Four parts of a straight: Ace-King-Queen-Jack of mixed suits returns to the strategy list. At 4x level, it’s a better play than King-Queen-Jack.

Also, 8-9-10-Jack of mixed suits is a better play than holding the Jack by itself. However, with multiple high cards such as 9-10-Jack-Queen, it remains better to hold the high cards and skip the straight draw.

8X LEVEL

Advancing ceases to be factor when there are no more levels to advance. At the top tier, your best play is to follow regular optimal strategy for 9-6 Jacks or Better.

Specific plays and adjustments will differ for other games. Every video poker game has its own quirks. But basics from Multi-Strike Jacks or Better – especially downplaying low pair and straight draws at early levels – will help you get the most out of any Multi-Strike game.

Figure out how to legally beat a casino game – whether it’s through the rather benign act of card counting or by pulling off a play as audacious as Kelly Sun’s multi-million-dollar edge sorting move – and you’ll discover that getting asked to leave casinos is an occupational hazard.

Advantage players recognize the back-offs and 86s as an expected consequence of brutally bringing down the house. As I was once told by world-class horse handicapper Bill Benter, “If they’re not kicking you out, you’re doing something wrong.”

But landing in the so-called Black Book, a roster of people who are legally prohibited from entering the premises of any gambling enterprise in the state of Nevada, well, that is something else altogether. For starters, placement in the Book frequently involves a felonious act.

According to Anthony Curtis, publisher of Las Vegas Advisor and a former advantage player himself, it’s a special circle of casino hell. “It takes undesirables to the Nth level,” says Curtis. “There are different degrees of being backed off. This is the ultimate. You are not being backed off from a casino. You are being backed off from an industry.“    

Officially known as the Nevada Gaming Control Board Excluded Person List, the Black Book was launched in 1960. Once an actual book bound in black covers – though, over the years, there have been other colors – the Black Book is a list of criminals, casino cheaters, con artists and various unsavory types who, it is believed, do damage to casinos just by being there. Mobster Sam Giancana – who supposedly had ties to the CIA, gained control of casinos such as Sands and Desert Inn, and showed himself to be a prolific skimmer of profits – ranked among the first gangsters entered into the Book.

History has it that the Black Book was created as a means for the gambling industry to convince the American Congress that it could capably police itself and keep criminal elements off of gaming floors. 

A copy of an early Black Book, which debuted with a list of just 11 undesirables, open to the page of diminutive but ultra-violent mobster Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, is on display at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. The most recent additions to the Book, which now has 35 entrants, are Anthony Grant Granito and James Russell Cooper. Both convicted of scamming the Bellagio out of some $1.2 million, they made it last November.

Working in cahoots with a croupier, the two men posted their bets after the dice landed. Of course that turns craps into an easy game to beat. So easy, in fact, that they overcame an estimated 452-billion to 1 odds in odder to reap their seven-figure rewards. A grand jury found them guilty of theft and cheating and the two men were sentenced to at least four years of prison. But the Nevada Gaming Control Board took things further by placing them in the Black Book, which currently exists as an online listing with photos, last known residences and, of course, the misdeeds.

 

For some cheaters, getting in the Black Book is enough of an onus that they’d rather go to jail if it helps them to beat the Book. One gaming insider remembers a recent scam artist who was famous for marking cards at the blackjack table. “He was arrested at home and the guy had a mini-factory for creating daubs (the dye used for marking cards), cheating equipment and disguises,” says the insider. “He made his living by robbing casinos and did not want to be banned from entering them.”

He reportedly rallied to serve jail time but be kept out of the Black Book. “He would have much preferred that,” says the source. “But the guy did not get it and now he can’t go into a Nevada casino.” He pleaded guilty to a count of felony burglary and received probation – plus his spot in the Book.

While it’s hard to get into the Black Book – entering the rogue’s gallery involves doing something that truly offends powers that be at the Nevada Gaming Control Board – it is even harder to get out. Most of those who escape the Book manage to do it by dying. Even giving up on gambling will not help. According to “Las Vegas Review Journal”, the last of the Black Book’s surviving OGs was Los Angeles-based mob boss Louis Thomas Dragna. He died in 2012, at age 92, and broke free of the Book with his passing.

But what is it like to actually be in the Black Book? Surprisingly, it seems that most members of the devious sect – save for the cheater described above – don’t mind being there all that much.

For starters, by the time you do something notorious enough to enter the Book, you’re probably persona non grata in most casinos anyway. In some quarters, in fact, placement in the Black Book is essentially an advertisement for one’s underhanded skills. Being in the Book, says expert card-marker William Gene Land, “was a badge of honor. I held my mug and it opened up a lot of opportunities for me – if you know what I mean.”

What he means is that he was able to work with highly profitable card-marking teams that operated beyond the Book’s range of influence. Now claiming to be out of the cheating business – “I’m retired; I stay home and play with my grandchildren” – Land earned millions by spearheading plays despite his notoriety. “I couldn’t go into a Nevada casino,” he admits. “But there were plenty of games outside of the United States.”

Another inductee to the Black Book, a cheater who famously  rigged slot machines and asked that his name not be used, shrugs it all off as well.  “It doesn’t really affect me,” he says. “[Being put in the Book] felt more like a publicity stunt than anything else. The irony is that I live in Las Vegas (where bars and even supermarkets typically have slot machines) and I can walk into any bar to play slots.”

He considers this for a minute, laughs and concludes, “So how much sense did it really make?” 

 

*Credits for main photo in this article belongs to Eran Alergant