It’s definitely been a while since I last posted (count almost two years). This is absolutely because of the life events that had transpired since (read as getting married and having my first son!). That being said, being on parental leave since October of last year has allowed me to weasel in some time to pursue a few interests that I normally did not have the time to fit in. In this case, I was able to dive into a prior hobby, the casino game of craps. I’ve always been interested in and enjoyed the game, and it’s been one of my go-to’s any time my friends and I would visit a casino in the past. I decided that I would pick up a couple books to better understand the game, bets, and probabilities…, which ended up turning into a full-fledged study into strategy, theory, and betting mechanisms to try and increase your winning potential with the lowest house-edge bets available. Given all of this information, one thing I wanted to do while this data was fresh in my head, was to post some ideas and current strategies I am employing in the game. And hey, it gives me a good excuse to update this site as well!

Preface on my Craps Strategy

Given the above background, I am going to describe one of my strategies here for playing craps. I am going to write up a mix of how to execute this strategy (as well as others I will post separately), the reasoning why some of the bets are being used, and a bit on my own personal views on table stake and bankroll management based on these strategies. I am going to assume a total working knowledge of the game, so this information will probably not be completely useful to someone learning the game from scratch. But that is okay, maybe given the motivation, I’ll post some introductory articles on the basics of the game, as I also promised some family members I would teach them the game as well. But let’s go ahead and dive into this strategy, which I named “Shadow of the Cross”.

Strategy Goals and Principles

Isn’t the goal of any craps strategy to make as much money as possible, and lose as little as can be? I think the short answer is yes, but there is a lot more layers of thinking here in, what I think, makes a good strategy. Let’s talk about some of the principles behind this Shadow of the Cross strategy. First, how much is being bet each “cycle” of betting? What the heck to I mean “cycle”? The way I think of the game is as follows - I only want to bet a certain amount of chips within each ‘cycle’ which can loosely be defined as each individual shooter. It also answers the question how much money am I willing to lose on each shooter. Additionally, I answer this question based on units that are equal to the minimum bet of the table. For example, let’s consider a $15 minimum table (an example we’ll stick with for this whole post): for this strategy, I only want to risk up to 4 units (or ~$60) for each. In addition to that, I want to have about as much money available to play with 5-7 shooters. So I am walking up to a $15 dollar table with about $300 at least to play with, hoping my strategy pans out.

With the amount of money I am coming up to the table with defined, and an idea of how much I am putting on the line for each shooter, let’s talk about one more thing about this strategy before we go into the specifics. Some of the bets I make in this strategy will probably seem odd. And they are. And you do not by any means need to follow this betting strategy to a tee - I’m not even sure if anyone will actually read this. But, in the off chance you stumble upon this post on the internet, just know I tried a lot of permutations of these bets and this is generally what I am sticking to. Every bet has some purpose, although the value I am seeing in each individual bet you may or may not agree with. That is totally okay, and is kind of the beauty of this game, it can be played in sooooo many ways and enjoyed by soooo many people. But I digress, I think its about time to get into how this strategy works.

Running “Shadow of the Cross” Phase 1

Finally, we’re here. Let’s talk about how this weird strategy works. Let’s consider a fresh craps layout, starting on the come-out roll. These images are some screen grabs courtesy of crapsee.live, which is an excellent free craps simulator you can try this and your own betting strategies on.

The come out roll is actually going to determine if I run this betting strategy or not, and I will explain why. Also if you are familiar with the Iron Cross strategy, it will make a little more sense too. I am only going to run this betting strategy if the come-out roll is a 5, 6, or 8, because the first bet I will always make for this and other strategies I have ready will be the pass-line. If the come out roll is a 5, 6, or 8, I now have a pass-line bet on one of those point numbers, so I have one of those points covered. If a different point was established (4, 9, or 10), I have a separate strategy I use for those which will be the subject of a separate post. So you’ll have to bear with me if you are still reading this, I will only use this strategy if the point is a 5, 6, or 8, because those are the numbers of the Iron Cross and I want one of those numbers covered by a pass-line bet. Why that is is irrelevant for now, but but if you are familiar with the Iron cross, you know that the other two numbers of that set usually get covered plus a field bet which allows you to have every number but 7 covered for a win (many of those wins you just break even for, but that is besides the point).

Okay, so step one complete. In the example image I bet $15 on the pass-line, and a 5 was established as a point. Whether it was the 5, 6, or 8, I call this bet the base bet since it kick’s off the whole strategy. So what do I do next? I will set up three more bets now for a total of 4 units on the table. The bets are as follows:

Place Bet

The Place Bet is used to get a betting unit on another Iron Cross number to minimize the chance the Field Bet will lose. If the Base Bet is on the 5, 6, or 8, the Place Bet will a simple place bet that goes on one of the two remaining numbers, which one is better’s preference.

Guard Bet

The Guard Bet is a Come Bet that serves two purposes. If a point number hits it will move to that point. If a seven hits, it hedges the other bets already placed by returning at least 2 units back to the better. Notice that with the Field bet, a 2, 3, or 12 will allow this Guard Bet to be safe as well.

Field Bet

The Field Bet is placed on the field and temporarily covers a wide set of numbers for the next roll. The goal is to have this field bet hit and be either the 4, 9, or 10 to progress this strategy. A 3 will allow the better to replace the Guard Bet, and a 2 or 12 will allow the strategy to continue as well. If the other “Iron Cross” point number is rolled (whatever is not covered by Place Bet and Base Bet) the better did lose one unit but is now in the position of the Iron Cross and is free to continue to bet Field bets to recoup money.

So with the above set, this is the first phase of the strategy. I have 4 units on the table, and I am hoping for my Come bet, the Guard Bet, to land on a 9, 10, or 4. If one of those numbers hits, I am going to move onto the second phase of this strategy. Even if the 2 or 12 hits, my Field Bet one bonus money and I am still moving onto the 2nd phase of the strategy. If my Base Bet or Place Bet hits instead, I have a couple of options. The place bet will allow me to replace my lost field bet, but my Come bet will move there as well. I usually replace my Come Bet with my winnings and pull down my Place Bet to see if I can make it into the second phase of my strategy. If the Base Bet hits (meaning the shooter made the point), I kind of pull everything down and see if I can start over. Here, there is a lot of options for someone to place this the way they want, but one of the key pieces here is I decide not to complete the Iron Cross, and use of the bets for that Iron Cross on the Come bet. This allows me to someone hedge against the 7-out, and potentially makes that bet useful later on.

Running “Shadow of the Cross” Phase 2

Let’s assume that we one on the field (either a 4, 9, 10, 2, or 12 hit) and we can proceed to our second phase. What I do next is pull down my Place Bet if possible (just to have less money at risk for this phase) and take back my Field Bet as well. I take my winnings from the Field Bet (in the case of a 2 or 12 just one unit) and place it in the Come box. This hedges the bet that is the key to this whole strategy - a full 4-unit ($60) bet on the Don’t Come box. Below is an example if the 4 was rolled in this case.

Let’s talk about this now. I should have a Base Bet and my Guard Bet on numbers, and a 4-unit bet on the Don’t Come ready to go. A seven would be my worst enemy right now, but the winnings from the Field Bet, this “extra casino money” will move along with this Don’t Come bet and act as a hedge, so I am never losing the entirety of that D.C. bet if it gets lost. Also on this second phase, an eleven is my worst enemy right now, but where this “extra” Come bet from my field winnings is, it kind of protects against it. My ultimate goal for this strategy is to have this DC bet pay for the original 4 units I am using to build my money. Assuming a point number hits, that brings me to the 3rd and final phase of this strategy. What I want is for a seven to occur at some point so that the Don’t Come pays for itself and the 4-units I am going to bring back in full on the table. If a 2 or 3 gets rolled during this second phase, the DC has fully served its purpose and I can rack it back up along with the winnings from that roll (I would have lost the Come Bet, but that was extra casino money from my field winnings anyway, so no issue). Let’s assume that Don’t Come bet got to one of the point numbers, and move on to the third and final phase of this strategy.

Running “Shadow of the Cross” Phase 3

Assuming a point number hits, and my DC (and hedging come bet) move to a new number, I should now have a Base Bet on a number, a Guard Bet on a second number, and a whopping Don’t Come hedge bet on the table (and a small hedge against the hedge just in case). I will now replace my Place Bet and Field Bet both as place bets on two additional numbers on the table. Here is a quick before and after assuming a 6 was rolled as the number the Don’t Come bet gets moved to:

My strategy is now complete, and I am ready to make money! But how?? So look at where I am at at this point, I have 4 numbers covered in some way or another (Place Bets, Come Bets, Pass Line), and a 5th number with a hedge bet where if a seven rolls, I am going to re-coup all 4 units I started with and break even. Here, is where you can be creative on how you want to move from here - typically if a number hits for the first time from here (we have 4 covered out of 6!), I will just collect the winnings, and the second time it hits I will press the bet. I will keep alternating from here. This works well for the place bets - for the Come bet (my original Guard Bet) I will collect the winnings and immediately re-bet the number as a place bet and go from here. If the point hits and the pass-line wins, here is where it gets fun. I will replace the pass-line bet and hope for a 7, where I will win both the pass-line and my DC bet to automatically pay for all my bets, I’m then just playing with casino money that that point! Otherwise wherever the new point lands, I’ll move any place bets that were on it to a different number and resume play from there.

It is also worth noting that if that DC bet first lands on a point that I already had covered, I typically take all the winnings from that and use it to place more numbers!

Wrapping Up

You can really be creating how you want to approach this position on the table going forward. You can try some cliffhanger strategies, Triple Lux, or any combination of pressing and collecting. The two key takeaways from this strategy were to increase as much opportunity as possible in a paced, calculated way to get there (always watching your back with each phase, hence the “Shadow” of the cross), and to get to a point where you are covering most if not all the numbers with bets, because this is where the real money seems to be made in the game! Now, I have to raise the question, what if the number that the Don’t Come bet is on gets rolled again? Well, you are not going to lose the full 4-units, you will lose only 2 of those because of the additional Come bet covering it. So at that point you have lost 2 of the 4 unit cap I tried to keep myself limited to. Here is where you also have opportunity to place as aggressive or conservative as you may want to be, trying to continue and press on given good coverage on the numbers, or take as much as you can down and try again later. The choice is up to you really, which again is really the true beauty of the game!