There are very few games that you can play at the casino in which you have a good chance of walking away with more money than you had when you arrived. Most games are severely tilted towards the casinos favor and it can be very difficult to actually make money on these games. The game where the advantage is most towards the player is craps . This does not mean that you have a margin over the house, but rather that you have a better chance of winning money at a craps table than anywhere else in the casino. There are strategies that you can employ to maximize this and actually try to take advantage over the house.
The first thing you need to understand is that there really is no luck at the craps table. You have to know when and how much to bet. Timing and playing correctly will result in you doing very well at the table. Learning to master this can take years of practice and experience, however there are a few simple things you can do to improve your craps strategy right away.
When you first start playing try to keep things as simple as possible. Only make bets that you fully understand. The simplest bet in all of craps is the Pass Line Bet. This is the main bet in craps and the one that you will base all of your other bets around. The casino only has an advantage of around one and half percent on this bet making it one of the safest and best bets in the entire casino. In fact if you were to just bet the pass line and nothing else you would probably do better than most of the craps players out there. Many times these players will throw away money on bets that have virtually no prayer of hitting, thereby severely diminishing the odds on them getting a return. If you look at the craps table logically and place your bets accordingly you can maximize the speed at which your money is returned and grown, although from a simple risk perspective the pass line can be your best option.
One strategy for playing just the pass line that can work is the Martingale betting strategy. This principle basically says that every time you lose you bet twice as much on the next bet. This way if you win you cover your losses from the previous bet. In order to really employ this strategy you need to have a very sizable bank roll. The key is also knowing when to step away from the table because over time the house advantage still comes into play and you will eventually lose your entire roll. The key with the Martingale betting strategy is to use it sparingly and not totally rely on it for your winnings.
Within craps there are bets that you can make once the point is set that actually improve your chances of winning and diminish the house margin. These bets are typically known as free odds bet and are made after the point is set. By understanding what bets to make when the point is set and what the expected house return is on each you can maximize your chance to make money at the craps table. Depending on what the point is set at, the free odds bets will pay a different amount. The important thing to remember is that each of these bets is made with no house advantage, so that money on here is paid straight up. Because of this you decrease the house odds significantly by consistently betting on odds when given a chance. Typically casinos will offer different amounts that you can place on the free odds bet. These can be as low as two times the pass bet to as high as one hundred times. Because these bets pay even money on the bet placed you can use them with the Martingale strategy to dramatically increase your ability to make money. The truth is that if most betters stuck to just the pass line and the free odds bets casinos would have a hard time keeping craps tables open. The problem is that all the other bets seem so enticing that many players will throw their money away on useless bets. While they can be fun to play, focusing on the pass line and the free odds bets is the best way to make money at the craps table.