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Say 10-4 to the Craps Press Bet

By Bill Burton, About.com

Many players use some type of betting systems when they play craps. One thing you need to understand is that no betting system can alter the house edge on any bet. The house edge is determined by the amount of money the casino pays you when you win in relation to the true odds for the bet.

What a player hopes to accomplish by using a betting system is to take advantage of the short turn fluctuations in probability. For instance in craps the ratio of a seven being rolled is 6 to 1. This means in the long run over billions of rolls it will average out to a seven being rolled one time for every six rolls. However in the short turn this does not hold true. A player may roll three sevens in a row, or roll 50 numbers without rolling seven. This is a short term fluctuation of the dice probabilities is the reason why some of these betting systems can be profitable in some playing sessions. One system I like to use is called the 10/4 Press.

Betting the Opposite Point:
If I am betting the passline I like to make a place bet on the opposite number of the point. If you look at a pair of dice you will see that the top and bottom numbers are opposites for each number combination. The 6 is opposite of the 8. For example: If the six is formed by the two dice with 5-1 (6) on one side and the opposite side will be 6-2 (8). A combination of 5 is the opposite of the 9 and the combination of 4 is the opposite of 10.

A place bet on the four or ten pays $9 for a $5 bet. If the four or the ten is the point, I make a $5 place bet on the opposite number. I then press my place bet up to a “buy” bet. Here is how it looks.

Place the four or ten for five dollars.
If the shooter sevens out you are out $5.

On the first hit you will be paid $9
Tell the dealer to Press your bet.
Your pace bet will go to $10 and you will get $4.
(If the shooter now sevens out you will be minus $1)

On the second hit you will be paid $18.
Tell the Dealer to BUY the number.
The dealer will increase your bet to $25 and give you back $3.
(If the Shooter now sevens out you will be plus $2)

When you buy a number, you pay a 5% commission to be paid true odds on your bet. When you buy the four or ten, you will be paid 2 to 1 instead of 9 to 5 for your bet. In some casinos you will be required to give the commission for your buy bet up front. In other casinos you only pay the commission when your bet wins.

On the third hit you will be paid $50 (minus $1 Commission)
(IF the Shooter now sevens out you will have a profit of $51)

After the third hit you have two options: <BR> 1) You can leave your buy bet up and collect $49 for each hit.
2) You can regress your bet to $5 and take back an additional $20 profit.

Either way you have made some big profits with very little risk. That’s why I say “10-4” to pressing the four and ten place bets.

Until next time remember:
"Luck comes and goes...Knowledge Stays Forever!"

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