The Do Not Bet And Why It Makes Sense

Craps gives the best odds in a casino not only giving you the chance to wager with but also against the shooter, but why do it?

Unless you're the MIT card counting team on a drunken trip down memory lane, gambling is, for the most part, not a collective effort. In blackjack it is you versus the dealer, in poker you versus everyone else, and in roulette you versus a little ball that appears determined to remove all your money from your possession whilst going click, click, click.

Don't Betting At The Craps Table

• Better odds beyond the come out
• No advantage as with pass line
• Don't bet not against American gambling laws

The craps table is different. There's an atmosphere of camaraderie around the craps table because most of the people watching the dice get flung are all gambling on the same result, that the dice will pass. This is one of the aspects of craps people enjoy most, that sense that you're all riding along with the shooter, that it isn't just your luck on which you're counting.

A craps crowd chasing a pass or point is a loud beast, especially when it wins, and with the busiest craps tables trying to hit 100 decisions an hour at peak times, that can be quite the atmosphere. Cheering for someone else to win, so you can too, is a unique aspect of craps that every casino patron has enjoyed, but it's not the only wager on offer.

A “don't” bettor is wagering not that the point will be made or the dice will pass but that the crowd will lose as seven or eleven makes an unwelcome appearance, unwelcome for those screaming together with the shooter. The don't bettor has, in effect, wagered that everyone else will lose, and given that he's betting against the crowd you might think this a tad gauche, but actually, there's some sense to it.

Odds Improve With A Point Made

For a start the come out roll presents the don't bettor with his worst odds, 8 out of 36 possible results make him an instant loser, and there are but 4 that make him a winner, but once a point has been established by the shooter, things are different. The actual odds depend on the point set so lets take a look at what those points being set gives you in terms of chance.

If the point is four or ten the don't bettor's odds are 1-to-2 in favor, if it's five or none, it's 2-to-3, and if that point is six or eight? 5-to-6, and you're winning even money on the wager, now compare that to those betting on a pass or point, respectively the odds are 2-to-1, 3-to-2 and 5-to-6 against, but the payoff is still only even money.

Of course casinos know that don't bettors are getting the best of the odds once that point has been established. That's why a don't bettor can remove his wager at any time whilst a pass line bettor has to wait till the dice make a decision. Don't betting isn't exactly frowned on by casinos or against American gambling laws ethos but you'll notice they've not given it the nicest, most positive sounding name.

The pass line crowd might not be entirely appreciative either if we're honest about it, but then don't bettors tend not to waggle their winnings in the faces of the vast majority at the table who've just seen the stickman haul away their money. The gambling news isn't full of strung up don't bettors littering the lamp posts of Vegas because in the end it's just the flip side of the game.

Time Your Don't Bets Wisely

Craps offers the only no-advantage wagers in the casino and that is, by no small measure, part of the attraction to what is, if we're honest, a complex game of chance. The all but baffling array of bets available on a craps table and the speed at which play relentlessly continues is often cited by novices as somewhat daunting, but as with most games, there are only a few sensible bets amongst the longshots.

The don't bettor is merely optimizing their chances at a different point in the game from the crowd. As they scream for the point or pass, the don't bettor is just as eagerly awaiting precisely the opposite, but with far better odds. The come out roll may be a mathematical obstacle but one that is, of course, often overcome leaving the don't bettor in a far better position than everyone else at the table, including the house.

So does all this mean you should eschew the collective passline betting that so many opt for at the craps table? Are they simply unaware of the odds? No of course not, the pass line folks have a far better chance on the come out roll and the many would argue the whole point of craps is to be part of that crowd, that atmosphere, be part of that ride.

Whichever way you lean on the issue the don't bet is there for a reason, and just sometimes, depending on how those little cubes are coming up, it can make a lot of sense to distance yourself from the crowd, weigh up the slightly better odds beyond the come out and see if you can't make the game work for you when the run of luck is against the rest of the table.