Craps systems

Various scam artists have, over the years, marketed "systems" that purportedly enabled players to beat the house. Such betting strategies do not work (or, more accurately, they work only for a player with infinite wealth who faces no maximum bet). One of the best known is the Martingale system where you start by betting $1 and doubling your bet whenever you lose; upon winning, you start over at $1. If you play this system, you will 1) risk losing $128 (or more, if you choose to continue despite mounting losses) to win $1; and 2) run up against the table limit. If you continue at higher-dollar tables, you could eventually reach the point where you have no more money, at which point you would have to quit. It is because of this system that casinos impose a limit on the amount you can bet. If you keep doubling your wager, you will eventually run up against the limit and you will be unable to recover your previous losses on a single turn.

Other systems depend on mathematical fallacy, e.g. bet on 11 if an 11 has not appeared in the last 20 rolls. Of course, the dice have no memory and the probability of rolling an 11 is exactly 1/18 on every roll, even if 11 has not come up in the last 100 rolls. While the sales pitches are elaborate — they have never been able to explain why, if their system is so good, the casinos are still in business — no system has been mathematically proven.

The parity hedge system is a hoax promulgated by http://www.quatloos.com. Despite the fact that no such system exists (indeed, it is a mathematical impossibility), several gambling-related web sites have retold the 'parity hedge' story without attribution.

Dice Setting

Another approach is to "set" the dice, by throwing them in such a way that one or both will be more likely to show certain numbers. Unlike other systems, this one is not mathematically absurd, because if it were possible to alter the probabilities of each outcome, then winning systems could be devised. Nevertheless, the casinos take steps to prevent this. The dice are supposed to hit the back wall of the table, which disrupts the controlled spin. Some people offer to teach dice-setting skills, for a substantial fee, but there are no independent verifications that such methods can be successfully applied in a real casino. Frank Scoblete and Stanford Wong, authors of books that feature dice control techniques, believe that it is possible to alter the odds in the player's favor by dice control.

Dice Control

In fact, there is a small but dedicated community of controlled shooters that maintain records and claim proof of dice influencing in casino conditions. The concept of "controlled shooting" however goes far beyond "setting the dice". It purports to involve limiting the "degrees of freedom" in the Rigid body dynamics of the dice. A mechanical engineer, under the pseudonym "SharpShooter", wrote a book on the subject called "Get The Edge At Craps: How to Control the Dice", which claims to define the math and science behind dice control.

The concept of precision shooting claims to elevate craps from a random game of chance, to a sport, not unlike golf, darts, or pool. Precision shooting is not easy, and it requires daily practice, discipline, and focus.

Nevertheless, the amount of influence needed to sway the advantage in favor of the player is quite small - in a normal random distribution there will normally be seven 7s in a total of 42 rolls. If one can influence the dice such that there is only six 7s in a total of 42 rolls, that player will have a slight advantage over the house.

Miscellaneous

Craps is such a popular game, its terminology is often found as colloquialisms in our language. The terms "on a roll", "crapshoot", "no dice", "crap out", "Snake Eyes" and "do it the hard way" all trace their origins to the game of craps.

As casinos restrict players' options in blackjack, craps is increasing in popularity, as it offers the best odds of all standard casino games based on pure chance.

The plot of the musical Guys and Dolls revolves around some illegal games of craps, which "float" from location to location.

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