How many times have you gone to a casino and made your buy-in and rushed into the game? Now how often have you made money by being in such a rush? Chances are you have stumbled onto a cool, or even cold, crap table where nobody is making any passes. Most people that bet at the craps table are “right bettors”, meaning that they hope the shooter makes numbers, and his point. Being in such a hurry can cost you lots of money. Learning how to “chart” a crap table is a good thing to know.
Crap tables have various degrees of being hot and being ice cold. You can easily recognize a hot table by the amount of chips in people’s racks. You also hear lots of shouting and happy cheering for the shooter. Times are good, and everybody is making money. That is the dream most everybody has when they first get to the table. They want to be in on a hot roll where the shooter holds the dice for a long time. It’s great to be in on a hot roll and you can make a lot of money quickly. Unfortunately, hot rolls are a few and far in between. Here is how to “chart” a crap table.
There are a few ways to help you determine whether a table is running hot or is icy cold. The simplest way is to be inquisitive. When you approach a table you can simply ask the players beside you how the table is running. This could save you a lot of money if you were a right bettor (one who bets with the majority). Crap players are generally a friendly bunch. They are a happy bunch when the shooter is doing well and everybody is making money. Conversely, they are downright quiet when they are losing. Asking how the table is doing is part of the charting process.
In addition to asking players how the table is running you can be a bit observant. Just look at the chip racks in front of each player. Are they full? Or are they barely holding a few paltry chips? Since about 90% of dice players are “right bettors” empty chip racks are a bad sign. If the chip racks are empty, then the table is probably cold as ice. So why would you want to start playing your hard-earned money on a losing table. Noted gambling author John Patrick says that you need enough chips for a series of 12 bettors. Usually only about one shooter out of 12 makes passes and numbers that make you money at the crap table.
You can save yourself some money my learning how to chart a crap table. Tables seldom run super hot or icy cold. They tend to be choppy. The shooter might make one point, and then seven out. Same thing might happen for the next two shooters. So you line up pass bets and place bets and a seven takes them down quickly and you lose your money. If the table is cold then you can just bet don’t pass, and don’t come bets and make money. But, on a choppy table, nobody can make money. So charting how many shooters are quickly sevening out is good to know. You can either write down the info on small
notepad or use chips in your tray to count how many passes shooters are making. You are simply keeping a chart(notes) of what is happening at the table. It can save you some money by being aware.
If you are in right bettor and the table is cold just leave and find a better table. Some places in Las Vegas have loads of tables. Moving around, asking how the table is doing, and just listening for the roar of happy bettors is the smart thing to do if you want to make more money playing craps. Throwing your good money away on a cold table is foolish. So try charting the table before, you bet heavily.
