The Secrets of the Big Numbers

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?

How about the secrets of the Big Six and Big Eight?

As you might know, the Big Six and Eight are even money bets. This means that if you bet $12 and win, you win $12. If you placed $12 on the regular six or eight you would win $14, at 7:6 odds. The casino gives a lot of space to the big six and eight, so beginners who are afraid to give the dealer a place bet can bet directly on the Big Numbers in the corner. In most cases these bets should be avoided.

Wanna know how craps pros use the Big Numbers?

Let's find out!

There are two good uses for the Big Six and Eight. The first involves those "match play" coupons so common in the Casino fun books. Most of these coupons state they are for flat bets only, and are usually used for pass or don't pass bets, with no odds. If you put a match play coupon for $5 along with $5 on the pass line, you take a chance on getting stuck with a 4 or 10. But if you put your $5 coupon along with $5 on the Big Six or Eight, you are getting the best bet you can get, under the circumstances. If the six or eight hits, you'll get back $10 in real money. Not as good as placing the numbers, but you can't use a match-play coupon with place numbers.

The other good use of the Big Six or Eight involves table limits. If you happen to hit a really hot table and have progressed your bets on the place 6 and 8 up to the table limit, then the dealers will not let you increase your place bets. However, they will always let you make additional flat bets on the Big Numbers in addition to your place bets. So instead of a $1000 table limit, you now have a $2000 limit on the six and eight. This becomes especially useful in tournament play.

In a tournament, the winning crapshooters are usually decided in the last few moments of a game. It is not uncommon to see someone place $480 on the place 6 & 8, as well as on the big six and eight, hoping for a six or eight on the last few rolls of the dice. If the six or eight does roll, they'll receive $480 for the Big Number bet, and $560 for the place bet - a total of $1040 for one roll of the dice!

Pssst...! Now you know the secrets of the Big Numbers!

The Crapshooter © 2005 by Larry Edell

Larry Edell is the editor of The Crapshooter Newsletter, the only newsletter devoted exclusively to craps! You can get a FREE sample issue by sending two first class stamps to The Crapshooter, Dept EZA, PO Box 421440, San Diego CA 92142