Trying to understand the logic of "pressing"

A buddy of mine is the King of pressing. I've asked him many times why he feels it's a good strategy. He usually comes up with a story about the time he turned $400 into $5K by aggressive pressing, and then I'll remind him that he lost the next 10-15 times he played and gave it all back and then some. He'll usually start with $18 on a "6" or "8" and get that puppy pressed up to over $200 on a great roll. But all the while he's pocketing very little profit. He only seem interested in hitting a Grand Slam and is never satisfied with a single or a double (like me). Yes, once in a long while, he'll have a great trip. But those are few and far in between. Seems to me like you have to overcome some pretty improbable odds to hit the 7-9x's he's looking for.

Pressing all of it? Yeah, that's way too aggressive for my comfort.

I typically take a win or two before I start pressing. And when I do, I generally press in single units.

I.E. I'll start the 6/8 with $12 each, take a win, then press in $6 increments for a few hits. When it gets to $30, I'll press it up to $42, but then I'll sit there for a few hits before pressing again. $42 pays $49. There's something fun and sexy about dropping a white and picking up two greens. Of course, dropping two whites and picking up a black is more sexy, but I don't often get that far...

One of the great characters of a John Patrick book: Imus Pressit

Quote: DeMango

One of the great characters of a John Patrick book: Imus Pressit

I'm not familiar with the book but from what I've heard about it I shall invoke the famous comment by John Bernard Shaw: "I shall lose no time in reading it".

Best would be "Mr. Imus Pressit Wright". He is the guy who starts out slow, presses to towering heights and then "Down with all my action" just one roll before the Stickman proclaims Seven Out.

Technically and legally you ain't never "playing with the casino's money" but when you do press your bets you sure make more money and if you do it right ... well, you've heard the phrase "it makes a lovely light".

I recall back in the sixties the neophyte in a downtown craps table who used the word "dress" until the dealer, rather rudely, told him its "press". The most memorable part of that experience is that someone at his very first craps game automatically got caught up in the excitement and wanted to press his luck. Or as he might have said "dress" his luck. I don't recall if he won or not but does show that while he may not have known the proper terminology he sure knew how to play the game.

Aggressive way to much. He needs to rack some chips... cover the cost and then some.

IMHO 18-18-30-60-90-150-210-300 max. The important part is NOT to press the first win.

So let me ask you guys this (keeping in mind I'm not a math wiz). What would be the probability of hitting a "6" four times without crapping out? Five times? I was thinking the 4x was approximately 4.3% and the 5x was approximately 1.9%