Podunk Casino Visit: "True Vegas Odds" & Betting the Dark Side

Hi all. I'm headed to a podunk casino in Nashua, NH next week: The River Casino & Sports Bar. I've never been there before, and I'm fairly new to craps, so I have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me with...

1) The website states that the table games all have a $10 bet limit and "true Vegas odds." For the purpose of playing craps, what is your interpretation of "true Vegas odds"? 1x, 2x, 3x/4x/5x, 5x or something else...? I can't imagine they mean 100x given the incredibly low table limits. Thanks.

2) When betting the dark side... I know that if the max free odds are 3x/4x/5x, then I can just multiply my don't pass line or don't come bets by 6. With a $5 DP/DC, that's always $30 in max free odds, which would win $15 on 4/10, $20 on 5/9, or $25 on 6/8 (plus the $5 1:1 on the DP/DC, of course). So far, so good? If I bet the table max of $10 on DP/DC then all those figures should just be doubled. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But what I'd really like to know... is there an easy way to calculate what my max free odds/payout should be if the casino actually allows one of the other standard max free odds (1x, 2x, 5x, etc.)?

3) When betting the dark side... is there an easy way to calculate what my bet amounts should be when laying numbers?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. My John Patrick book is en route.

Edit: It took me several tries of calling the casino but I was finally able to speak to someone who knew what I meant by pass line odds. (Eek?!) Anywayyyy.... It had been my understanding that even if the table limit was $10 I'd be able to bet higher than that on the free odds. However, this is not the case. Apparently New Hampshire law doesn't allow higher than $10 on any bet whatsoever. Bob said, "I let you bet up to $10 on the odds; even if your pass line is only $3, you can bet $10." Now I'm fairly sure I can milk this for 10x odds by betting $1 on the (don't) pass line and then backing that up with max $10 odds; I would just need to bet $9 when laying odds on the darkside for 5/9 and 6/8. Thoughts?

You'll have to report back about NH craps, it would be appreciated. NH only has charitable gaming I think*, so American Casino Guide, for example, doesn't list NH as a place that has them. It is really hard to find information.

Here's an article with an interesting paragraph

Quote: link below

According to New Hampshire’s charitable gaming laws, casinos and poker rooms must donate 35 percent of the nightly take to a registered, New Hampshire nonprofit organization. Another 10 percent goes to the state.

This does not fit at all with offering a low HE game like Craps with odds. So maybe your Nashua NH casino is not a charitable casino, but I have to say it would be extremely odd to have regular casinos while charitable types giving up profit like crazy still compete with them and American Casino Guide ignores them. [edit]

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/local-news/2018/06/15/increase-in-bet-limit-to-benefit-charities/

*something change?

Yes, they are a charitable casino. But I'm not feeling very charitable this week. :)

They also have 3:2 blackjack, six deck, hand shuffled. Forgot to ask if it's H17 or S17. ...Looking forward to this trip.

An update post-visit to Rivers Casino and Sportsbar in Nashua NH. Also, a visit to the Boston Billiards Club and Casino in Nashua, NH,

Rivers--It's a tiny casino with 2 roulette tables, 1 blackjack table, 1-2 Spanish 21 tables, 1 poker table and 1 craps table. The blackjack table was 6 deck S17 handshuffled. Double only on first two cards. Craps is only open Thursday and Saturday nights starting at 8pm. New Hampshire has strict gambling laws that only allow a maximum bet of $10. At this craps table you were allowed to make $3-$10 passline bets, $1-$10 1 roll bets and take free odds bets up to a max of $10 payout (ie on a don't pass free odds bet with a point of 4/10 you can take a free odds bet of $20). The field only pays double on both 2 and 12 (no triple). The staff was friendly and super laid back. There are no visible pit bosses.

I also visited the Boston Billiards Club and Casino (despite the name it's also in Nashua, NH). This casino was MUCH bigger than Rivers. It also had 14 pool tables which were fun to play. There is no blackjack here but maybe a half-dozen Spanish 21 tables. Apparently Spanish 21 is way more popular than blackjack in NH. There were a lot of compulsive Spanish 21 players betting the side bets like they were going out of style. There was also a poker tournament, poker tables, no roulette, and 1 craps table. It was hard to get a seat at any of the table games because it was very full. The craps table on Saturday night was very busy and fun the whole time. Their passline is $5-10 bets, and the 1 rolls are $3-$10. Free odds bets are like at the Rivers Casino (denominations that would allow a max payout of $10). The field also only had double on 2/12 (no triple). The table is funny because come/don't come are not marked on it but they allow the bets. The vibe here was much more engaging; the craps dealers were also stricter and more professional (especially about getting your hands out on rolls), however there was one dealer that was really crude with calling the numbers. I'll leave it up to your imagination. There were security guards posted on all the walls and they card you when you enter, but there were no obvious pit bosses.

Overall a fun trip. There are easy, free parking options at both. I recommend Boston Billiards over Rivers if you're playing craps just because it has a much more engaging vibe. These are good casinos if you're looking for low limit tables, but not so good if you like to bet over $10.

Thanks, Xtina, sounds like a situation where it's the only game in town if you like Craps, so if you've got the itch you can at least scratch it there.

It must have been some kind of lousy craps before, when the max bet was $3 [I think?]. Or maybe they didn't bother with Craps? In any case the $10 max payout pretty much kills it for me unless it's the only practical choice for a place to play.

It's possible they will start requiring a 25 cent fee per bet, as that has happened other places where there are too many fingers in the pie.