mybestbet's Blog

This would really be better as a thread, but I shall give you my answer, all the same.



The first thing is that it depends on your reason for playing, if you are trying to get some time value out of that $100, then both methods aren't any good. If you are trying to maximize your profits/probability of hitting a certain win goal, then you want as much of your bets to be in odds as possible.



With regard to the House Edge, as you know, the Odds carry a long-term expected loss of $0.00, regardless of the amount(s) of money played on odds per bet. I believe that there are two camps with respect to the effect of Odds on the House Edge, and Wizard and myself are actually in opposing camps, I believe...which is a polite way of saying I'm probably wrong:



The first camp looks at the Odds Bet as part of the overall bet and as having a positive effect on the House Edge of the Line and/or Come Bets, so the more money you can get in Odds, the better, as it reduces the House Edge. In my opinion, you must have a Line or Come bet to Take the Odds, but taking the Odds is not a requirement for having established a point, therefore, the two bets have nothing to do with one another except the first bet must satisfy a certain condition for the second bet to be made.



In defending my position, I consider the double-up feature on Video Poker an apt comparison. If one is playing at a negative expectation Video Poker game with such a feature, then the best mathematical strategy is to double-up every time and as many times as you can on every win. However, I don't look at it as having an effect on the House Edge of the Video Poker game because it is not a required bet and exists separately from the original bet, and I don't believe I have ever seen amended VP payout tables and House Edges having taken double-up into consideration, but I could be wrong.

I have a similar problem when I want to get say $75 - 80 in action.



Do you make a $7 pass line bet with $70 odds?



Or do you make a $5 pass and a $5 come with $35 odds each?



I usually go with the second option.

I think the answer might depend on how long a trip it is to the casino. If its a five minute walk or a ten hour flight you are going to get different answers. The Dealer will tell you to only make a flat bet that is as large as will get you maximum odds. However if you've just come off a ten hour flight you don't want to only make a few such bets and then go home again if things go against you.



Ofcourse if those first few bets go in your favor and you've maxed your odds then you have the "emotional" if not actual feeling of "playing with their money". Its really a Risk of Ruin question with YOU changing the definition of "Ruin" from a mathematician's definition to your personal definition of Ruin.



I say look up the Risk of Ruin tables and then decide: what are your personal goals. How much are you willing to lose faster versus enjoy the solely flat betting?

>Let's say I have $100 for a craps session



just stay home