We’ve compiled a list of the bad Craps bets that should generally avoid. Playing live craps can easily cause you lose focus, especially when playing at a table full of shouting people having a great time. Seeing someone win a few single roll bets in a row can give you the urge to try your luck, but familiarizing yourself with each bets’ house edge should keep you resolute and sticking to optimal strategy. When playing online casino Craps the temptation to play bad bets may not be as great in a live casino, but it can still exist.

Lay Bets/Place Lose Bets

Lay Bets (house edge of 2.44% – 4.00%) and Place Lose Bets (house of edge 1.80% – 3.00%) work like Odds Bets, only they carry a house edge so they are best avoided. Lay and Place Lose bets can be made on any number, although it doesn’t need to be the point. If the shooter rolls a 7 before the number is rolled, the bet is won.

Buy/Place Win Bets

Buy Bets (house edge of 4.76%) and Place Win Bets (house edge of 1.52% – 6.67%) work like Odds Bets, only they carry a house edge so they are best avoided. Buy and Place Win bets can be made on any number, although it doesn’t need to be the point. If the number is rolled before the shooter rolls a 7, the bet is won.

Field Bets

Field Bets may seem like a good bet to make, but they carry a 5.56% house edge. A Field Bet is a wager that remains in effect for the next roll of the dice. If a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 is rolled the bet is won. If a 5, 6, 7, or 8 is rolled, the bet is lost.

Big 6/8

The second worst bet in Craps – you are essentially betting a Place Win Bet only with a lower payout. Big 6/8 carries a house edge of 9.00%.

Single Roll Bets

Single Roll Bets (house edge of 9.09% – 16.67%) are among the very worst bets you can make. Looking at the numbers you can see why – a 2 or 12 has a 1:36 chance of being rolled with a payout of only 30:1. Although payouts can be huge on single roll bets, even the “best” single roll bet has a whopping house edge of 9.09%.

In addition to their Slots, Sloto’Cash features an addictive Craps game that will keep Craps lovers come back for one more roll. Whether you prefer to bet Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line, you won’t be able to pass on Sloto’Cash Craps!
Sloto’Cash Casino Review
Visit Sloto’Cash Casino

It is very possible that you will win some money when playing with a free chip – some people make a habit of searching out online casinos with free no deposit bonuses and try their luck hoping to eventually get lucky.  This is a viable option if you have a lot of time and patience on your hands, but often involves a lot of searching for new casinos with new offers.  Generally if you already claimed a no deposit bonus at a casino and they are offering a new free bonus, you won’t be eligible for it.  Even if you do the above and finally do manage to win something, some less reputable casinos may flag you as a “bonus hunter/abuser” which will make getting your winnings difficult at best so it is best to only claim free bonuses at respectable establishments.

Drawbacks of No Deposit Bonuses

When you claim a no deposit bonus, always read the terms and conditions attached to it.  For the most part, no deposit bonuses carry much more restrictions than normal bonuses.  Higher wagering requirements, restricted games, and low max withdrawal amounts are a few of the more commonplace "features" of no deposit bonuses. This protects the casino from being forced to pay out a large withdrawal, but also limits the usefulness of hitting it big with free chips. There are online casinos that do not limit no deposit bonus withdrawals, but they are few and far between.

Because of all these limitations on no deposit bonuses, it isn’t something you should build your hopes on to withdraw your winnings. Your best bet to withdraw your winnings is to practice on the free chip, and deposit to play with (or without) a bonus that has much more relaxed game restrictions and playthrough.

Advantages of No Deposit Bonuses

No deposit bonuses are a great way to test your play style before you deposit. Even though a no deposit bonus doesn’t cost you anything, psychologically people tend to play differently when playing with real money as opposed with fun money – the feeling of being able to win real money always adds a thrill that you won’t find by playing for fun. After trying your luck on fun mode, the next step should always be playing with a no deposit bonus, if available, before depositing.

The occasional free bonuses that online casinos grant their depositing and VIP players generally don’t have the same restrictions as no deposit bonuses, but you should always check to make sure – the terms should be included in the promotional mail you get, or you could ask support for clarification. These kinds of free bonuses are always nice to get – when you play at a credible casino they will often comp you bonuses similar to how a land-based casino would comp you a free room.

Final Thoughts

No deposit bonuses can be a great way to have some fun, and you can even win a bit of money with some luck. Free money is free money, but always keep in mind that there is no such thing as a free lunch – no deposit bonuses have strings attached to them to prevent you from running off with a huge payout. Free bonuses can be a nice perk online casinos offer to players, just be sure to be aware of all the terms when claiming them so you don’t end up disappointed.

In today’s online gaming industry there still exist a significant number of dishonest online casinos and it isn’t always easy to identify them. Fortunately there are many online casino guides that provide unbiased reviews of online casinos, but finding an honest online casino guide can sometimes seem like as much work as finding a decent online casino – just like rogue casinos offer high bonuses to blind players to deposit, they can also offer incentives to webmasters to promote their casinos. At Gambler’s Den we personally check and play at every casino we list – we ensure that our recommended online casinos will provide you with both a fair and enjoyable online gambling experience.

How to Spot a Rogue Casino: Terms & Conditions

The first thing you should look at when playing at any online casino is their terms & conditions – this is what you are agreeing to when you choose to play at their casino. Terms & conditions exist to provide the player with a transparent view of how the casino is being operated – this isn’t always an easy read, but it is important to read it over so you don’t find yourself with confiscated winnings for doing something that may seem acceptable to you, but is written otherwise in the terms & conditions. Respectable online casinos provide clear terms & conditions to give you all the necessary information, and to protect themselves from fraudulent players. Dishonest casinos purposely make their terms & conditions ambiguous and unclear to weasel their way out of paying winnings if they can get away with it.

Dishonest Casinos Hire Dishonest Support

A casino’s support staff is the face of the casino and what players see. Although bonuses, deposit options, and fast withdrawals are all important, quality support is an equally important facet of online casinos. Unfortunately, even honest casinos seem to treat this as optional at best, but shoddy support is not something you should need to put up with. It seems that dishonest casinos pride themselves on hiring support that can spin stories, and keep feeding you the same line of crap on how your withdrawal is delayed and the elusive finance is looking into it, or any number of stories. The importance of online casino support should not be overlooked.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is dishonest casinos aren’t worth your time or your money. At Gambler’s Den we research and play at all of the recommended casino so you can be sure that you will be playing at an honest and trustworthy casino – playing at a rogue casino is like flushing your money down the toilet.

By far the most popular variation of standard Blackjack, Multi-hand Blackjack can be found in just about every online casino. Multi-hand Blackjack essentially uses the same rules of Blackjack with the ability to play up to five hands simultaneously. This can be great if you are the kind of person who prefers to play more than one hand at once.

Multi-hand Blackjack at Land-based Casinos

At land-based casinos it can be difficult to find a table that will let you play more than one hand at a time, mainly because one person playing two or more hands takes more time to wager than two or more people playing one hand each. In a casino time is money, and they are looking to play as many hands as fast as possible. Other players may also rush you to play faster or grow impatient especially if it is crowded, which may throw you off and cause you start playing faster at the cost of being focused on playing with the optimal strategy. Furthermore, casinos may force you to play for higher stakes each subsequent hand to prevent you from taking up several seats and betting the minimum bet each hand.

That is not say that casinos won’t let you play multiple hands at a Blackjack table, but it can be more difficult to find a table that will let you. If the night is slow and the table isn’t full you should have no problem playing several hands, but in general this variation of blackjack is reserved for online casinos.

Multi-hand Blackjack at Online Casinos

When playing in online casinos, finding a Multi-hand Blackjack table is never a problem as it’s only you and the dealer. You are under no pressure from outside sources (unless the phone or doorbell rings) so you can take your time to analyze each hand to plan your best move. As with playing any game in online casinos, you can view optimal Blackjack strategy guides with the click of button and everything will be put on hold until you return in case you are unsure what to do.

Differences between Multi-hand Blackjack vs. Blackjack

Unlike other Blackjack variations, Multi-hand Blackjack is more or less the same game, with the ability to play multiple hands. If you know how to play Blackjack and are familiar with Blackjack strategy, there is nothing stopping you from trying to play with multiple hands – the rules and strategy for standard Blackjack apply here as well. There are few minor differences between Multi-hand Blackjack vs. Blackjack, which we list below:

• Multi-hand Blackjack is played using five standard 52-card decks, whereas Blackjack is played using six or eight decks. Alas, card counters are not given any real advantage as the deck is reshuffled after each hand played.
• The dealer always stands on 17.
• Once you split a hand you may not re-split or double down.

If you enjoy playing Blackjack, it is recommended to try out Multi-hand Blackjack at the recommended casino below for a nice change of pace – there is a reason it is one of the most popular variations of Blackjack.

Rushmore Casino features hands-down some of the best Blackjack games we’ve seen, complete with excellent payouts, and exclusive Blackjack bonuses
Rushmore Casino Review
Exclusive Blackjack Bonus Code
“DOUBLE DOWN” – 200% up to $1000

Spanish 21 or Spanish Blackjack is a variation of Blackjack found in many land-based and online casinos.  Spanish 21 is played using the same basic rules as blackjack, with a few differences.  It is important to be familiar with the differences between this variation and standard Blackjack – the game is played using the same fundamental rules, but it is important to look how player is affected by the various changes.  Before you start reading the rules of Spanish 21, you should brush up on the rules of Blackjack if you are a little unfamiliar with the basics.

Perhaps the defining aspect of this Blackjack variation is that instead of playing with the standard 52-card deck, Spanish 21 removes all the 10’s and is played with six or eight 48-card decks. Removing the 10’s puts the player at a significant disadvantage, so to offset this there are many advantageous rules that make up for this:

• The player’s blackjack always beats a dealer’s blackjack, and always pays 3:2
• The player’s 21 always beats a dealer’s 21 (not to be confused with blackjack – a dealer’s blackjack will still beat a player’s 21). All other ties are considered a push as in standard Blackjack
• Player can split hands a maximum of four times, including Aces.
• Players may double down on any number of cards, including after splitting. Some casinos allow multiple doubling down where you can continue to double down after the initial double down.
• The player is allowed to use the late surrender advantage – you may surrender after the dealer checks and does not have a blackjack.

Aside from these advantages given to the player, there are other bonuses you may be entitled to win if you reach 21 under specific circumstances. If you find yourself with the opportunity to win with one of these bonus hands be sure not to double down or split – utilizing either of those moves will forfeit any bonus winnings. The bonuses are outlined below:

• A hand value of 21 made with 5 cards pays out 3:2
• A hand value of 21 made with 6 cards pays out 2:1
• A hand value of 21 made with 7 cards pays out 3:1
• A 21 made with a 6-7-8 of mixed suits pays out 3:2
• A 21 made with a 6-7-8 of matching suits pays out 2:1
• A 21 made with a 6-7-8 of matching spades pays out 3:1
• A 21 made with 7-7-7 of mixed suits pays out 3:2
• A 21 made with 7-7-7 of matching suits pays out 2:1
• A 21 made with 7-7-7 of mixed spades pays out 3:1
• A super bonus can also be won in which the player must be holding any suited 7-7-7 and the dealer also holds any 7. The odds of this happening are extremely low, but if it does occur the payout is very high. For any bet under $25 the payout is $1000, while for bets of $25 or more the payout is a whopping $5000.

Aside from the above variations and bonuses Spanish 21 also features a side bet where you can place a bet that you either one or both of your initial cards matches the dealer’s upcard. Not surprisingly, this side bet is referred to as “Match the Dealer”. The Match the Dealer side bet carries a very high house edge (between 3.00%-3.63) and should be avoided.

Spanish 21 can be a nice diversion from standard Blackjack if you are in the mood for a change of pace, but don’t go into it using the standard blackjack strategy. Although not yet an overly popular variation of Blackjack, it can be a fun variation to try out if you find an online casino with Spanish 21.

Rushmore Casino features hands-down some of the best Blackjack games we’ve seen, complete with excellent payouts, and exclusive Blackjack bonuses
Rushmore Casino Review
Exclusive Blackjack Bonus Code
“DOUBLE DOWN” – 200% up to $1000

Step 1: Read the Rules

When you’re done with Step 1, read the rules again. Don’t expect to understand everything your first or even your second time through – most people learn by doing and as a new craps player your best bet is get a basic understanding of the rules and dive right in. Before you start trying to learn strategies, make a few bets and roll the dice without looking at which bets you win or lose – try to guess what the outcome was and compare it to what actually happened. I find that when I teach new people how to play Craps this method works much faster – it immerses you in the game and challenges you to understand the nuances of the game by putting your knowledge to the test. Once you can correctly predict most of the results, it’s time to move on to the next step.

Step 2: Learn the Optimal Craps Strategy

Once the rules are internalized, it is time to read on how to play Craps using optimal strategy. Learning optimal strategy is not only about how you should bet, but also how you should not bet – there are many bad bets in Craps that people often make, and you need to understand which bets carry a high house edge so you can avoid them.

You may find veteran players making seemingly “bad” bets (single rolls bets especially) – rest assured, they don’t have some sort of secret formula that gives them better odds. Craps is a game of luck and many craps players subscribe to their own “strategy” despite the fact that it may be far from optimal. Luck and intuition may very well play a part in your personal play-style, but always keep in mind the optimal bets to give you best chance of making a profit in Craps.

In addition to their Slots, Sloto’Cash features an addictive Craps game that will keep Craps lovers come back for one more roll. Whether you prefer to bet Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line, you won’t be able to pass on Sloto’Cash Craps!
Sloto’Cash Casino Review
Visit Sloto’Cash Casino

In Blackjack, Card Counting is a mathematical system where the player keeps a running count of cards played in order to be able to better determine what cards are remaining in the deck – the ultimate goal is be able to reasonably predict what the next card dealt will be so bigger bets will be placed when your odds are better at being dealt a blackjack, and vice-versa. If there were an abundance of low cards played in recent hands for example, the chances of being dealt a high card would be greater and you would adjust your betting amount accordingly. When properly applied, this strategy will not only eliminate the house edge completely and put the player at an advantage over the house.

How Does Card Counting Work?

Contrary to what movies such as Rain Man and 21 imply, you do not need to be a mathematical genius to be able to count cards. In the basic card counting system, every card is assigned a value of -1, 0, or +1 and you only need to be able to keep count in your head – if you can think fast you should have no problem keeping up with the dealer and pace of the cards being dealt.

The basic card counting strategy applies the following values to each card:

• 2 through 6 are valued +1
• 7 through 9 are valued 0
• 10 through A are valued -1

The current deck’s value is known as the count. When the deck is shuffled the count is reset to 0 and every card that makes an appearance has its value added. When the deck has a high score it increases the probability of high value cards showing up, which increases the chances for blackjacks (for both you and the dealer) which is ultimately favorable for the player.

Casinos and Card Counting

It will take practice to reach a level of proficiency where you can keep track of the count and be able to both play and act normally. Casinos frown heavily upon card counting, as they view it as a form of cheating as opposed to an acquired skill. They will take measures to prevent you from playing with this system if they catch you – not necessarily physical assault as seen in movies (at least not in respectable casinos), but they will do their best to nullify your ability to count cards.

Some preventive tactics that casinos use to counter card counting players:

• Reshuffling the deck more often – this resets the count for any card counters at the table but also creates more downtime since other players need to wait for the deck to be shuffled. Time is money to casinos, so most have automated card reshuffles to minimize the downtime.
• Adding more decks – card counters are at an incredible advantage when playing with one or two decks and are crippled with the addition of more decks. Most casinos use either six or eight decks at Blackjack tables.
• Computer technology designed to identify card counters based on tracking betting patterns as the count rises and falls, and use facial recognition technology to identify and blacklist card counters.

Card Counting – Is it worth learning?

Just about every person who plays card games develops some form of card counting, and it becomes second nature over time. Professional card counting in Blackjack is much more difficult because you need to be both quick-thinking and a great actor so as not to seem suspicious to casino staff and the infamous eye in the sky. Should you decide to try your luck at card counting, it is best to be aware of the risks involved – you wouldn’t want to be banned from every casino in your area.

For online casinos, card counters are out of luck – the biggest advantages land-based casinos can use to deter card counting is to set their blackjack tables use eight decks and to reshuffle after a certain amount of hands. Because in online casinos everything is electronic, shuffling is done after each hand to counteract any advantage a player can achieve through card counting.

Card counting is still a viable skill for blackjack players to learn, but the fact that casinos actively use methods to make it extremely difficult to use in the long run, not to mention the risk you face of being blacklisted, really limits its use. If you play online or are a conservative player then you best bet is to leave card counting to the movies.

Rushmore Casino features hands-down some of the best Blackjack games we’ve seen, complete with excellent payouts, and exclusive Blackjack bonuses
Rushmore Casino Review
Exclusive Blackjack Bonus Code
“DOUBLE DOWN” – 200% up to $1000

The Importance of Customer Support

There will come a time when you need help with depositing, withdrawing, or even just a general question. For anyone that has ever e-mailed customer or technical support in any industry, you can always tell when you are getting a canned response – these support teams use a “one size fits all” approach. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing for an answer to be partially canned, but if support doesn’t take the time to actually read your problem and offer help outside the scope of their template, even the best casino in the world will suddenly become a source of frustration because your problems aren’t really being listened to.

The majority of casinos we have come across over the years has led us to believe that in general casinos don’t seem to really care about support, giving them the minimal training to keep you happy enough to deposit, but not provide adequate assistance. Any veteran online gambler has surely come across support that doesn’t speak proper English, gross unprofessionalism (we’ve saved some downright hilarious chat transcripts over the years), and just all-around incompetence. It gets to a point where you don’t know whether to blame the support rep or the casino for not training them properly. Thankfully quality support does exist out there but they are the exception, not the rule. Our online casino review section lists a few casinos with some of the best support we’ve ever encountered, which is a big part of why we’ve continued to play there over the years.

The Bottom Line

Like it or not, you will be in touch with casino support enough over the course of time that this is something you need to consider when deciding where to play. A friendly, responsive support team will go a long way towards taking care of any issues you may have, and give you the feeling that you are being treated with respect. Whether asking for clarification about playthrough or bonuses, information about deposits or withdrawals, or even just someone to chat with to pass the time, the proficiency and competence of an online casino’s customer support is not something that should be overlooked.

Once you requested your withdrawal it should be pending for approval.  Generally your withdrawal should only be pending for ~24 hours (it varies per casino) before being approved, in which time you can reverse the withdrawal should you choose to.  Giving you the option to reverse your withdrawal is regarded as being beneficial purely for the casino – If you get bored with waiting and still want to play you need to do your best to stop yourself from reversing your withdrawal – go play at another casino for the time being or take a break.  Should you decide to reverse your withdrawal and play with your winnings, chances are you will end up playing it back which is what the casino is counting on.

Some casinos are removing this "feature", but the ability to cancel your withdrawal remains commonplace in most online casinos.  To minimize the time that your withdrawal remains in the pending status you should always send in your documents for approval beforehand instead of waiting until you make a withdrawal – otherwise your withdrawal will remain pending even longer while waiting for your documents to be approved.  In addition to tempting you to reverse your withdrawal, this also causes an unnecessary delay in you receiving your withdrawal – an impatient person is more likely to cancel their withdrawal and start playing. 

In some casinos you can request your withdrawal to be "flushed" which means that it is moved manually from pending status to processing status.  This might not mean much in how quickly your winnings are released to you, but it will lock your withdrawal so you won’t be able to reverse your withdrawal if temptation strikes.  If you know yourself to often fall into the trap of reversing your withdrawal always request from support to flush your withdrawal to prevent you from falling into this trap and ultimately losing your winnings.

• Copy of a Picture ID
• Copy of a Utility Bill
• Copy of the front and/or back of credit card used to deposit

A lot of people are reluctant to give up this information for a variety of reasons such as fear of identity theft, but if you are playing in a trustworthy casino they want to make sure they are dealing with the credit card/electronic wallet owner. In a land-based casino you need to show identification before playing – it helps to think of this as the same thing. The main reason that casinos request documentation is to prevent fraudulent players from depositing and withdrawing.

Prevention of Fraud

Unfortunately in today’s digital world credit card fraud and identity theft are commonplace and most people have or know someone who has been affected by it. Usually the theft is discovered relatively quickly, but it is very possible for a criminal to get ahold of your credit card information and make a deposit at an online casino, hoping to cash out – there is nothing to lose on their side, only someone else’s money.

In order to protect themselves (and the victim of credit card theft) casinos need documentation to approve deposits (usually after a set amount of time or deposits) and withdrawals of any amount. A fraudster doesn’t have access to all the necessary documents 99% of the time, so they will just be wasting their time as they will be unable to withdraw anyway.

Sending in Docs

If you are playing in a trustworthy casino you have nothing to fear about sending in docs, and should ideally send them in as soon as possible. Document typically take between 24-72 hours to be approved – online casinos have risk teams that scrutinize over every detail to check for tampering and if they see something suspicious they will often ask you to resend a clearer copy for it to be approved, which can lead to the temptation of reversing your withdrawal so you can keep on playing.

The reason it is better to send them in sooner rather than later is that you will not be able to withdraw until your documents are approved – you can still request a withdrawal but it will remain pending. If you wait until your first withdrawal before sending in your documents, you will need to wait until they approved before the withdrawal will be processed.

Once you choose an honest and reputable casino to play at you should send in the documentation right away – you will avoid dealing with the hassle and potential frustration of the added delay in collecting your winnings when you claim your first withdrawal.