Employee resolute about
being wrong
19 July 2004
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I have a friend who once worked for me and his
favorite casino game was craps. I told him one
day that my only experience playing craps was
while I was in the military and we did not have
all the different bets that you can make today
in the casinos. During our conversation, the
subject came up concerning how many different
ways a seven can be made. I told him that I
believe that a seven can be made with six
different combinations. He said that he had been
playing craps for over 20 years and that I did
not know what I was talking about. He was very
adamant that there were only three ways to make
a seven. I tried to explain why I think there
are six ways, but possibly my communications
skills are not what they should be, or maybe he
is just too dense to understand. Can you explain
just how many ways there are to make a seven so
even this stubborn fool can understand? Tom M.
Craps is a game played with a pair of matched,
numbered cubes. Each die (the singular of dice)
has six sides on it. The numbers one through six
are marked with small dots on each side. With
perfectly balanced dice, each side has an equal
chance of landing face up when rolled. Because
each dice has six sides, 36 different
combinations (6 X 6) can be thrown on one toss
of two dice. Your mulish pal believes there are
only three ways to roll a seven, but, Tom, the
four (1 and 3, 3 and 1, 2 and 2) and 10 (six and
4, 4 and 6, 5 and 5) are the two numbers that
can only be rolled three ways.
You are correct, Tom, in that seven can be
rolled six different ways (6 and 1, 1 and 6, 5
and 2, 2 and 5, 4 and 3, 3 and 4). To illustrate
the difference, demonstrate it by using two
different colored dice, a red one, and a blue
one. The red dice has a six on it, and the blue
dice has a one. Then, show that same red die
with a one on it and the blue die having a six.
Continue to do this with all six possible
combinations. If your efforts fail to sink in,
tell your impenetrable buddy he has failed
Crapology 101.
Dear Mark,
I play my fair share of "way" tickets in keno. I
have been told that by playing way tickets
versus individual ones of the same numbers, my
odds improve against the house. Is this true?
Martin S.
A "way" ticket groups different numbers and
combinations to create more than one way to win
on one ticket. You can also make the same
groupings of bets using several individual
tickets. I am sorry to say, Martin, that playing
a way ticket does not change the casino's
enormous built-in edge. Making multiple wagers
on one ticket provide the same payouts and the
same odds as placing separate bets. The only
benefit to way tickets is that the minimum
required bet could be lower.
Gambling quote of the week: "Every con man,
every thief, every transient and scam operator
eventually passes through a place like Vegas,
trying to beat the casinos out of money with
fraudulent schemes." -Edwin Silberstang, The
Winner's Guide To Casino Gambling" (1980)
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