Bet Progressions
| Updated: How to Win at Craps with Betting Progressions
Once you have become well-accustomed to the game of craps and the betting options it provides, you are ready to start playing for fun. If you are looking for a profitable gambling experience, however, you still need to learn about bet progressions. This way, you will know the right way to act when placing stakes, and you will be able to make the most of your casino experience.
Betting progressions help players manage their bankrolls and achieve good outcomes before they exhaust all of their funds. While there are different progression systems, some have definitely proven to be less efficient than others. You have probably heard of negative progressions, which encourage players to increase their bets whenever they are on a losing streak. This strategy, however, has rarely proven to be effective.
If you are looking for systems that are more budget-friendly, you should opt for progressions that require raising your stakes only when you are winning. This can result in pretty generous payouts and can prevent significant damage to your bankroll.
We will examine several betting systems and see how they can improve your betting experience. Craps players will become familiar with some fixed rules for adjusting the size of their wagers based on the preceding outcome.
The Purpose of Using Bet Progressions
Every gambler strives to lower the casino’s advantage as much as possible. This will simply give players better winning chances and will benefit them in the long run. While you cannot completely tilt the scales in your favor, you can definitely keep the house advantage at manageable levels if you use the right betting progression.
While there are two types of progression – positive and negative – most craps experts will advise you not to fall for the deceptive nature of increasing your bets when you lose. While this may seem like a good strategy, it almost always ends up exhausting players’ bankrolls in no time.
If you are fairly new to craps, you are advised to start with a level bet size. Practising progressions at home and getting comfortable while playing are key factors in making your craps experience fruitful and enjoyable. Once you are used to a progression that works best for you and fits your budget, you can start gambling by utilizing it.
While players who maintain a level bet size make the same wager whether they lose or win, when a progression is used, you can see the bets increasing in size after every win. While you can raise your bets whenever you are on a winning streak, you should keep your stakes at the minimum level whenever you lose. This way, you will notice that your losses are much more bearable when you are using a positive progression. On the other hand, whenever you win and make bigger bets, you have the chance to enjoy better payouts in the long run.
Of course, it should be taken into account that even if you are enjoying a long winning streak, you are bound to eventually lose a bet, which will definitely be larger if you have been using a positive progression. If you have used the system of increasing your bets after every win, you will experience a bigger loss at the end of that streak compared to using a level betting system. That being said, after a third point is won, players who use a betting progression enjoy better results than those who do not.
Positive Bet Progression
Whenever you are playing craps, or any casino game for that matter, you will often encounter both negative and positive betting progression systems. While the former is very popular among players, it has proven to be quite ineffective, and systems like the Martingale have caused many players to go broke in no time. Despite this, many followers of negative progressions believe that increasing bets when losing will eventually turn the tide in their favor and lead to massive wins.
If you are new to progressions, however, do not be fooled by the negative progression. Whenever you want to maximize your winnings and spare yourself the horror of running out of money in just a few games, you should start applying a positive progression. The basic intention of players who use this type of betting progression is to keep losses low and optimize their winnings. This is achieved by increasing the bet size whenever players are on a winning streak and keeping their stakes at the minimum whenever they lose.
There are different variations of the positive progression, and players can determine for themselves which one works best for them. The one thing they all have in common, however, is helping players enjoy better payouts by steadily raising the amounts they are betting in the hope of gathering bigger winnings.
When You Should Increase Your Bets
While using a positive progression may sound like an easy tactic, you should get familiar with the different progressions that will guide you through the game and will suggest when the best moment to increase a bet is.
If you are experiencing an inconsistent flow of wins and losses, your bankroll may still decrease even when you are using a positive progression. If, for example, you start with a $10 bet and you win, your next wager should be increased by 100% to $20. Another win will require an increase of 50%, to a bet of $30. If the winning streak continues, you will constantly raise your bet by $10, which is still considered a positive progression; however, you are increasing the size of your bets by a smaller amount with every win.
Even though you are raising your stakes by the same fixed amount, you are still doubling your bet the first time, i.e., by 100%. If you are betting double Odds on the Pass Line, for instance, this is quite a leap in the size of your wagers. In this case, your Line bet of $10 will be followed by a $20 bet on Double Odds, resulting in a total of $30, which represents a fairly high risk.
If you want to slow down the tempo of your increases, you can opt for raising your first bet by less than 100%. Your positive progression might look something like $10 – $15 – $20 – $25. This is still a system that can lead to great results if you are enjoying a winning streak.
Another useful strategy is to consider every bet you put on the Pass Line or on Come as a separate wager. If your bet wins, you simply increase the following wager. If it wins again, you should raise your next stake as well. However, the rest of the bets should remain the same and should be increased only if they are won.
Players can also opt for what is known as the Paroli Betting System. It is a type of positive progression that allows players to make the most of their craps sessions by capitalizing on winning streaks. If you opt for this betting system, you simply need to determine a stopping point. Whenever you have reached the number of wins you have decided to play using a positive progression, you go back to the minimum bet you first started with.
For example, suppose you have decided to play with the Paroli betting system for only three consecutive wins. You can start by placing $5, then raise your stake after the first win to $10, follow the second win with a bet of $20, and after you win the third bet, you stop the positive progression and go back to the original bet of $5. While you are free to use the system for more than three wins, you will have a difficult time completing a series of so many consecutive victories.
Alternatively, players can opt for the One Half Up betting system, which increases risk much more slowly and helps decrease losses. If you are interested in using this strategy, you should start the positive progression only after a certain number of wins. For example, you can choose to increase your bets only after there have been two wins. If you start with a bet of $10 and you win, your next stake should also be $10. If you win for the second time, you should increase your wager to $15 and follow up the win with a stake of $20. However, if you lose the $15 bet, you should go back to the minimum of $10. This loss will not cost you your entire profit, as you will increase your bets more slowly and will revert to the minimum bet whenever you lose.
Leveling Off Your Bets
When we talk about betting progressions, it is very important to mention streaks and how they can easily be used in the wrong way. If you are still not convinced that the well-known Martingale system is not an appropriate way to win big at craps, then you should definitely take a closer look at the progression this method utilizes.
If you are following the Martingale pattern of betting, you should stick to a minimum bet size while you are riding a winning streak. However, when you lose your bet, you should double your wager. If you lose yet again, you double your stake as well. This so-called negative progression continues until players eventually win. This, however, means that one long losing streak can cost players their entire bankroll and clearly shows that the system cannot bring a fruitful outcome. What is more, using the Martingale system requires a huge bankroll, and the size of bets can quickly skyrocket within just a few losses.
Let us take a look at the opposite approach of “riding the streak” where players might actually enjoy generous results. Whenever players make a winning bet, they can bet all of their winnings in the next round. If they enjoy a long winning streak, their payouts will quickly make their craps experience very profitable. However, this betting strategy is also not the best way to enjoy your gambling since, just like losing streaks, winning streaks also come to an end at a certain point. This means that players who press their bets by including their previous stake and their winnings will eventually lose everything.
As seen in both of the aforementioned examples, it is important for players to quit playing with progressions at a certain point. This way, they can avoid losing their profit or at least cut down their losses. If you opt for leveling off your bets, you can enjoy a fruitful game while still using a betting progression. You can do this by simply setting a limit for the number of wins during which you will increase your stakes. You can also level off your bets by raising them at a decreasing rate, as explained earlier. This way, you will be able to manage your bankroll and enjoy a craps game with a moderately risky flow.
Depending on your preferences and the risk you are willing to take, you can opt for a steady positive progression that may look something like $10 – $20 – $30 – $40. If you do not enjoy playing with high risk, you can start increasing your stakes after the second win or stop raising them after the third win.
Bet Progression on Don’t Pass and Don’t Come
Just as with positive progression on other bets, you want to keep your stakes at the minimum while you are experiencing a losing streak. However, when you are making bets on Don’t Pass or Don’t Come, you will have to set your right-side betting in reverse.
The first thing you should do is determine the betting pattern you will utilize while wagering on the Don’t side. Let us assume that you have chosen to make a bet on Don’t Pass as well as on two Don’t Come numbers.
The goal of the gambler who has put money on the wrong side (Don’t side) is to establish all three points, i.e., the one on Don’t Pass and the two Don’t Come numbers. The next step is to bet Double Odds on all three stakes and hopefully win when the shooter throws a 7.
If, for example, you start with a bet of $20, establish all three numbers, and back each with Double Odds, a 7 from the shooter will win and allow you to increase your next stake to $30. If another three numbers are established and you win all three bets yet again, you should raise your stake to $40. If you win this bet again, you should continue with the same stake of $40 until all of your bets are cleared.
If, however, you lose one of the three numbers before the shooter throws a 7, you will increase your bets only to $25 instead of raising them to $30. If you lose two numbers, then you should not increase your bets. This way, you will keep your losses as low as possible.
If you enjoy betting on the Don’t side, you can easily make your gambling more profitable by utilizing a positive progression. You can practise increasing bets under different circumstances, and you will be able to enjoy your game of craps, no matter on which side you prefer to bet.
Even if you wish to play more aggressively and increase your stakes faster, remember to keep them at the minimum size when you are experiencing losing streaks. This way, you can minimize your losses and enjoy fruitful gambling in the long run.