I have a question about a series of bets in craps. The strategy is called the 'Iron Cross.' It involves a bet on the 5, 6, 8, and the field. I read up on this, and found that this particular bet will pay on every roll that is not a 7. I was told that this gives you the lowest house edge.
If you’re confused by the Craps table, you’re not alone. It’s actually really easy to grasp, but the overall layout and the chaos at the Craps table makes newbies feel overwhelmed. In previous posts, we’ve told you to stick to one or two bets. But if you’re getting bored with that, you might want to employ a betting strategy. And the Iron Cross is one of the best strategies in the book.
- Below you will find a general craps Payouts table. This may vary between some casinos so always check with the casino to get their payout tables. Also, please head over to the table of contents to find more great content.
- Basic Gist: Anything but 7 with a Pass Line Bet. Max Loss: $44 (Have to have at least 1 place bet hit to minimize losses. Don’t use if lots of sevens showing) Buy in at a $5 table for at least $200. Make a $5 pass line bet. Whatever the point, back it up with double odds.
- Definition of - senses, usage, synonyms, thesaurus. Online Dictionaries: Definition of Options Tips Options Tips.
Iron Cross is great if you’re a seasoned player looking for bigger gains, but it can also help steer new players in the right direction. Once you figure out how this strategy works (and don’t worry, we’ll walk you through it), feel free to practice at Palace of Chance.
For the Iron Cross Strategy to work, you’ll need to be comfortable placing more than one bet at the same time. If you’re familiar with betting on multiple areas of the Roulette table, Iron Cross isn’t all that different. You’re basically spreading your bet, but the payout potential can be impressive. That said, you must also be comfortable losing a hefty chunk of change. If you’re not comfortable with the possible swings in both directions, we recommend you stay away. But if you like to win big when you do and minimize your losses, Iron Cross might just be the best bet you can make.
All about the Iron Cross System
Many casinos today pay double on a field bet when you roll a pair of Aces and pay out triple when you roll a 12. That’s better than the even money they used to hand out a half-century ago, which makes the Iron Cross Craps System even more lucrative. More on that in a second. With the increased payouts, the house edge drops on average to 2.78%, but it gets even lower when you involve Iron Cross .
The most important thing to know about Iron Cross is that this betting system doesn’t just involve a bet in the field area of the Craps table. It also involved placing a bet on 5, 6, and 8 simultaneously. With this combination of bets, you’re covering almost every possible roll with the exception of 7. That’s because field wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
With these numbers, it seems like that you should be able to win every single time. But that’s not the case. Remember the field bet doesn’t lose sometimes because it loses on 5, 6, 7, and 8. That means while you’ll win with a place bet on 5, 6, and 8, you’ll lose your field bet. We’ll show you how to maximize these bets for more winning opportunity.
How to use the Iron Cross System to your benefit
With the Iron Cross system, you’ll place four bets. Chiste poker. Here’s a step by step way to make this betting system work for you:
- Find a Craps table that has a low minimum. Remember, online Craps tables let you wager as little as $1 per bet. And you can even play for free, so there’s technically nothing to lose.
- For this example, let’s pretend you’re working with a little more than the minimum. Start by placing $5 on the number 5.
- Then, place a $6 bet on the number 6.
- Now, place a $6 on the number 8.
You’ve now got $22 committed. If the shooter sevens out, you’ll lose that $22. But here’s the best part. If she rolls any other number besides a 7, you’re actually sitting on a profit.
Remember, if the place bet numbers 5, 6, or 8 end up hitting, you’ll lose that $5 bet on the field but you’ll win $7 on the place bet you made. At this point, you’ll actually be up $2. Jumba bet casino free spins slots. And if a field number ends up hitting, you’ll win $5 at the very minimum, and more if you hit 2 or 12.
The Iron Cross works in your favor when the dice are hot, though you will end up with a loss if 7 keeps hitting every few rolls. And overall, there’s a house edge of just 2.48% involved when you employ this strategy, which is way better than most other betting systems.
Stay away from Big 6 or 8
To be clear, you want to stay away from a Big 6 or Big 8 bet. The biggest mistake you could make is putting your money down on Big 6 or 8 thinking that you’re covered with your place bets. Never bet on Big 6 or 8. Not when you use this strategy. Not ever, really.
To be clear, you want to stay away from a Big 6 or Big 8 bet. The biggest mistake you could make is putting your money down on Big 6 or 8 thinking that you’re covered with your place bets. Never bet on Big 6 or 8. Not when you use this strategy. Not ever, really.
While the word “big” might make you assume that your bankroll is going to see a big boost, that’s not exactly what’s going to happen. The house advantage for Big or 8 hovers around 9%. The house advantage drops significantly when you bet on the actual numbers.
Try Iron Cross now
Ready to put Iron Cross to the ultimate test? Sign up for a free Palace of Chance account. All we need is a few pieces of information to get started. As soon as you’ve got a free account, you can play Craps for as long as you like, without having to risk real money. We’ll set you up with a play-money account, which gets you a bunch of pretend chips. Go ahead and use your free stack to see how well Iron Cross works for you. If you don’t have much luck with it, walk away. No loss, no pain. But if it does work, make that first deposit and you’ll be able to play for real money (and win real cash while you’re at it).
Don’t forget, your account also gets you access to our mobile suite of online casino games on your smartphone and tablet. You can play a variety of table games and specialty games like Blackjack and Roulette, plus many of our latest online slots — all for free or real money.
One of my Golden Touch dice control instructors, a member of my Five Horsemen craps team, and an expert in casino gambling, Jerry “Stickman,” did a complete study of a popular betting system called the Iron Cross. This system is often sold by scammers as a sure-fire way to win at craps with an 83 percent winning probability. Doesn’t that sound delightful?
Let “Stickman” show you the flaw of this very popular but dippy, dopey, dumb betting system.
Let “Stickman” show you the flaw of this very popular but dippy, dopey, dumb betting system.
“Over the years there has been a lot of talk about a betting system called the Iron Cross. The attraction to this betting system is straight-forward – you will get paid whenever any number rolls, except for the 7. Imagine, when the 4 hits, you get paid; when the 5 hits; when the 6, 8, 9, or 10 hits – you get paid! Even when craps numbers hit – you get paid. You make money on the 2, 3, 11 and 12. If you do the math, you know there are only six ways to make the 7 out of 36 possibilities, so 30 out of 36 combinations result in a win – an 83.3 percent win rate!
“The Iron Cross bet consists of Place bets on the 5, 6 and 8 coupled with a Field bet. The Field bet wins if you throw a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12. When the Field bet loses, one of the Place bets wins giving the player a small profit – except of course if that nasty 7 appears. When that happens the player loses all the bets.
“I can recall many times when I had a Pass Line bet with Odds and placed the 6 and 8, and threw number after number without collecting anything. The Iron Cross bet will definitely eliminate that situation. The only time you will not win money is when you throw the 7. Sounds like an ideal situation, doesn’t it? And it would be, were it not for the fact that when you throw the 7, you lose every single bet on the board.
“The question, then, is how good (or bad) a bet is the Iron Cross? Is winning better than 83 percent of your bets a good deal or a poor betting choice?
“Let’s assume we are playing a random game. Conventional wisdom [and math] states that hedge bets cause you to lose more money. If you ordinarily bet six dollars on the 6 and 8, you have $12 at the mercy of a 1.52 percent house edge. Multiplying the two you are destined to lose about 18 cents on that $12.
“Now, if you add a Place bet on the 5 for five dollars, you add four percent or 20 cents. Add still another bet on the Field for five dollars and you add 5.56 percent of it or another 27.8 cents. You have more money at risk with higher house edges so you will lose more money – period. There is no way around that.
“But what if you ordinarily bet $12 on the 6 and 8 for a total of $24 wagered and you would rather bet $22 on the Iron Cross? Your bets would be six dollars each on the 6 and 8 and five dollars each on the 5 and Field. Here you are betting slightly less money and getting many more wins than before. What is the house edge on such a scheme and what can you expect to lose per dollar bet?
The Iron Cross Craps
“This much we know:
- The 6 and 8 have a 1.52 percent house edge working on $24.
- The 5 has a four percent house edge working on five dollars.
- The Field bet has a 5.56 percent house edge working on five dollars.
“Intuitively, the edge on the total bet of $22 should be between 1.52 and 5.56 percent. Betting $22 on the Iron Cross carries a 3.87 percent house edge when both the 2 and 12 pay double in the field bet. Let’s check the answer to the original question. Is it better to bet $12 each on the 6 and 8, or $22 on the Iron Cross?
“Well, the 6 and 8 at $24 combined against a 1.52 percent house edge equals about 37 cents lost. The Iron Cross at $22 going against a 3.87 percent house edge equals about 85 cents lost – even though less money is at risk!
“So despite the fact that you are getting paid on 30 out of 36 rolls, the ‘tax’ on those winnings amounts to about 2.5 times more money. This is not a good bet. No matter how tempting it seems, prudent players will avoid it.”
There you have it, another sure-fire bet that will kill your bankroll.
By Frank Scoblete
Golden Arm Craps Tournament 2020
Author Bio: Visit Frank’s web site at www.frankscoblete.com. Frank’s latest books are Confessions of a Wayward Catholic!; I Am a Dice Controller and I Am a Card Counter. Available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, e-books and at bookstores.