Pssst…! Wanna know a secret? How about the secret of the field bet in craps? As you might know, the field bet is a one roll bet that you can make in any of the game’s betting rounds that allows you to roll a specific number to win even money. The other players at the table have to ante up before the game starts (the minimum is $5 at most casinos), so you can’t make a field bet unless you have first paid the insurance premium. The field is also sometimes called the Don’t Pass bet and the Come bet, and its most common form is a $5 Don’t Pass bet placed in the center of the table as well as by the shooter. This is a proposition bet, meaning that it wins if the shooter rolls a number, and it loses if any other number shows. Since it is the highest of the bets, it comes round after the Don’t Pass bet and before the Come bet, which is the next highest betting round. Come bets are made only once, whenever the shooter rolls a number to win on the come-out roll (the number revealed by the shooter). Should a shooter roll a different number (such as craps a 7 on the come-out roll), the payoff is then dependent on the odds of the number appearing. You can bet now Come, Don’t Come, or each-way. All three bets are made in the center of the table and cost $1. The advantages of each are described below. What are the advantages of a $1 Come bet? The Come bet lets you win payoff on a 7 or 11 when the shooter rolls a number, and the odds are 2 to 1. If the shooter rolls a different number, the payoff is 8 to 1. That’s like buying three 7s and getting 17. (11 in this case.) It’s easy to see why the Come bet is exceptionally good for a player with a negative expectation: you’re paid more for a loss. The Don’t Come bet, however, gives the player a 1-in-8 chance of winning, which isn’t much worse than the Even Money bet, but the Las Vegas odds are worse. The Don’t Come bet lets you lose payoff on a 7 or 11, and the odds are 3 to 1. And since the negative expectation bet is paid less than the positive expectation bet (as discussed above, the Place bet is actually the better bet, although both are virtually identical), you’ll lose a lot more often with this bet. So if you have a choice of playing two or three number fields, or a pair of twelve or sixteen, or a field single, the Come bet is the best one, hands down. The emergence of the Don’t Come bet is probably due to a period when the dealer mastered all the numbers in a shorter period of time, so that the players began to believe they could count on fresh numbers being introduced each half hour. (The half hour can end for a few minutes, two hours, three hours, or even six feet, so it’s possible for the dealers to shuffle the decks frequently to move them to the opposite end of the table, ensuring a continuous flow of play.) Before you learn to play, however, be sure you observe the dealer’s shuffling techniques, and determine how fast the wheel is in general, especially when the stickman is doing his job. Arbitrary shuffle techniques, such as those employed by some dealers, create a ball that is more lively and make the ball jump around the wheel. (This slowness from the normal shuffling technique is probably what makes the Even Money bet, for example, so attractive to the players.) Once you learn to play, the Even Money bet carried over after a throw. For example, if you win after your Come bet comes out, you can take your Even Money bet off the table and let it lie there, without being actively engaged in the game. If the shooter rolls a 7 after your Come bet, you just drop your Even Money bet and continue on with your Come bet, winning and losing notwithstanding whatever number comes up. Before you leave the table after a session, however, make sure you haven’t fallen for the trap of falling into the Many Trillion Bet trap. Remember, fallible roulette systems can be effective tools only if you believe they can make you a winner. Just because a certain bet has a name-some gadget, letter, or symbol doesn’t mean that the bet is going to keep on making you money for days on end. Panen138 bets, Come bets, Don’t Come bets, and House edge bets can’t be guaranteed. Anything can happen. Even the most pessimistic of gamblers won’t likely warn you against this most delicious of bets.