Are you dissatisfied with your job? Do you feel like you should earn more but don’t know what to do? Suppose a person earns $25 per hour working 8 hours per day. This equates to $200 per day. Working 5 days a week equals $1,000 per week. Working 50 weeks a year (taking two weeks of vacation) equals $50,000 a year. Not a bad income for most people.
For argument’s sake, let’s assume I can win $25 per shooter playing craps. Going further, earning $25 per shooter, betting on 8 shooters per day equals $200 per day. On average, there will be approximately 15 shooters per hour at a craps table. In other words, you can earn in an hour or less what a person earning $25 an hour earns in a day. Think about it for a moment.
Playing craps professionally requires you to avoid distractions, maintain mental discipline, adhere to precise rules and techniques, and control your emotions. The greatest reward as a professional is the freedom to “work” your own hours and be your own boss.
Playing craps as a business avoids typical problems and/or costs. For example, it does not require accountants, bookkeepers or lawyers to operate. You won’t have collection issues with accounts receivable, inventory, advertising, “customers” and employees, which means you don’t need to contribute to employee benefits or taxes. Playing craps as a business does not require insurance, licenses, due or registration. There are no “competitors” playing craps professionally. In any case, you have something in common with other players at the craps table: taking money from the casino, not from others. Warning: Playing craps is gambling! There are no infallible systems, strategies or methods. You will not get rich overnight. There will be times when you will lose money. How you handle these losses will determine whether or not you will be successful. Success requires a lot of patience.
This all sounds great, right? Wrong. Here are some problems with the logic. First, unless you live in Las Vegas, Laughlin, or Reno, Nevada, you must live in a geographic area where local casinos operate craps tables. Phoenix, where I reside, no. Therefore, there is a cost and expense to travel to Las Vegas to play craps.
Second, you won’t win on every shooter. Therefore, you need to have a large enough bankroll to withstand some losses. A proper bankroll is $2,500 of money that you can afford to lose. Having an adequate bankroll is essential to ensure that you have a proper psychological attitude. Here is the problem because most people play not to lose instead of playing to win.
Third, most people who play craps don’t have the discipline to stick to a betting strategy or to be satisfied with winning $200 a day, let alone an hour. Greed has turned many winners into losers.
Fourth, you need to have a betting strategy where you can win $25 on each shooter and minimize the risk of loss. Therefore, you need to understand the basics of the game and something else. There are many different betting strategies that will allow you to win $25 on a shooter. Some are better than others.
If you’re going to play craps for a living, treat it like a business. Operating any business requires operating capital. Most businesses fail if they have insufficient funds or do not have a written business plan with specific goals and how they will meet these goals. Likewise, if you do not have enough funds to play craps, you will fail. Also, if you don’t have a written plan with specific goals and how you will achieve them, you will fail. If you don’t understand these concepts, don’t risk money trying to make a living playing in casinos.
Several keys to help you succeed include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Stay at the craps table for short periods of time. Take frequent breaks to avoid getting tired. Staying at the table longer increases your exposure to potential losses.
2. No system is infallible. Craps is a game of luck. You can and will lose money. You must maintain discipline and proper management of money. You can’t get greedy playing dice. Set daily goals and stick to those goals. If you win your daily goal, leave the casino. If you lose your daily limit, please stop playing and leave the casino. The casino will still be there tomorrow.
3. NEVER PLAY WITH MONEY YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE EITHER EMOTIONALLY OR FINANCIALLY. NEVER BORROW MONEY TO PLAY.
4. Never play when you are depressed, unhappy, tired or not feeling well. You need to be able to focus and concentrate on what you are doing.
5. Never increase your bets when you are losing.
6. Never drink alcohol or use drugs when playing craps. Again, you need to be able to focus and concentrate on what you are doing at the tables.
7. Watch your bets and make sure the dealer has placed the right bets for you. If you cancel your bets, make sure the dealer has used the “off” button to indicate this or has canceled your bets. Make sure the dealer has paid you correctly. If you don’t catch the mistake in time, it can cause you a substantial loss. Dealers are people, they make mistakes.
8. Treat distributors with respect and courtesy. Tip or “toke” dealers. Your generosity will pay off in the long run. My experience has been that if you treat dealers with respect and courtesy and tip them, they will take care of you and take care of your bets.
These are just a few points that will help you succeed. There are many more keys that will help you succeed.
There are many “professional” craps players. You usually don’t hear about them because they are so quiet about what they do for a living. They do not brag or brag. They do not draw attention to themselves. Most professional craps players earn more than $50,000 per year. I have met them and played with them. The keyword is that they are professionals who know what they are doing. So be careful. The aim of this article is to make you aware that it is possible to make a living playing craps.
By: David Udjat, for Walk Away Craps