In certain casinos you might be surprised if you're the shooter, and the dealer suddenly says that you're in prison. This happened to me just last month.

I was the new shooter, had $10 on the pass line and rolled snake eyes. I sighed and expected to lose my $10 bet. But it stayed on the table.

"Ah-ha" said the dealer, "You're in prison!"

"Why, what did I do?"

"No, no, your bet is in prison, not you. You rolled a two. If you roll a two or twelve on the come-out your bet is imprisoned."

Sure enough, my bet was still there with a big "P" chip on top of it.

The dealer explained further."Roll again. If you win your new $10 pass line bet, you get the old imprisoned one back too. But if you lose, you lose both bets."

"Hmmm let me see...so if I roll a seven or eleven now I win $10 more, plus my old craps bet back, for a total of $30?"

"Yup. And if you roll a point and win the point, you get $30 back too. But if you lose the point, you lose the $30."

"What if I roll another craps?"

"If you roll another 2 or 12 your first bet is lost and your second bet goes into prison."

Sounded pretty good, huh. It didn't cost anything and at least there was some positive benefit. This probably encouraged more people to become the shooter.

I then rolled a six point and took double odds."Hey what about everyone else, can they get their bets imprisoned too?"

"Sure"the dealer said, "But only when they're the shooter."

I rolled an eight. "Place the eight for $30." Now I had my two favorite numbers, the six and eight.

"It's a bet. Now make the 6 and everyone will be happy," the friendly dealer said, and pushed the dice back to me.

Another two. "I just thought of a question. What if I roll a three on the come-out?"

"You lose. Prison rule only works on the 2 and 12."

"Oh." I tossed the dice again. Eight! Terrific! The dealer paid everyone and then I rolled the six point! Everyone cheered and I got my originally lost craps bet back in addition to my pass line bet with odds! I realized this was the only place in the world where I could shoot something, go to prison, and then get paid for it!

Not many casinos have this bet yet, but it's worth searching them out. A prison bet adds to the fun of craps, encourages shooters, and best of all, increases the win percentage on the pass line! Just ask your casino host or dealer if they know about prison bets.

And, as always, good luck at the tables!

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