Especially when you play it with Tammy. Let me take a minute to explain. I think craps is fun, but because the house has a built-in edge over the player which cannot, regardless of what others try to tell you, ever be beaten on a long term basis by a player. Sure, you can win for a while, but in the 'long run', the house will get your $$$. Consequently, I treat craps as entertainment, the same way I view going to a play or movie; it's going to cost me 'X' dollars, but I'll have some fun and at least at craps there's a chance I might win. I never get my money back after enjoying a play.

The other part of this equation is Tammy. She's about 35, maybe 5 feet tall, petite, blond, cute and just loves to show off her excellent pair of legs. The mini-dress was created for Tammy. And she knows it.

Anyway, I ran into her the other day and she asked me if I would take her to a casino and show her some of the stuff I do, but mostly she wanted to learn how to play craps.

"Everybody seems to have such a good time at it and, since it's mostly guys", she said, "I thought I'd have fun too."

"Believe me, Tammy, the guys there won't care if you know how to play or not. In fact, if a cutie like you shows up and lets everyone know you don't know how to play, they'll be falling over themselves to help you", I replied.

"I'll wear my 5-inch heels."

"How's Tuesday night for you?", I asked.

So, we met last Tuesday for Tammy's craps lesson. (Oh yeah, it was a flowery, little cotton sun dress with white 5-inch strappy, sexy shoes; whatever you ladies call them. By the way, I've got her half-talked into being our 'GameMate', so you'll be able to see what I'm talking about.) Knowing that Tammy had never played before, we first went over to a table which wasn't in play so I could explain some of the basics.

"Take a look at the line marked 'Pass', Tammy. That means you think the shooter will win."

"Why don't they just say 'Win' instead?", she asked.

"Hell, I don't know; suppose it would make more sense. But, anyway, it's called the pass line and you can only put a bet there if the shooter hasn't established a point."

"What's a point?" (Knew that was coming.)

"Okay, there are 36 possible rolls to the dice: 2, 3, 4, etc. up to 12. Of those, 3 lose right away: 2, 3 and 12; a 7 or 11 wins right away and the rest are 'points': 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10. You can see the points at the top, there", I explained. "Got it?"

"Got it." Tammy may be blond, but she isn't dumb.

"Now, let's assume the shooter's first roll is a 7 and you have $5 bet on the pass line, what happens?", I asked her.

"Seven wins", she replied, "but how much?"

"Good question. A winner on the pass line pays even money, so you'd get $5 and your original bet back. You then can make another bet on the same shooter", I continued. "Let's say the shooter now rolls a 2; know what happens now?"

"You said a 2 loses, so I lose my bet and there's another shooter", she answered.

"No, a 2, 3 or 12 loses, it's called 'craps', but the same shooter keeps the dice", I told her. "Okay, so we place a third bet and let's say the shooter rolls a 4."

"Thats a point", said Tammy.

"Right, and the dealer will move a disk called a 'buck' to the 4 and turn it to the white side which says 'on'."

"Anything to do with 'The buck stops here'?", Tammy asked. Told you she wasn't dumb.

"That's what they say. Anyway", I continued, "that's how you can tell what's going on in a game. If the buck is on a number, you can't walk up and make a pass line bet; you have to wait until the point is either made or the shooter sevens out. Or you can make a come bet, which I'll explain in a minute. Now, the shooter has established a point of four. It's here that we can make one of the best bets in a casino."

"What's that?, Tammy asked.

"It's called the 'free odds bet' and it's one most people don't understand."

"I like free", said Tammy, "but I can't imagine any casino giving away free bets."

"Well, in this case, they almost are. A free odds bet is placed behind your pass line bet on the outside, closest to you and, with $5 on the line, you could bet up to $50 at this particular casino because they allow 10 times odds."

"Well, I don't want to bet that much, so what can I do?", Tammy asked.

"You don't have to bet anything, if you don't want to, but you should at least put up an amount equal to your pass line bet", I told her. "This is a bet on which the casino has no edge -- they'll win as much as they lose at it and the same's true for us; we'll win as much as we lose, in the long run."

"So, why bother?", she rightly asked.

"Because, in the short term, we could get lucky and win."

"But", Tammy interjected, "we're risking more money."

"Correct, but it's a better deal than betting $10 on the line with no odds; follow me?", I replied.

She scrunched up that cute nose and answered: "Kinda."

"Yeah", I said, "it gets a little complicated at this point, but stay with me 'cause it's important. With a point of 4 and an odds bet of $5, we will win $5 for our pass line bet and $10 on our odds bet if the shooter rolls a 4 before he rolls a 7. That's because we get even money on the line and the odds against rolling a 4 before a 7 are 2 to 1."

"Why's that?", Tammy asked.

"There are 6 ways to make a 7 and only 3 ways to make a 4, so it's a 6 to 3 or 2 to 1 chance of hitting 4 before hitting 7. Okay with that?"

She thought for a few seconds. "Got it."

"Each point number has a dfferent set of odds", I explained: "4 and 10 are 2 to 1; 5 and 9 are 3 to 2 and 6 and 8 are 6 to 5. I afraid it's just something you need to memorize, but if you forget, the dealers will tell you how much you can put up as an odds bet. For a $5 bet, $5 is OK for everything but the 5 and 9, 'cause they pay 3 to 2, so a $6 odds bet keeps things even." Tammy's baby blues were beginning to glaze over, so I brought it to a quick conclusion. "The only other thing we need to cover real quick is the 'come' bet." I pointed to the spot on the table. "That really stands for 'come out' bet and it's a way to jump into the game when a point's been made and a way to increase your action at the table."

"Let me get this straight", she said. "The point is 4 when we walk up to the table, so we can't make a pass line bet, but you're saying we can make a come bet, right?"

"Exactly. Before the next roll, if we place a $5 bet on the come line, that bet will be treated like a pass line bet. If the shooter throws a 2, 3, or 12, it loses. If he rolls a 7 or 11, we win. If he rolls a point number, the dealer will pick up the bet and place inside the point box. We can, if we want, give the dealer more money for an odds bet on that point and we'll win or lose, just like it was a pass line bet after the point's made. That is, we win if the point's rolled and lose if a 7's rolled."

"Well, I'm not totally clear on all that, but if I watch how it works, I'm sure I can pick up on it", she said.

"Fair enough", I replied. "Let's go hit a table and give it a shot."

Well, to make a long (and fun!) story short, Tammy's beginner's luck or whatever it was, paid off. After about a half hour of just watching, she got the dice and started throwing numbers like there was no tomorrow. Need a 6? Tammy's got one for ya. Need a 'yo? Here it comes! What a time that was. Her smilin' and shootin'; yelling and jumping up and down. Craps at its best. We made some serious $$$ and the nice thing about Tammy is that she has this wonderful way of saying "Thanks."