In the year that I have been writing this PressPoints column for 4pointspress.com, I have received, on the average, about six e-mails per month, not all of them pertaining to the game of craps. While my expertise is Craps, I have paid my dues on the Twenty-One tables, Roulette and Poker. To those loyal Pilgrims, who have sent me e-mail questions on those games, which I have answered personally, I ask patience saying that in future columns I will get around to publishing your questions and my responses.

A few months ago, Mallak from the Midwest asked this question:
Where can I find a dealers manual for casino craps? (How to deal the game)

Good question and I really don't know if I have an answer for that one. First of all I don't know if you have a local merchant who sells books on gaming. But I do know that to learn to deal the game is to know how to handle the chips and the cash the game brings in. Also knowing the odds and rules of the game inside and out wouldn't hurt either. Also, your local library should help some or an emporium, like the one pictured left, if you can find such a shop.

Learning something from a book is one thing, having to learn "on the table" with real people in front of you is another. What you need is someone to teach the mechanics of the game.

Actually, I've never heard of a manual of this kind but most certainly I will keep an eye and ear out for one.

Anonymous (I get a lot of these kinds) asked me last year:
I know that casinos get an edge by letting a 12 be a push on the coming out roll but what would happen if 12 was a craps and wrong betters won? Would this eliminate the house's advantage? Or sway it enough so that the better has the advantage? And how much of an advantage is it?

Whoa there, Pilgrim! One question and answer at a time.

Would this eliminate the advantage? You betcha it would. Granted the house doesn't roll in gold waiting to win from the Don't players. But a push on 12 or aces on the come out roll will definitely move the percentage to the casino, not by much, but at least by a percent and a half (1.5%). We are looking at a push on the Don't on the average of once every 36 come out rolls. Some blanket games and back yard casinos (which we discussed in one of my previous columns) will bar the ace duce (3) on the come out roll. In this case the percentage for the table doubles up to damn near 4%. The Don't bet is a slow grind and needs patience in order to work for you. Most players cannot play at a slow pace and so that's where the table makes its money. Any convenience bet, such as the field, big 6 and 8, hardways, or any craps or eleven bets have a much higher percentage against it. The Don't is the best your gonna get as for as the percentage against you. Good Luck.

Now here is a good Pilgrim! This is the only e-mail I've received that asked this kind of question:
What are those circles on the craps table that have the C's and the E's in them?

A layout of the craps table, like the one picture to your left, is situated so that the dealer would know who to pay in most any type of this game, be it light or busy. So, those little circles that have the c's and e's in them are situated in front of the dealer, the "stickman", who handles the dice. For example: When a player, say three players away from the stick man, wants to make a bet, let's say of "any craps", the stick man will place the bet on the circle with the C in it approximately three sets of C and E circles away from him. In a busy game that lets us know who to pay in case it wins. Should the gambler want an any craps C and an eleven E, then the stick man will place the bet on both the C and the E circles. These markers on the table are a handy way to keep the game flowing. Good Luck to you.

From Tommy:
What is the record amount of passes made in a row in craps (dice)?

The record for passes in a row, as I think I said once before, is really arbitrary. No one really knows for sure. Records for that sort of thing are just not kept on a regular basis. Some casinos will show a pair of dice enclosed in a case along with and a statement that "These dice rolled x amount of passes on…" Others do the same with different facts and figures. The only way I know to find out an answer to your question is to poll those who might have had that experience. My own unofficial observance of that phenomenon is 26 come out rolls by one shooter. However four of those come out rolls were a craps, thus 22 passes, but not consecutive. My personal best is 19 consecutive, and I only know that because at the time I had someone on the game that was tracking my Passes and Don't Passes. My sister, who is not an avid gambler because she hates to loose even ten cents at anything, on a dare from her husband who for a lark bankrolled her because she didn't know the game and he was teaching her (And I might add here that he won a bundle betting with her), herself once threw 17 passes in forty five minutes! Later I had asked him what possessed him to take such a heavy risk with a novice player. "Because she was hot! I could feel it!" my brother-in-law replied. Within my experience I've found that when a dyed in the wool gambler feels "hot", or he sees a "hot player", he follows his instincts and goes all the way with them and himself.

However not included in the above synopsis is the years I've spent on a craps game as a dealer, box man and floor man when many passes have gone by me and all I thought about was taking and paying the next bet. So, to me, answering your question is like asking me, "What was the last roll".