I am often asked the question of how I play craps while I am working with a group or an individual. My usual answer, although true, is not comprehensive about how I engage each session. My usual answer to “Professor, how do you play craps?” is, “I play exactly the way I present my strategies in the Do’s and Don’ts of Dice.”

Back in the beginning of my attraction for blackjack and craps, the first thing I discovered was my dislike for the feeling that I experienced after suffering a loss. Intuitively I recognized, for me personally, that “avoiding the loss” was the game I was actually pursuing. As revealing as this statement appears, I mean to purposely state that I was not chasing money. Not losing was my end goal. By reaching my end goal, most of the time, resulted in wining some money. (Sometimes not losing results in a push. This concept explains my statement of “a win is a win”.) I prefer that winning feeling.

It has been several years since I first published the article Fair Market Value written by a professor of mathematics, “Mike in Hawaii”. At 4:44 this morning, I find myself writing this blog after re-reading Mike’s article. Mike provides the math that simply explains how the value of a bet is influenced during the Come Out cycle and the Point Chasing cycle. What Mike presents, in my opinion, explains the merits of the betting strategies found in my Do’s and Don’ts of Dice playbook. If you want the mathematical explanation for Playing 4 Keeps™, please take a bit of time to study Fair Mark Value.

The rest of the answer about how I play has to do with metaphysical information detected in each session. No two games are the same. Once you have enough games logged in, recognizing familiar trends influences the application of my playing strategies. In other words, I will finesse the game, molding my play to best suit gaming conditions. In short, this could mean, not betting on a shooter, stopping my play during a hand, playing more conservatively and even stopping betting all together and just watching the game for a while.

My way does not have to be your way. It is for this reason that I have always shied away from sharing my personal play. It has always been my intention to lay down strict, conservative plays, for either the Pass Line or the Don’t Pass game. These are the plays that have the least house advantage and thus keeping risk to a minimum, as allowed by the rules of the game.

Through playing and reflection, I discovered my own purpose for gaming. With the information published here at Playing4Keeps.com and in my playbook, it is my intention to provide the reader with a solid foundation for playing either side of a craps game, “Do or Don’t”. It is a foundation that can be explained simply and mathematically.

From that base foundation, it is my hope that the player discovers and recognizes they have liberty to engage and play craps in a way that “meets their own personal reasons for playing craps.” The player doesn’t disregard the stringent rules set forth in the playbook, but is allowed a freedom to take liberty with prevailing conditions. In other words, the player can, if so desired, modify or finesse play so it best fits the playing conditions.

The player must keep their goals in mind. Being clear about one’s goals provided for a baseline where success can be measured and appreciated. It is all about your enjoyment and excitement to develop your own style of play. Think of it like making pancakes, everything you need comes in the package. All you need to do is add an egg, water and oil. This is what I would call the “basic foundation” for successful pancakes.

In my case, I finesse the recipe by starting off with gluten free pancake mix. Next, I add two eggs, goat yogurt, goat milk, olive oil, vanilla, salt, flaxseed meal, toasted sesame and poppy seeds. After it is all mixed, I toss in chopped pecans. Can you guess what I had for breakfast? Feeling like a front line winner!