Craps Cheating
Any time you’ve got money changing hands in a game of chance, you’ll have some players who decide to cheat. Before we talk about the details, it’s important to realize exactly what it means to cheat. If you get caught cheating, not only will you be kicked out of the casino, but you will probably be arrested.
Cheating is illegal, and it is taken extremely seriously by all law enforcement agencies! You should not cheat under any circumstances, and if you choose to, you should know that you are most likely in violation of the law. This article is for informational purposes only.
Loaded Dice
The stereotypical craps cheater employs “loaded craps dice” which are designed to give them a statistical edge. There are a few ways to make a pair of loaded dice, but in the end they all accomplish the same goal: making the dice less-than fair.
Weighted Dice
When talking about loaded craps dice, most people immediately think of weighted dice. Weighted dice are generally made by inserting a small weight into one side of the dice, but in reality, this category includes all dice with an off-center center of gravity. This condition makes one or more sides of the dice more likely to appear than the others.
Weighted dice have been around since the earliest dice games. In the rubble of Pompeii, archeologists discovered primitive weighted dice dating back thousands of years. With small metallic slivers pushed into the side of a wooden dice, the creator knew exactly what he was doing.
Shaped Dice
Some times it is impossible to get away with weighted dice. Since most casino dice are transparent, it’s all too easy for casino employees to notice an internal weight. For situations like this, skilled craftsmen have turned to shaping or “shaving” their loaded dice. By making slight changes in the angles of a die’s faces, these cheaters can effectively influence its roll.
Although some of the original designs involved rounding the edges/corners, all modern casino dice have sharp edges to prevent this kind of manipulation. Shaped dice are effective, but with the high rate of dice-rotation, cheaters would need to swap many loaded dice into the game to really win big.
Past Posting
Even though loaded craps dice might seem like a no-brainer, they are not easy to produce, and it’s extremely difficult to get them into play without being spotted. Also, you can still lose out in the short-run; loaded dice offer a long-term statistical advantage that can only be realized after thousands of rolls.
For craps cheaters who don’t want to go through all of the hassle but are looking for a sure thing, there is past posting. Beyond the fancy name, past posting is pretty much a sleight of hand trick that is extremely difficult to pull off, but requires no preparation, and confers a sure thing.
Past posters wait until the dice have come to a rest and then they quickly drop a stack of chips on a winning bet. When done properly, the dealer has no idea what has just occurred but the watchful eye in the sky should catch even the best cons.
Many craps players are under the illusion that past posting is no big deal. Some players think that, when caught, past posters just have to take down the late bet. This belief, however, could not be further from the truth. Past posting in any casino game is cheating, and completely illegal. With the highest level of modern security and surveillance, there should be little doubt that you will be caught and turned over to the law if you even attempt to past post.
Related Articles
Now that you know the truth about craps cheating, you're probably ready to start learning how to play (and win) the game straight-up. To get you started, check out some of the other related craps articles listed below.