3x, 4x, 5x odds at craps

QUESTION: I went back and read about 3x, 4x and 5x odds in craps, and how they make the payoffs easy. Is easy really the point, though? What if I wanted to make a 3x odds bets on a point of 5 or 9? Would they refuse your money?

ANSWER: The dealers wouldn't refuse your money, but they might urge a different bet, to the point of helping you size it correctly.

Ease of payment is one issue. If you bet $5 on pass, then betting $15 in odds on 4 or 10, with a 2-1 payoff, brings a return of $30. Returns also are $30 if you bet $20 on odds on 5 or 9 at 3-2 odds or $25 on 6 or 8 at 6-5 odds.

But easy, same-size payoffs aren't the only issue. Possibility of payment in fractions is another.

If you bet $5 on pass and make a 3x odds bet for $15 with a point of 5 or 9, the 3-2 odds would lead to $22.50 in winnings. Some casinos have $2.50 chips and can make that payoff, but many can't, and few stock tables with coins or 50-cent chips.

Should a player refuse to budge and insist on a $15 odds bet on 5 or 9, the casino can round down and pay $22 instead of $22.50 to avoid the half-dollar issue.

I once saw something similar from a player who insisted on playing single odds without variation. He was a $5 bettor, added $5 in odds on any number. When he won on 5 or 9, he was paid $7 instead of $7.50.

You don't want less than true odds payoffs on your free odds. Size the bets so they can be paid in whole dollars.


QUESTION: I've been playing a lot of nickel video poker on the games with multipliers. I was playing a Triple Play Bonus Poker on Hot Roll, got an 4 on a dice roll, then got four aces on the deal, with no draw.

Aces are worth 400, which on nickels is $20. with the dice multiplying by four, that was $80, and I got it three times for a total of $240.

That got me thinking. What about a royal flush? A nickel royal is worth $200, so if I got 4 on the dice, they'd be $800 apiece. If I got them three times, that's $2,400.

Would that mean I'd get a tax form? Is the meaningful figure here the $800 on each royal, or the $2,400 for all three?

ANSWER: Yes, you would have to sign an IRS form W-2G before the casino could pay you. The total payoff you get after any one push of the deal button counts toward the $1,200 threshold at which the form is required.

When you're playing video poker with multipliers and/or multiple hands, there are extra routes to an IRS-level jackpot. A nickel royal will reach tax form level with any multiplier of 6x or more. Even without a multiplier, if you're playing Ten Play, Fifty Play or Hundred Play, six or more royals could take you to $1,200-plus.

I once watched as a friend was dealt four Jacks in Super Double Bonus Poker on a quarter Ten Play machine, no multiplier. Each set of quads was worth 600 coins, and the total pay was $1,500 once he'd signed the form.

With multipliers, even medium-pay hands like full houses and flushes with enough hands and multipliers can bring tax forms.

But the short answer is that any total payoff of $1,200 or more will bring a tax form, even if the component payoffs are smaller.

This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net.