A correction to evaluating two craps bets

Dear Readers:

It's nice to have friends that are smart. In the article "Evaluating Two Craps Bets," I misread the question (translation: totally screwed up) and gave the wrong answer to the proposition. Then I received the following e-mail from Skinny putting it right (note how delicately Skinny handles telling me I screwed up -- what are good friends for?):

Frank,

I think there is an omission in the article entitled "Evaluating Two Craps Bets."

You left out the place bet on the 4 and 10 in your analysis of Proposition #1. It changes your conclusion since you left out two of the bets.

Proposition #1 - Bet $64 across as follows with the corresponding loss due to the house edge:

$10 place the 4 - loss of 67 cents
$10 place the 5 - loss of 40 cents
$12 place the 6 - loss of 18 cents
$12 place the 8 - loss of 18 cents
$10 place the 9 - loss of 40 cents
$10 place the 10- loss of 67 cents

Proposition #1 has a total expected loss of $2.50.

Proposition #2 - Wager $66 as follows:

$20 place the 5 - loss of 80 cents
$18 place the 6 - loss of 27 cents
$18 place the 8 - loss of 27 cents
$10 on the field - loss of 56 cents (note you said 55 cents in the article but HA is 5.56% which rounds to 56 cents - less important than the omission)

Proposition #2 has a total expected loss of $1.90.

Proposition #2 is the better of the two propositions offered by the gambler.

Skinny

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.