Alamo Tx asked the above question in another post. Click here to read Alamo Tx’s post

I thought it worthwhile to answer this in a separate post because some may have questions about my answer and I did not want to hijack Alamo Tx’s post with my response. But before going into the answer I need to say that getting up on more numbers and safety are opposing points of view. Every time you put a wager in play you are adding risk to your game. Frank has correctly pointed out that every wager one makes is a separate game with the casino. The more wagers that are in play the more games you are playing against the casino.

By the same token, if you do not risk any money, you can not make any money. I wrote an article entitled, "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" in which I posit, those who are concerned about losing money are costing themselves money by not betting enough. Click here to read – Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

So now we have the paradox. If I wager more money I am taking more risk and may lose more, but if I don’t wager enough money I may be costing myself money because I am not capitalizing on my rolls. What to do? The answer is coming. Read on…

"AlamoTx" wrote: March 26, 27 and 28.

If anybody has some schemes they use for getting up on the numbers quickly and relatively safely, I’d like to hear it…I like to make two come bets with full odds and begin to spread out when wins in my rack equal the two bets on the layout. Safe, but doesn’t get a lot of numbers in play unless you win quickly and have a 15+ hand.

Alamo

First I need to say I do not believe the way to be successful is by making a killing on the big hands. While it is exciting and a lot of fun to have a huge roll, that is not the bread and butter of our game. You need to be able to consistently have rolls in the 12 – 19 range and make your profit off those rolls. Consistency is the name of the game along with protecting your bankroll on the short rolls. I wrote an article which appears on the public GTC website and a post that is in the wisdom pages that explains my position on that subject. I will put the links to those two commentaries at the end of this post.

But to answer your original question you may want to consider the following ideas. I like come betting for the vast majority of GTC players. It provides an element of safety against quick seven outs since you do not have your entire initial amount at risk up on the table for at least three rolls and probably an average of around five to seven rolls. By holding at 3 numbers, one of your bets comes down when you make one of your numbers and you then have to put up a new come bet to get back up to 3 numbers again. If you seven out at that point you once again save money because you only have 2 numbers in play and collect on the last come. So holding at 3 numbers until you have a sufficient profit to spread out provides another element of safety. I view it as an extension of the five count which is designed to protect our bankroll so we can stay in the game for the long rolls.

However, as you have pointed out this sometimes prevents us from getting up on the numbers when we are not hitting the first 3 numbers we threw which is where our money is wagered. In order to overcome this you must give up some element of safety. It is not possible to put more money on the table without putting yourself at greater risk. Yet, I do understand the frustration of establishing 3 numbers and then throwing the other 3 numbers without collecting anything. That too can get in your head at the table and disrupt your concentration and focus. To solve this I would recommend one of two solutions depending on your knowledge of your own game and tolerance for risk. Those are decisions you will have to make for yourself based on where you think you fit.

The safer of the two solutions is to go to 4 numbers and hold there instead of holding at 3 numbers. You will need to get more hits to cover your initial spread and make a profit but with 4 numbers in play you are more likely to get continuous hits without coming down. This way you are more likely to collect on every number you repeat.

The more risky solution is to make continuous come bets without holding after establishing 3 or 4 numbers. Keep making come bets so that you cover all the numbers and that way every number you repeat will be an "off and on". Obviously you will need more hits to cover your spread and make a profit.

OK, I just thought of another possibility so this will make three potential solutions. Hold at 3 numbers until you get a single hit on one of your numbers. After that first hit go to 4 numbers and hold until you get a second hit. At that point go to 5 numbers until you get a third hit. After the third hit you can go to 6 numbers and make continuous come bets from that point forward. A more risky solution is to make continuous come bets after your second hit instead of the third.

The advantage of this third solution is you never have more at risk than 3 numbers even though you may have 4, 5 or 6 numbers in play. Since you only spread out after a hit the 4th number is paid for by the first hit, the 5th and/or 6th number is paid for by the second hit. Thus with 6 numbers in play you are risking winnings to bet the 4th, 5th and 6th numbers.

I have employed all three of these solutions on myself and I usually use one of them depending on how I feel about my game at that moment. When I am first starting out I generally hold at 3 or 4 numbers because I am cold and do not want to put too much at risk until I get the feel of the table. But once I have a hit I am willing to put it back into play if I feel decent about my throw at that point. If I am still unsure, I may hold at 3 or 4 numbers until I have more hits.

I tend to be pretty aggressive on myself, so I usually use my second or third solution when I am shooting. I tend to only use my first solution on my first toss on a new table. But if the throw looks and feels good I may change my decision even on my first toss. I find it is rare for me to get up on 5 numbers without making any collections. Once I have 4 numbers in play, I usually get a single hit before having to hold. It gets a bit scary when I do get up to 5 or even 6 numbers without any hits. As I said that hardly ever happens to me. If you find it happening to you too often, then maybe you would need to readjust your thinking about getting up on more numbers quickly. If that becomes the case, you should probably go back to a safer strategy.

I hope this helps answer your question. You definitely have to know yourself in order to know what will work best for you. I know Alamo Tx is an experienced and skilled shooter. I would not recommend any of these methods for someone who is just starting out. These are advanced betting methods that should only be tried by those who can tolerate the risk and are skilled enough to make them work. You need to be able to roll in the 10+ range fairly consistently to use these methods.

Here are the links to the two compositions I discussed at the beginning of this post:

Click here to read – Make your money on the 10+ to 20+ rolls

Click here to read – How much should I be winning at the tables?

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