Heavy's Axis Power Craps Forum

Hey, y’all! So, my 20 year craps journey consisted primarily of playing darkside. I’ve converted to light side these days as I now have a much better understanding of proper light side play as well as becoming a better shooter. With that said, I played a ton of darkside throughout the years often with much success. It took me some time to get things dialed in and learn some tough lessons, but once I got there it was game on! I’m sure these things have been discussed already, but I just wanted to share how I played, and what I believe to be key points that lead to playing darkside successfully that I learned along the way.

How I played: I played a very basic game. It was a dp and one dc both with enough odds to win even money. If my dp got picked off on the comeout, I would wait until a point and then make 2 dc bets both with odds. If both bets won, I would go up a unit and keep pressing them a unit after every win. If one or both get picked off with the odds on them, then regress back to base and start over. If the shooter picks off both bets, never replace them! Just wait for the next shooter. That’s it! Simple. The key lies in the next section.

Lessons learned and keys to success:
1.) Your sessions will typically be very short. The death of a darkside player is hanging around too long trying to battle through hot shooters and play long sessions. Get in, make that money when the gettin’s good and get gone the SECOND the table starts getting hot.
2.) Do not chase losses and keep trying to replace bets that get picked off. You have 2 bets per shooter. Win or lose, that’s it!! Trying to battle through a hot shooter is bankroll suicide. Know when to give up and wait. This is critical!
3.) Do not shoot the dice!!!!!!! Take it from me. There’s nothing more embarrassing and humiliating than shooting from the don’t and going on a heater. Been there, done that! You will get laughed at and made fun of. It’s awful! Spare yourself the humiliation and just pass ‘em.
4.) Try as much as possible to get the spots closest to the dealers. This is for two reasons. One is to hide out from all the Salty McGrumbleys that get all pissy because you’re “betting against them”. The other is because the DC is gonna be a big part of your betting. Being close to it makes it easy for you.
5.). Be very aggressive with your betting. Cold spurts come in short intervals typically. You want to capitalize as much as possible in those moments. I personally would just press a unit at a time, but I’ve been known to do the occasional double parlay. Whatever it is, just be aggressive.

I’m not here to say that this is THE way to play. This is just my personal experience and it served me well for quite some time. I hope y’all found this helpful!

KevtheCarpenter wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 7:57 pm
4.) Try as much as possible to get the spots closest to the dealers. This is for two reasons. One is to hide out from all the Salty McGrumbleys that get all pissy because you’re “betting against them”. The other is because the DC is gonna be a big part of your betting. Being close to it makes it easy for you.

KTC...

Good points all..I believe that you will find that the overall view here is to learn and play both sides of the game. Personally, I am deficient on the dark side...Partly for the reasons you stated above...Partly because I just love the right side. I love going through the presses...The gambler in me.

What I have noticed lately is that there is much less animosity toward dark side bettors..It opens up more 'hybrid' types of betting. ie, OHCM. I have been experimenting with other types of hybrid strategies lately. It may develope into betting while waiting for the dice to return. All this being said, I do have a tendancy to roll my eyes when a dark sider chooses to shoot the dice on a busy table.

Memo

There’s a guy at my local who buys in for 5k and does nothing but bet a $25 dp and $25 dc both with max (10x) odds and he shoots the dice every time. Boy have I seen that guy just obliterate himself sometimes. Again, this is why it is not wise to shoot the dice from the Don’t.

I seen that guy just obliterate himself sometimes. Again, this is why it is not wise to shoot the dice from the Don’t.

$5 Bill has much experience with this. Over several months he will grind his bankroll up from a few hundred up into the thousands both betting on others and shooting from the Don'ts. Then out of the blue he'll catch a monster hand and hit the full ATS and kill himself on the dark side. His saving grace is that the locals up there know him and often toss him a black chip or two when he hits the ATS but kills himself on the Don'ts. That said . . .

A few years back we did a Right or Wrong weekend in Vegas where everyone was tasked with tracking their wins and losses every session throughout the weekend (honor system, of course). The fellow who won the most money over the course of that weekend was a dark side player who went to the Four Queens every morning before class and played the Don'ts, including shooting from the Don'ts, every morning for a couple of hours - mostly green chip action with max odds. He's set a point and seven out - over and over and over. And since the table was pretty much empty at that property at that hour of the day, the dice came right back to him. No heat, because the casino didn't recognize what he was having as a "hot" hand.

It's entirely possible to play profitable shooting from the Don'ts if you know your dice sets and which ones to use to set the hard numbers (four and ten) and which ones you should use to seven out that offer the least chance of bouncing into a four or ten. That's where BoneTracker comes in.

My favorite Don't play on a $15 table would be something like a $20 DP followed by a $15 DC. That gives me $35 action. I would not lay odds unless I got knocked off either number. If that happened, I'd lay enough odds to recover the loss of the number that got knocked off. For example, if the $20 DP was established on the Nine and I got knocked off of the $15 wager on the Six, I'd lay $30 on the Nine in an effort to recover the $15 (plus an additional $5 because $30 lay wins $20) on the Nine.

I do agree that the exception to that rule is if you’re a skilled shooter and know your sets. In that case, shoot from the Don’t all day! But, people like me who haven’t escaped random zone yet probably should take heed. I do want to make it one of my goals to master the art of playing the don’t as a DI and like that guy you described find a table that’s empty and go to town.

Just for "shites & grins"
a shooter may place equal U$D value wagers ( DO/Do Not )
during off hours when said Dice Tosser has said "Dice Table" to their self.

An excellent DO NOT PRONE "Dice Table".....
===>"mightbe the dice table at the

Island View BEACH SIDE CASINO
GulfPort
Mississippi ( typically open 5:00 P M to 9:00 PM) South side of HWY 90 ( aka: Beach Blvd)*
It typically is an " ICE BERG "

H O W V E R on rare occasions someone tosses a HEATER on it.
Generally the crew stands around a full shift with F E W players or even Z E R O players.
* ( The Heritage Island View ( older facility /North side of Beach Blvd ( Hwy 90))
has TWO CRAPS TABLES that on occasion folks toss (MEGA HOT HANDS)
If you visit the Ms Gulf-coast joints ...& wish to practice D A R K Side GAMING)
give THE "I C E C U B E" consideration.....

just me saying

w c

as a darksider myself i agree with 100%

KtC,

Thanks for sharing. I played similar to you. $10 DP with one $10 DC. Had to shoot though as I had the table to myself. Left the table up 15%, not quite my goal of 20%. Had bets for the dealers along with mine and we had fun for 45 minutes I played.