Ever since my recent Lake Charles trip, I've been looking for strategies that will get me out of the hand (meaning get my bets paid for) the fastest, and at the same time, not totally cost me an arm and a leg to play. I dare say, I think I hit upon a pretty good strategy this time. I call it the 4X strategy.

     This strategy is a one-hit regression strategy. The basic idea behind it, is to place the 6 and the 8 for 4 times the minimum bet level, then when one of the numbers hit, regress down to half the bet sizes on the 6 and 8. Not only do you emerge with a small profit right off the bat after just one hit, but on your next hit, you can branch out to the 5 and 9 for the minimum, and have those bets already paid for (and if you're lucky to get a third hit on the 6 or the 8, the proceeds can be used on the 4 and 10).

     On a $5 table, you'd want to place the 6 and 8 with $24 each, then regress down to $12 each on that first hit. For a $10 table, your 6 and 8 would be $48 apiece, regressing down to $24 each on that first hit. On a $25 table, your 6 and 8 bets would be $120 apiece, regressing down to $60 each on the first hit. On a $15 table, you can get away with only placing $60 each on the 6 and 8, then regressing down to $30 each on the first hit. Or if you're a craps eccentric like I am, and I want to play with $20 units, you can get away with $90 Place bets on the 6 and 8, regressing the bets down to $42 or $48 on the first hit.

     The main advantages of this strategy are how quickly you can get out of the hand, and how quickly you can expand to the other bets, and press them up with subsequent hits. Main disadvantages of this strategy include, of course, an early seven-out before the initial hit, plus you're likely to run into a lot of non-productive rolls early on, since there's only 10 ways out of 36 to roll either a 6 or an 8. But hey, you only need one hit to get out of the hand, once you regress. You have a 10-6 chance of getting that one hit, as opposed to rolling a 7 first. That's a 62.5% of getting out of the hand. Plus it's less costly than many of the other one-hit regression strategies out there.

     Although the math is in your favor to get out of the hand, this strategy is not guaranteed either, for a string of early seven-outs can surely be costly. Best times to use this strategy are either when you think a 6 or an 8 is overdue to show up, or when you're dealing with a controlled shooter that rolls a lot of 6's and 8's. But as I said, even on random shooters, the math is in your favor to get out of the hand, so I think the strategy is worthwhile for that reason, if nothing else. Go ahead and try it out! Good luck! ☺