I have to say right here and now, that I do not like playing Don't Pass, or any kind of Don't strategy. But sometimes, such a strategy is the correct thing to do, and where one can make money even if the dice are ice cold.

     Recently, I was watching a video from WagerMeThis, where Jacob was talking about a strategy where he plays the Don't Pass, but hedges it with a Yo bet, in such a way that if the Yo hits, it exactly pays for the lost Don't bet. It got me to thinking, that's fine, except for the fact that one can still lose with a come-out seven winner. This got me thinking about how I can incorporate a hedge on the comeout seven to accomplish about the same thing as Jacob's hedge on the yo. What I soon came up with, I call the Sweet Sixteen strategy.

     Now what is the Sweet Sixteen strategy? It involves on the come-out, putting one unit on the yo, hopping the sevens for three units, and twelve units on the Don't Pass bet, for a total of sixteen units. This way, if the 7 or the 11 comes on the come-out, that will exactly pay for the other bets on most tables.

     Then, after a point is established, you have the amount of the Don't bet minus the amount of the hedge bets to play with, in terms of maybe placing some of those bets. For example, on a five, ten, or fifteen-dollar table, you may want to use a $60 Don't Pass bet, a $5 Yo bet, and hop the Sevens for $15. Once a point is established, you have $40 to play with. On a $5 table, that is enough for 26 or 27 across. On a $10 table, that would cover 32 or 34 inside, for example. On a $15 table, for example, that would cover 18 each on both 6 and 8. For a $25 table, you may want to use $10 units instead of $5 units, so the Don't Pass bet would be $120, the hops would total $30, and the Yo bet would be $10. That would leave $80 to play with. You may want to do 30 each on the 6 and 8, or even 80 inside, for example.

     Advantages of this strategy: If you're on a cold table, and the shooters keep crapping out, you'll be either breaking even, or making at least a little money with this strategy. As the Dice Coach (Beau Parker) said, it's not about how much money you win, it's about how much money you don't lose. Also, if the table turns hot, and you have Place bets out there, you can capitalize on the shooter's hot roll (and if you're lucky, you can even pull down your Don't bet before the point is made).

     Of course, no craps strategy is without its flaws, and this strategy is no exception either. This strategy won't work on choppy tables. Plus, the bar roll on the come-out (on most tables, that is the 12) will lose the hedge bets, and the Don't bet will just push.

     The Sweet Sixteen strategy is flexible. For one, you can choose not to do any Place bets, and when the shooter craps out, you will make eight units for profit (of course, if the table becomes hot, it will be harder to capitalize on the roll). You may choose to only hop the Sevens as a hedge (in that case, I'd call that strategy the Quinceañera strategy, instead of the Sweet Sixteen strategy). If you want to make more Place bets than the Sweet Sixteen strategy by itself covers, you may want to make a Lay bet to cover the extra Place bets. It's totally up to you.

     I do not claim that this strategy is a cure-all strategy. I merely present this strategy as one more strategy, one more weapon to add to your arsenal of craps strategies. And a good craps player can never have too many strategies to use at the table. Good luck! ☺