The Iron Cross Craps
Way back in 2006 when I visited my first Las Vegas casino, I didn't actually realise it was going to be the first of many pilgrimages. I was awestruck by the sheer size of the casinos and the vibrant atmosphere that just carries you along until you hit exhaustion point or (speaking more as a slots player! The Iron Cross is a type of craps bet known as a combination wager. The player makes a place wager on the 5, 6, and 8. A place wager is one that bets these numbers will appear before a 7. Place wagers are made once after the point is set. The Iron Cross System is one of the oldest and most popular Craps betting strategies. Many Craps players implement it into their repertoire because it seemingly ‘wins most of the time.’ While it is true that most bets win, statistically the house still has an edge of 3.87% What is the Iron Cross System?
The Iron Cross craps system has been around for a long time. It’s more powerful now because many casinos pay double on a field bet for a pair of aces rolled (a two) and triple for boxcars (a twelve), compared to the even money they used to pay 50 years ago. These changes increase the total odds for field bets to 19 winners and 20 losers in 36 rolls on average, and give the house about a 2.78 % edge. The Iron Cross goes a step further, though.
This craps system involves more than just a bet in the field area; it also involves making a place bet on the 5, 6 and 8. This covers every combination on the dice except 7, since the field wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12. Seems like that should be an easy winner, right? Well, not exactly.
By making the field bet with place bets on 5, 6 and 8, every roll wins except 7, but that doesn’t mean the field bet doesn’t lose sometimes, since the field wager loses on 5, 6, 7 and 8 also. So while you are winning with place bets on 5, 6, and 8, you are also losing your field wager.
How to Play the Iron Cross Craps System
The Iron Cross system requires that you make a total of four wagers. To start, find a craps table with a low minimum so you can have some fun while checking out the system. If you can make a $5 field wager you should be able to make a place bet on the number 5 for $5. You’ll also want a place bet on both 6 and 8 for $6 each. Your total initial investment is $22.
If the shooter sevens-out, you lose the entire $22, but if the shooter rolls any other number, you make a profit! If the place bet numbers of 5, 6, or 8 roll, you lose your $5 wager in the field but win $7 on the place bet and you’re up $2. If a field number rolls, you win at least $5 (more on the 2 or 12) and your place bets are safe for the next roll, since they only lose when 7 rolls.
When the dice are choppy, meaning 7 is popping up every few rolls, the Iron Cross won’t make you much money, but when the dice a hot, you’re going to be a happy camper! And if the field numbers are especially hot, well, you’ll be dragging a lot of winning bets!
Iron Cross Craps Play
Overall, the Iron Cross craps system has a house edge of about 2.48%, which is higher than a simple pass line wager, but much lower than spewing bets across the layout, especially on proposition bets like the horn and hard-ways. And many players love the Iron Cross for this very reason, because it keeps them busy every roll, keeps them focused, and they aren’t likely to go broke too quickly on a bad night.
Whether you want to have your place bets working on the “come-out” roll (the first roll of a new hand) and also bet the field is up to you. The odds are exactly the same, but some players figure with a table full of people all rooting for “seven” on the come-out, maybe the Karma is better if they wait until a point is established.
The Iron Cross with a Twist
For action players, the Iron Cross is perfect, because you win or lose on every single roll of the dice! However, there are two variations of the Iron Cross that you might want to consider trying at the end of your play, after you have had your gambling “fix” for the evening.
Three and Done
The first variation is really simple. Since your real wins come with field numbers, you can look for that nice streak of three consecutive field rolls and then stop betting the field. Then, either pull your place bets and call it a night, or keep working your place bets until a seven-out rolls and then quit.
Press Till Done
The second variation is to start pressing your place bets as they roll. At this point, you’ll start with the same wager in the field, but when 5, 6 or 8 rolls, press the place wager. For instance, when the 5 rolls, you’ll press from $5 to $10 and add the $2 left over to your next field bet (so it is $7 now). If the 6 or 8 rolls, press to $12 and bet the extra $1 with your $5 in the field. Keep adding the extra payoff from your place wager press to the $5 you normally wager in the field.
Once you have pressed a total of three wagers, stop betting the field. No matter how you got to those three wagers, going up one unit on each of the 5, 6 and 8, or any combination, you no longer have anything to do with the field. You’re done there.
Now you must see one more roll and do one of three things. You can take your wagers (which now total at least $34) down and be done. Or, you can leave them where they are and keep taking down any payoffs until the shooter sevens-out and be done. Or, you can go wild!
Since you’ve probably made a profit already, this is a chance to have a big evening. If you want to risk what you have on the layout, keep pressing your place bets until you have at least three units on each. Always take the payoff from any three-unit place bet. Then keep playing until the shooter sevens-out or quit right then and there with a nice win. The Iron Cross strikes again!
Ever wonder how the Iron Cross Craps Strategy works? We did too, so we went ahead and contacted John Grochowski, the Casino Answer Man himself, to teach us how to use this craps strategy on our games. Let’s check it out:
Combination bets at Craps can’t change the math of the game, but they do change the dynamics. Take the Iron Cross, a favorite system of players looking for frequent wins. It’s an easy combination consisting of a bet on the field and place bets on 5, 6 and 8. Here is how the Iron Cross strategy works:
Craps 5 6 8 Field
Since the field is a one-roll bet that pays off on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12, the multi-roll place bets fill the gaps so that you have a winner with any roll except 7. Of the 36 possible rolls of two dice, there are 30 Iron Cross winners, and six loser 7s.
If the shooter rolls a field number, the place bets don’t lose. They either stay in action or you can take them down. If a the shooter rolls one of your place numbers, you lose on the field, but the other two place bets are there for you either to leave in action or take down.
Most field numbers pay even money but a winner 2 usually pays 2-1, and a winner 12 pays either 2-1 or 3-1, depending on house rules. Rarely, you’ll see the 3-1 pay on the 2 instead of the 12. The place bet on the 5 pays at 7-5 odds, and those on 6 and 8 pay at 7-6. Always bet in multiples of $6 on 6 and 8 so you can get those odds.
For a $5 bettor, the Iron Cross means an investment of $22 — $5 on the field, $5 on 5 and $6 each on 6 and 8. If the roll is any of the field numbers, you have a profit of $5, while you have profits of $2 with a win on any of the place bets — $7 in winnings minus the $5 loss on the field.
The bugaboo, of course, is the loser 7. Then all the bets lose at once.
Assuming a 3-1 payoff on the field on 12, the overall house edge per roll is 1.136 percent, the result of house edges per roll of 0.463 percent on 6 and 8, 1.111 percent on 5 and 2.778 percent on the field. If you assume the place bets are left in action until they either win or lose, then the overall edge is 2.369 percent, with component edges of 4 percent on 5 and 1.52 percent on 6 and 8.
Just as on any craps combination, the overall edge is a weighted average of all component wagers. The Iron Cross can’t overcome the house edge, but it does bring frequent wins.
John Grochowski
Modified Iron Cross Craps
John Grochowski is very well know gambling columnist and author. His work started as a weekly newspaper column at the Chicago Sun-Times and now he gladly shares his knowledge with Prism Casino Blog readers.