Iron Cross System
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?
In the oldest form of the Iron Cross System, two bets are made in conjunction with each other. The Field Bet and Place Bet are the two bets placed together in combination. It means that you win (some) of your money back on every roll of the dice except when a 7 is rolled.
Field Bets
A Field Bet can be made on every roll of the dice. A Field Bet wins when your dice shows a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12. You will lose a Field Bet if you roll any other number with your dice. Wins are paid out at even money (you double your money).
Place Bets
A Place Bet can be made on any roll of the dice as well. It is possible to make the bet on the 4,5,6,8,9,10. As you may have noticed though the 4, 9 and 10 are already covered by our Field Bet. That means that we only need to make the Field Bet on the 5, 6 and 8. If a 5 is rolled the payout is 5:8 and if a 6 or an 8 is rolled the payout is 4:5
How to Play the Iron Cross System
It is actually quite easy to play this system and there isn’t much to learn. All you have to do is make a Field Bet as well as Place Bets on the 5, 6 and 8. When your bets lose you simply replace them and keep playing. For example if a 5 is rolled you lose the Field Bet so you make another bet on that for the next roll of the dice. The other Place bets will remain unchanged.
Unbeatable Iron Cross
The Unbeatable Iron Cross System is one that draws a lot of attention because of the name. In actual fact though, this system is no better than the original version. The difference with the Unbeatable Iron Cross is that it “predicts” when a 7 is more likely to be rolled.
After the come out roll has been made and the point is established the Field and Place Bets are made. This means that you will effectively be betting with the Pass Line bettors because they are trying to avoid a 7 as well. When you win, they win, and vice versa.
You keep reloading your losing bets like you normally would in the Iron Cross System, but the difference occurs when the shooter wins. Because the shooter has rolled his point before he rolled a 7, a new round begins. Players using the Unbeatable Iron Cross will now stop reloading their bets. The reasoning behind this is that they “feel” that a 7 is now more likely to be rolled. Obviously there is no more chance if this happening that before, which is ultimately why the system is flawed.
Flaws with this Craps Betting System
There is a major problem that can’t be ignored when analyzing the Iron Cross. This system is a mixture of two different bets that both have mid-range house edges. What I mean by that is that the Field Bet has a house edge of 5.56%. The Place Bet on the 5 has a house edge of 4.00% and a Place Bet on the 6 or 8 has a house edge of 1.52%.
By combining these bets together the house still has an edge of 3.87%. Even though it might feel good to win more than 83% of the bets and win on every roll other than a 7, the casino still has a clear advantage
Why Play the Iron Cross System?
Well this is up to a matter of personal preference. It can be pretty enjoyable to have so many bets going on at the same time. When you have such a high winning rate it can also make you feel like at least you are winning something. Also, you have to remember that even though the house has an edge, you can still win. If you avoid that dreaded 7 the majority of the time you can still come out ahead. A 7 is only rolled 1/6 times so you will find that you will be winning a lot of bets (more than 83%).
Be careful though, because when that 7 does come you will lose all of the bets at once. Overall though, if you haven’t yet played this system it is well worth the look, even if it is just for educational purposes.
