The Craps Parity Hedge System
For the last decade, the Internet has been abuzz with rumors of a craps system that supposedly gives the player an advantage over the house. The so-called Parity Hedge System is said to have an extensive history, dating back to the 1970s and resulting in the mysterious disappearance of a high stakes gambler who had made huge profits playing the system. Unfortunately for anyone who might want to take advantage, the craps Parity Hedge System appears to be nothing more than a hoax and a gambling urban legend.
The main site propagating information on the Parity Hedge System is Quatloos, the name of which was derived from a fictional currency in an episode of Star Trek. Perhaps the first hint that this craps system isn’t on the level is that Quatloos is a site that acts as an archive of scams, not one that specializes in gambling.
Nonetheless, many people have spent a lot of time and effort trying to uncover the truth about the Parity Hedge System, so let’s talk about the supposed story behind it. According to the information on Quatloos, the system was developed by mathematicians at the Nevada Test Range who were happy just having discovered a winning system and satisfied themselves by winning small amounts of money and flying under the Las Vegas radar.
As time went on, some in the know hungered for greater profits. To that end, they found a Japanese businessman who was a known high stakes gambler, and taught him the Parity Hedge System. Over the course of a few gambling sessions in the 1970s, their whale took the Vegas casinos for millions. But before he could get away with his money, he disappeared, never to be heard from again. All that survived of the system were a few tapes of play using the system that Benny Binion collected, those casino employees who had seen it used, and the memories of those who invented the Parity Hedge System.
There’s also some limited information about the system presented along with the story. It is said to work on the same principles as monetary hedge funds. It supposedly uses many opposing bets that offset each other and minimize any potential losses due to bad luck, while leading to big wins when luck is on your side. You’ll need to have a deep understanding of mathematics and statistics to make it work, and keep an eye out to make sure the casino is paying you off correctly on all bets. The Parity Hedge System is said to work best on off hours when craps games are going at a slower pace. The whole system revolves around 11 key points that, once learned, provide everything you need to know to win.
No doubt about it: the Parity Hedge System sounds very enticing, if you are skilled enough to make it work. And there’s just enough there to make it sound plausible. How can we be sure it’s a hoax?
The first problem with the Parity Hedge System is one that applies to many gambling systems. No matter how you stack them, making multiple bets that each have a house edge will never, ever allow you to overcome the casino’s advantage. This, ironically, is actually a relatively simple mathematical concept that is impossible to get around. It’s a good thing to remember whenever you evaluate any craps system. Unless there’s an unusual situation where a specific bet has an edge against the house, you shouldn’t believe that any combination of bets is going to magically materialize an advantage for you.
The manner in which the Parity Hedge System is discussed is quite suspicious, too. There’s just enough detail to be enticing, but not enough to verify anything. The type of system described sounds like everything a casual gambler – but not one well versed in statistics, probability, or other math – would find enticing. It was made by math whizzes, couldn’t they outsmart the casino? And it’s super complicated, meaning you’d have to be pretty smart to make it work yourself. Low risk sounds great too, because who doesn’t like a nearly guaranteed win every time?
But, of course, there’s no additional information available on the craps Parity Hedge System to prove any of this. In fact, you won’t find any other sites online that provide independent information on the system; when it is mentioned, all roads lead back to Quatloos. And while Quatloos provides links to seven more articles that explain the Parity Hedge System in detail, these links only take you to a message that says their description of the craps system are no longer available due to an unexplained “dispute.”
In the end, it’s clear that the Parity Hedge System is nothing but an entertaining, well-written hoax that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. While it would be nice to think winning at craps is as simple as memorizing a few ideas and making the right combination of bets, the truth is that it’s never going to be that easy – and if it were, the casinos would just change the craps rules to overcome the advantage crafty players had found.
If you really want the best chance to win at craps, your best chance is to fully understand craps odds and make the best bets possible, like taking full odds behind the pass or don’t pass line. If you’re really looking for an advantage play, your best hope might be in craps dice control or a few forms of California Craps. But don’t get caught up in systems like the craps Parity Hedge System – myths like these might be fun, but they won’t help you win money at the craps table.
