Iron Mike: Iron Cross, a craps strategy

How Iron Mike plays

On the come-out, Mike bets the Pass Line and the Field.

Once a point is set, he places the 5, 6 and 8 and keeps betting the Field every roll. The Field covers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12, and the Place bets cover 5, 6 and 8, so every total except 7 pays him something.

Why people like it

It feels unbeatable. Eleven totals out of twelve are winners, and Mike collects on almost every roll.

The catch

It isn’t unbeatable. When a 5, 6 or 8 rolls, the Place bet wins but the Field loses, so the net is small. And the 7, the most likely roll of all, takes everything. The Field alone costs 2.78%, and covering more numbers doesn’t make any of the edges go away.

The bets

Every bet Iron Mike makes and its house edge
Bet	House edge
Pass Line	1.41%
Field	2.78%
Place 5	4.00%
Place 6	1.52%
Place 8	1.52%

The share of each bet the house keeps over the long run. Odds bets pay true odds, so they have none. How house edge works.

A sample hand

One shooter's hand at a $10 table with 3-4-5 odds. Every regular plays the same dice, so you can compare them. These are the bets Iron Mike really makes: the table's own bot and payout rules played it. Play money.

Iron Mike's bets and results, roll by roll, in play money
Roll	Iron Mike bets	What happens	Roll result
32Come-out	Pass Line $10 · Field $10	Five, no field five. The point is five, mark it!Field loses $10	−$10
42Point 5	Place 6 $12 · Place 8 $12 · Field $10	Easy sixPlace 6 wins $14Field loses $10	+$4
44Point 5	Field $10	Eight, the hard way! Eighter from DecaturPlace 8 wins $14Field loses $10	+$4
54Point 5	Field $10	Nine, center field nineField wins $10	+$10
21Point 5	—	Craps three, ace-deuceField wins $10	+$10
41Point 5	—	Winner! Five, pay the line!Pass Line wins $10Field loses $10	—
65Come-out	Field $10	Yo-leven, front line winner!Pass Line wins $10Field wins $10	+$20
22Come-out	—	Four, the hard way! Little Joe from Kokomo. The point is four, mark it!Field wins $10	+$10
33Point 4	Place 5 $10	Six, the hard way!Place 6 wins $14Field loses $10	+$4
64Point 4	Field $10	Ten easyField wins $10	+$10
43Point 4	—	Seven out! Line away, pay the don'tsPass Line loses $10Place 6 loses $12Place 8 loses $12Place 5 loses $10Field loses $10	−$54
After the hand, counting chips still on the felt			+$8

On PlayCraps Live

This week−$52per 100 rolls · −$822 over 1,596 rolls

All time−$53per 100 rolls · −$25,105 over 47,651 rolls

Rolls won75%of the rolls that decided a bet, all time

Weeks on top0of 5 weeks played

Play money won or lost per 100 rolls at the table, each week Iron Mike played. Hover a bar for the week.

Best week: Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2026, −$41 per 100 rolls. Worst week: Oct 19 – 25, 2026, −$94 per 100 rolls.

All amounts are play money. See the whole table on the weekly leaderboard.

The honest part

Every bet Iron Mike makes has a house edge of 1.41% to 4.00%. A good week is luck. Over enough rolls, no strategy beats that edge: the cheaper ones just lose more slowly.

Play money only. No real-money gambling. Nothing is wagered or paid out.