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Be smart, play smart, learn how to play casino craps the right way!

Any Craps is a one-roll bet that wins if a craps (i.e., 2, 3, or 12) shows on the next roll, and loses if any other number shows. The minimum bet amount is the value of the lowest-denomination chip in play, usually $1. The payoff is 7:1, so you can bet any amount to get the full payoff odds.

The Any Craps box is located in the center of the table and typically controlled by the stickman, so keep your hands off. When you have the stickman’s attention, gently toss your chips to an open area near the center of the table and say, “Any Craps, please.” Aim for an empty spot so your chip doesn’t mess up other chips on the table.

Depending on the casino, the layout may have a box in the proposition area (i.e., center of the table) labeled “Any Craps,” or 16 small circles next to the proposition area, each containing the letter “C,” or both. The dealer places your Any Craps bet either in the box or in one of the little “C” circles. You might think, “Why are there 16 little Any Craps circles but only one Any Craps box?” Good question, but like everything else in craps, the answer is easy. The Any Craps box is big enough to hold all bets if everyone at the table makes the bet at the same time, but the little “C” circles are only big enough to hold one bet. Eight players can play on each side of the table. So, there are eight circles for eight players on each side of the table. If the casino’s layout uses little circles instead of an Any Craps box, the dealer places your Any Craps bet in the little circle that corresponds to your table position.

The Any Craps bet is sometimes called “Crap Check” when it’s used to hedge the Flat Pass Line bet. For example, if a player makes a Flat $10 Pass Line bet, he might toss in a $1 chip for a Crap Check to “protect” the Pass Line bet on the come-out roll. On the come-out, if the shooter rolls a craps, the player loses his $10 Flat Pass Line bet, but wins $7 for his Crap Check.

Now you know! Remember, learn how to play casino craps the right way.

Tiger Woods

Between us sending the survey to the LET and the players getting the opportunity to answer it something hit the fan – and it wasn’t a wild Tiger tee shot.

The players responded in the first week of the controversy and reaction to those early scandals was mixed. Clearly, when we asked if players preferred Woods or Mickelson, some were having doubts.

“Mickelson,” said one player. “Or haven’t you read the news lately?”

“Right now it is Mickelson ha ha,” wrote another before qualifying with a statement that seemed to sum the general feeling up. “No, still Woods even though I’m very disappointed.”

Tiger remained more popular with nearly two thirds of the vote but, three weeks on, with more scandal having emerged ( Bests of Decade in Golf (I)) , it would be interesting to ask the question again and see if those numbers flipped over in favour of Mickelson.

Sexism in golf

According to research the only growth area in club memberships is amongst young women and yet golf clubs still operate 19th century policies. It’s absurd: who would you rather play golf with or sit next to in a clubhouse bar? Someone who likes golf (their sex is irrelevant) or a mad man (or even sad man) who is prejudiced against half the human race?

So how do Europe’s finest lady golfers view the golfing gender gap?

The general feeling is that the professional game is slightly less sexist than club golf. “Too many courses are still in the dark ages,” wrote one player.

Another player drew an interesting comparison with tennis: “The difference in prize money shows how sexist it is. We play the same amount of rounds as the men in most tournaments. In tennis they play best of three and get nearly the same as men.”

The marketing of ladies golf

When we asked the players to get creative and suggest improvements for the promotion of the game the biggest cry was for improved television coverage.

In terms of competing in a men’s event 1 in 4 respondents have or would consider playing (“it would be an amazing experience”), but they were keen to qualify under what circumstances. “Only as a one-off”, said one and, “not unless it was co-sanctioned with ALL the professionals,” said another.

In a slightly more frivolous vein we asked what music the players would play on the first tee if it were permitted (as Aussie player Anna Rawson suggested it should). If it ever happens be prepared for lots of Black Eyed Peas and Coldplay.

Golf in the Olympics

What is the ultimate prize: Olympic Gold, the US Open or the British Open? Unsurprisingly the British Open was a convincing winner (57%) but the lure of gold in 2016 was greater than we expected with 20% wanting the medal ahead of the two Opens and a further 17% keen to grab all three.

Asked which athlete they would most like to accidentally-on-purpose bump into in the athletes’ village there was a suitably runaway winner, the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

The alignment issue

Should the alignment of players by caddies be banned, we asked, drawing some excellent (and admirably honest) responses.

“If a professional golfer can’t line themselves up they shouldn’t be there,” was a typical statement, with one player adding: “it makes players so SLOWWWWW.”

To counter that, 55% of players didn’t want to ban it and one player wrote:

“I am VERY partial to that.”

Tour questions

We can reveal that Becky Brewerton is the ball-striker most admired by her peers. Diana Luna’s short game and Rebecca Hudson’s putting skills are also envied, but neither swept the board in the overwhelming fashion Brewerton did.

Talking of fashion, Beatriz Recari was voted “best dressed off the course” with Paula Marti and Rebecca Coakley sharing the “on the course” vote.

Meanwhile England’s Melissa Reid was (unsurprisingly) the most common selection in the “best player yet to win on tour” category (although there were a few cheeky “me” answers).

We also asked if Michelle Wie will have won a major by the end of 2012. A hefty 83% think she will have but one player was unimpressed. “Sorry,” she candidly wrote, “couldn’t care less,” causing Golf365′s stats correspondent to cough tea all over his laptop (thank you).

Tour life

Finally what picture emerges of the LET golfers off the course?

Musically, in addition to the Black Eyed Peas and Coldplay, there were votes for Eminem, the Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce and Michael Jackson. Someone also likes the Lighthouse Family. Oh dear!

Most use social media with a tour average of 366 friends or followers on Facebook and/or Twitter (the tour highest is 1220).

They have a weakness for sunglasses and shoes (the items they admit to having spent most on for golf-course wear) and they prefer 24 and The X Factor to The Wire and The Apprentice.

However in the burning cultural issue of the year they remain a conservative bunch – only one in four prefers Lady Gaga to Madonna!

The only way they let us down was with their (very polite) reluctance to dish the dirt on the tour dodgiest movers on the dance floor.

Ten Amazing Moments of Decade in Golf (I)

Hollywood doesn’t want to admit it, but numerous studies have shown that children become more aggressive, angry and even sometimes violent when they are exposed to television violence and the results are seen almost immediately. Children’s minds are very impressionable and they learn by modeling the behaviors of those around them. Think of a baby learning to talk. The baby learns to talk by copying first sounds, then words and phrases and finally sentences. Children learn just about everything from watching the world around them and that includes what they watch on TV.

If they are watching television programs where violence is shown as the answer to every problem, they are more likely to react with anger, aggression and violence to the circumstances in real life. This is a very unhealthy pattern to begin as a child. Children need to be shown the proper way to deal with anger both in real life and on television. Many of the old-fashioned television programs did an excellent job of this. The main character almost always faces some sort of crises, makes the wrong choice and has to learn a lesson from it. Often the end of each program showed the parents talking to the child about how they could’ve handled the problem differently.

Does this mean that we should never let our children watch any programs with violence? It is something to consider, to be sure, but depending on their content and message, watching some of these programs together may provide the opportunity to talk about dealing with anger in more constructive ways. Having the opportunity to evaluate why the characters behaved the way they did and what the outcome could’ve been if they had made better choices may help your child to deal with angry feelings more effectively.

Television violence certainly affects children, but maybe not as much as our own behavior. Even more important than what our children are watching on TV is what they are watching in our own homes. It is important to model good behavior, including being able to admit when you are wrong and apologizing. Never expect a child to do something you don’t teach them to do through your actions. Actions not only speak louder than words, they teach far more effectively as well. Letting good behavior rule both in real life and on the television set will greatly increase your child’s ability to handle themselves appropriately.

Studies have definitely taught us that television violence affects our children. How much is too much? Certainly children should never watch violent programs that are intended for adults. Most of the time adults would be better off not watching them either, but the violence is too real and can cause not only aggressive and violent behavior, but depression and anxiety as well. Even children’s programs that focus on violence, such as Power Rangers, should be monitored and viewed with caution. If your child acts out after watching these programs, that is a good sign that they shouldn’t be watching them. Common sense needs to be the guide, but take the time to be aware of the connection between television violence and anger problems and using opportunities to communicate with your child can make all the difference.