The pass line and don't pass bettors are given another option once the shooter has established his point. They are allowed to place a bet behind their pass line or don't pass bet called an odds bet. The odds bets can be the same amount as the pass line (single odds), twice the amount of the pass line (double odds or 2 x odds), three times the amount of the pass line (triple odds of 3 x odds), five times the amount of the pass line (five-times odds or 5 x odds) and so on. Some casinos offer 10 x odds, some offer 20 x odds, and Binions Horseshoe in Las Vegas and casinos in Mississippi and elsewhere have occasionally offered 100 x odds.

Is the odds bet a good one? Yes, it's one of the best bets in the house because the casino has no edge on it whatsoever. Nor does the player. If played until eternity, the odds bets would break even for both the player and the house. It is therefore called a fair game. The casino pays off a winning odds bet based on the true odds of that wager.

There are some flaws in using blackjack hands as a hand selection rule, but the flaws aren't major. You won't be playing many hands using this rule, and that gives you plenty of opportunity to make observations about the game during your first hour or two of play. At that point you can use the information that you've gathered about the game and the suggestions in the tables to make modifications in your hand selection. Once you've gotten some experience, you can make some modifications to this simple approach.