Craps Part 5 - Hard Way Prop Bets

Michael: Alright Angela, now I'll guide you through the concept of hard way bets. Before I proceed, I want everyone to understand that these are generally poor choices. It's best to avoid them. I'm only sharing this for your knowledge, and honestly, it will be tough for me to watch you make these wagers.

Angela: Alright.

Dan: You’re likely to have a rough time at a standard craps table.

Michael: Indeed, we are that standard craps table. I can't help but chuckle as I watch people fall for these kinds of bets.

Dan: Typically, players would wager a dollar on the hard eight, and if they hit a hard eight, they refer to it as parlaying. Then, it grows to ten dollars, and if they hit again, it escalates to ninety dollars, all the way up to a hundred dollars. They’ll be ecstatic saying, 'Look at me, I turned a dollar into a hundred dollars!'.

Michael: Yes, and in all fairness -

Dan: It doesn’t happen too often.

Michael: I was going to point out that if you're aiming for a small wager that can lead to big winnings, then sucker bets might seem tempting. However, I still recommend that players stick with options that have a lower house edge. If you're eager for a significant win, consider parlaying your wins instead. This can also be achieved by pressing your bets. Anyway, let's proceed with some hard way bets, which are typically not placed on the pass line during the come out roll, so let's make our usual pass line bet for the come out roll.

Dan: Coming out. Sexy C, mark the six.

Question 1

Michael: Now, out of routine, let’s place 25 dollars on the odds and then set up our hard way bets. These are the four specific bets right here, each one standing alone. They will win if you roll the numbers four, six, eight, or ten in their hard ways. As mentioned earlier, the definition of hard way means you need to roll identical numbers. For instance, if you are betting on hard four, you need to roll two twos to win. A roll of one and three means you lose because that’s the easy way. So, with the hard four, two twos will secure a win, while one three or any seven will lead to a loss. Thus, winning is challenging, but if you do, it pays seven to one odds. You’ll see that the table lists eight for one odds, equivalent to seven for two. So, let’s place all of our hard way bets. For example, let’s wager five dollars on each bet, which means you would hand Dan twenty dollars and ask him, 'How would you phrase it, Dan?'

Dan: A nickel all the hard ways.

Michael: A nickel all the hard ways.

Dan: Precisely, I’m setting up the nickel on all the hard ways. If a hard six or hard eight is rolled, the stickman will announce, 'Bonus money, pay the lady 45 dollars.' If a hard four or hard ten comes out, he’ll say, 'Bonus money, pay the lady 35 dollars,' which reflects either seven for one or eight for one. But if an easy six comes up, the stickman will typically say, 'Six easy, no field; hard six is off,' and will collect all hard six bets upon rolling the easy six. That’s how it operates.

Michael: Okay let’s see what happens.

Dan: Eight easy, hard eight is down.

Michael: Angela, your hard way eight bet has unfortunately lost because you rolled it the easy way. Let’s make a new bet on the hard eight now.

Angela: Right, five on the hard eight.

Dan: Okay. Hard eight you got.

Angela: Hard eight

Dan: Your eleven.

Michael: Nothing happens with that.

Dan: Ten easy way.

Michael: Now let's roll and see if we can avoid losing another bet this time.

Dan: Hard ten is down.

Michael: Let’s place a new bet on the hard ten now.

Angela: I have a hard ten.

Dan: I have hard ten.

Michael: For our viewers, the etiquette when making hard way bets is to kindly toss them towards the designated hard bets area on the table. It’s frowned upon to place these bets yourself or to drop them in the come area. Doing so implies that you’re making a come bet or placing an order. Any of these prop bets should be tossed into the designated prop area.

Dan: Ideally, you should wait until you have the stickman’s attention. If he’s occupied tidying up something, wait until he’s done and checks for any new bets. Then you can say, 'Yes, give me a hard ten for five dollars' and throw it in.

And I believe this principle applies to all bets. During a roll, after dealers pay out winners and collect from losers, only then can you make your bets. Right?

Dan: Correct. The dice are positioned centrally, and they’ll announce, 'Any more bets, center action!' Center action refers to props like the hard way bets. You’d respond with, 'Yes, give me a ten-dollar hard ten' or 'a ten-dollar hard four,' and toss your chips in for the stickman to catch and set them up.

Michael: Now, let’s get back to our hard way bets.

Angela: Alright.

Dan: Five no field.

Michael: Nothing happens there.

Dan: Four easy.

Michael: Easy four.

Dan: Hard four is down.

Michael: Okay.

Angela: Five on hard four.

Dan: Five dollar hard four.

Nine center.

Michael: Nothing happens with that.

Dan: Seven out. Don’t worry.

Michael: Remember, a seven will cause all hard way bets to lose. Typically, players refrain from making hard way bets until a point has been established. So, let’s wait for that to happen.

Angela: Alright.

Dan: Four easy.

Michael: First, please place your odds bet of 15 dollars. How much would you like to wager on the hard ways?

Angela: I think I’ll go with a nickel on each, making it a total of 20 dollars on the hard ways.

Dan: Twenty dollars on the hard ways, five cents each for all of them, including the hard eight.

Michael: Great! Dan, could you tell us what our winnings would be?

Dan: Alright, so we pay the lady 45 dollars. Sometimes a player might say, 'parlay,' which means they want to take all the winnings and increase their bet, hoping that next time it hits, they win even more.

Michael: But we're not feeling that adventurous today. We’re more conservative, so let’s just keep our five dollars where it is and secure our winnings.

Dan: Better to take the profits while we can!

Michael: We still have our hard way bets active. Let’s aim for another win!

Angela: Alright.

Dan: Six the hard way.

Question 2

Angela: So, what do we get on the six?

Dan: The hard eight and hard six both pay nine to one, often phrased as ten for one, while the hard four and hard ten yield seven to one.

Michael: Okay let’s try again.

Dan: Four the hard way.

Michael: And how much do we win Dan?

Dan: Thirty-five.

Michael: Okay.

Question 3

Angela: But before I roll, can you explain why the hard six and hard eight have higher payouts than the hard four and hard ten?

Michael: That’s a great question. It’s because achieving a win on the hard six and hard eight is trickier. The presence of seven means you lose on all those rolls, but you also lose on all the easy combinations. For the hard eight, you’d lose with a three and a five, as well as a two and a six. So, there are two additional ways to lose. In contrast, with the hard four, you only have one extra losing option, which is the one and the three. Hence, because there are more ways to lose on the six and eight, the payout is higher when you do win.

Angela: Okay. Alright. Here we go.

Dan: Seven, seven

Michael: Alright, Angela, we’ve had a decent streak there. Just remember, these are sucker bets. I’m only detailing them for your enlightenment. The hard way bets carry a significant house edge, so I typically avoid them.

Angela: I think I will too.

Michael: Angela, there’s one more category of betting we need to cover: proposition bets. These are also sucker bets that you should typically steer clear of, and I find it challenging to discuss them. However, for educational purposes and to comprehensively cover the game of craps, let’s go over them. Proposition bets are all one-time bets; they either win or lose in a single roll. No rolling multiple times until something happens. The first I want to mention is the two – rolling a one and another one. Dan, can you highlight it with the stick?

Dan: Aces it’s called.

Michael: The game we're discussing is known as aces. You win if you get either two ones or two aces, and you lose with any other combination. This bet pays thirty-to-one, or thirty-one for one based on the table display. However, the fair odds are actually thirty-five-to-one, so the house has a significant advantage since we only receive thirty. The same goes for rolling box cars, or two sixes. You only have a one in thirty-six chance to win here, but if you do, it also pays thirty-to-one. Anything else will lead to a loss. When betting on three, your chances improve to two-in-thirty-six, and the payout is fifteen-to-one though fair odds stand at seventeen-to-one. The same probability and payout apply to rolling eleven; it has a one in eighteen success rate but pays only fifteen-to-one. If you bet on craps, you'll win if you roll a two, three, or twelve but lose on anything else, with a payout of seven-to-one. Betting on a seven, which is regarded as the least favorable bet, wins for any seven rolled, paying four-to-one, while the fair odds would be five-to-one, leading to a hefty house edge of 16.7%. There's also the horn bet, which essentially combines four different bets on the numbers two, three, eleven, and twelve. For example, if you bet four dollars on the horn, it's equivalent to making a one dollar wager on each of the other four numbers. The world bet, another combo bet, includes two, three, seven, eleven, or twelve. It functions like a horn bet but adds a seven into the mix, so minimum stakes should be in increments of five dollars. Different outcomes will provide varying payoffs, particularly if you hit the two or twelve.

Next, I want to go over the field bet. This bet is a proposition bet but stands out for being more favorable than most. It has a house edge of just 2.78%, which makes it considerably better in comparison to many other bets out there. This is a one-roll wager located right here on the table. You win even money on a roll of three, four, nine, ten, or eleven. If you roll a two, the payout is two to one, and rolling a twelve gives you a three to one payout. Let's go ahead and place a bet and see how it plays out.

Dan: You will typically hear the stick call out to pay the field or announce 'no field five,' let's find out what happens next.

[dice throw]

Dan: That\"s a nine, centerfield-

Michael: You win.

Dan: -pay the field.

Dan: The dealer will [pause] pay the field. And if you don't collect your winnings, they might say 'it plays where it lays,' which means you're essentially increasing your stakes.

[dice throw]

Dan: Rolling a six is easy, and there's no field bet for a six, and the dealer would--.

Michael: Right, so the field bet loses. It's as straightforward as that. However, I want to warn you about some of the lesser casinos that only pay two to one for a twelve. This adjustment doubles the house advantage to 5.56%. Therefore, for principled betting, I would advise against betting the field unless they pay three to one for a twelve. An interesting aspect of craps, particularly in Reno, is that instead of paying three to one for the twelve, they do so for the two and only offer two to one for the twelve. I can't explain why; things in Reno just tend to be a bit unconventional. I believe we've covered all the essentials now.

Question 4

Angela: I'd like to ask a few quick questions. What are the tipping customs at a craps table? I know it's customary to tip the dealers, but how exactly do I go about it and what amount is appropriate?

Michael: That's a great question. Here's my suggestion. If you're placing a pass line bet, say a $5 bet when the minimum is $5 as well, the tipping rules are different than the betting minimum; they don't apply as long as you're making a bet for yourself. So, consider adding an extra dollar as a tip for the dealer and place it next to your bet. Dan, does she need to verbally indicate this is a tip or is it usually understood?

Dan: If the main bet she’s placing meets the table’s minimum requirement, and then there’s another bet close to it that does not meet the minimum, it’s assumed that this extra bet is a tip for the dealer.

Michael: When you roll any point number, not only can you bet odds for yourself, but you can also place an odds bet for the dealer. It may come off as cheap if you neglect to do this, so keep in mind when you tip, you might want to keep that bet modest, especially because the odds bet is likely to be larger.

Dan: Why thank you.

Question 5

Michael: Many players typically tip dealers on less favorable bets. A common practice is referred to as 'two-way yo,' which means it's a $2 bet, $1 for the player and $1 for the dealers. I believe that most dealers would prefer if you tipped them more directly or on a bet like the pass line where the house edge is lower. What’s your take on this, Dan?

Dan: I completely agree. When someone places a dollar on a hard eight, it doesn’t have much of a chance to win, but if it does, the dealer appreciates it. However, when there are pass line bets, particularly those that come with odds, we know there’s a higher likelihood of winning, and naturally, we appreciate those tips more.

Question 6

Angela: I've heard some terms used in craps slang. A dealer friend told me that after my lesson, when I approach a table to play, I should be cautious about dealers potentially short-sticking me.

Michael: I'm a bit too shy to explain that, so I’ll let Dan tackle it instead.

[laughter]

Dan: [laughs] Alright. Short sticking refers to a situation where an attractive young lady approaches the table. Rather than properly handing the dice, the dealer only brings them partway, which forces her to lean forward, creating an awkward scenario. This behavior is considered disrespectful, but it isn’t something that happens often.

Angela: Oh, I can't imagine that ever happens! [sarcastically] --

[crosstalk]

Dan: Maybe not to you, but it does happen in certain places. If it occurs, just say 'Sir, don’t short stick me.'

Angela: [laughs]

Dan: Then he’ll bring the dice up properly, and trust me, he’ll feel embarrassed afterward.

Angela: I'm so glad I asked.

Michael: Suddenly I feel warm; someone, please adjust the air conditioning!

Angela: [laughs]

Written by: Michael Shackleford