What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps

Ah, the hops bet. It’s the stuff that dreams and big fish stories are made of.

1. What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Machine
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3. What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Machines
4. What Bet Has The Best Odds In Craps
5. What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Odds

What will help you decide which bets to make and in what combinations is knowing the payout and the house edge on any particular bet. The best scenario for an ideal craps strategy is a low house edge and higher payout, but there aren’t many like this. Usually the Field is not a good bet, but when the 2 or 12 is returning three to one, instead of the usual two to one, the house edge drops to 2.78 percent. There you have it, the 10 best bets at craps. For more information about craps, we recommend: Forever Craps by Frank Scoblete. Pass Line The most common craps bet. The Pass Line bet is made on the come out roll and wins if a 7 or 11 is rolled. If a 2, 3 or 12 is rolled the bet loses. Craps Odds bets are not only the best choice in this game with dice, but it is actually the best choice in any online casino game. Many people who play gambling online neglect Craps Odds bet because it is not easy to mark it on the virtual dice table, but you can still find it.

A single hop on an easy number and suddenly that little $10 bet is $150. Parlay that $160 into another bet, hit that parlay, and what was originally $10 is now $2400.

Some nights, this dream becomes a reality.

That’s why players love the hop bets. It’s one of the few ways where a player can take $100 and leave with $5000.

Some nights, the hops are just…hopping.

WHAT IS A HOP BET?

The simple explanation

For those who are not aware, first, an explanation of the hop bets.

In craps, a hop bet is a one roll bet where the player bets on what they think will appear on the next roll.

Hop bets are always one roll bets.

The rest of this article will go into the technical and detailed explanation of the hop bet. If you want the simple explanation, just skip to the bottom to the TL;DR part.

The technical and unsettled explanation of a hop bet

The technical definition of a hop bet is more debated.

There are some who would argue that, by definition, a hop bet must have either one combination (the hard hop) or two combinations (the easy hop).

For example, is the Big Red (Any 7) or the Any Craps bet considered a hop bet? There are those who would argue that those bets are not hop bets because there are six combinations to win the Big Red bet and four combinations to win the Any Craps bet, those are not hop bets.

Having said the above about the Big Red or Any Craps, if the player threw out $3 and said ‘hopping the sevens’, the dealer or stick would mark the ‘five two’, ‘thirty four’, and ‘sixty one’ combination (those are the most commonly used terms for each combination, as I have never heard the ‘sixty one’ referred to as the ‘sixteen’).

Typically, a hop bet will pay in the neighborhood of either 30 to 1 for hard hops and 15 to 1 for easy hops.

The Hard Hop

An example of one combination is any number where both dice must match exactly, such as ‘hopping hard 8’. If you are hopping hard 8, that means on the next roll, the dice must come up 4 + 4. This can be referred to as ‘hopping forty-four’ or ‘hopping hard 8’.

The payoff for a ‘hard hop’ is usually 30-1, although, this can vary from casino to casino.

Note that hopping a hard 8 is not the same as betting hard 8. When a player throws out a chip and says ‘hard 8’, the dealer will make the hard ways 8 bet, which pays 9-1. The hardways bet is a multi-roll bet and pays 9-1.

Advice:to avoid confusion, when players want to hop, my advice is to always say the word, ‘hopping’ in front of the bet. It would be very disappointing if your intention was to hop a hard 8, but you ended up winning a hard 8 bet instead.

A real-life story…a few months ago, I was standing next to a newbie craps player and he asked me how to bet the 8 that paid 30-1, as he had seen another player win $300 on a $10 bet. I knew he meant that he wanted to hop the hard 8, so I told him, to throw out his $10 and say, ‘hopping hard 8’. He threw out the chip and said, ‘hard 8’. I immediately tried to correct him and told him to say, ‘hopping hard 8’. He was confused but I told him, ‘if you want 30-1, you have to say, hopping hard 8’.

What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Machine

He hopped the hard 8 and a roll later, won $300. The ‘hard 8’ would have paid $90 (with the caveat that it’s a multi-roll bet).

Oh…I have this on a Real Craps Game video that will appear in the future.

The Easy Hop

An example of two combinations is any number where both dice can be different, such as hopping easy 8. There are two ways to hop and easy 8: 2+6 and 6+2 and also 3+5 and 5+3.

If you’re still learning hop bets, I know what you’re thinking. I said there are two ways to hop, but I just listed four combinations. That’s because the 2+6 and 6+2 counts as one bet, and the 3+5 and 5+3 counts as another bet. In craps parlance, the player can just combine the two numbers and refer to them as ‘twenty-six’ or ‘sixty-two’. Since the casino does not require the player to specify which individual die will have which number, the terms ‘ twenty-six’ and ‘sixty-two’ refer to the exact same thing.

Similarly, ‘thirty-five’ and ‘fifty-three’ refer to the latter easy 8 combination.

Note that if the player wants to bet an easy hop, the player must specify which easy hop he or she wants to bet. For example, there are two versions of the easy 8: the ‘twenty-six’ combination and the ‘thirty-five’ combination. So if the player wants to bet an easy 8, the player must specify which easy 8 the player wants.

The payoff for an easy hop bet is usually 15-1, although, this, too, can vary from casino to casino.

What numbers can be hopped?

The craps player can hop bet any number: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Some craps tables have areas marked specifically for hop bets, while some tables do not.

How to hop a number

To hop a number, simply toss out your bet to either the dealer or the stick person and say what combination you want to hop.

My advice is that if you want to hop, say the word, ‘hopping’ or ‘hop’ along with your bet. Otherwise, the dealer or stick person may mark another bet.

You may hop more than one combination. For example, if you threw out $3 and said ‘hopping all the sixes’, the dealer will mark the ‘twenty-four’, ‘fifty one’, and ‘thirty-three’ combinations. If one of those combinations roll, the payout will be dependent upon whether the easy or hard 6 rolled. If the easy 6 rolled, then the payout will be 15-1; whereas if the hard 6 rolled, the payout will be 30-1.

Note that if you win the hop bet, the dealer will pay and automatically leave your hop bet up for the next roll. If you do not want to automatically leave the bet up, you may request that the hop bet be taken down; in which case the dealer will return the hop bet to you.

Also, if you make multiple hops bets – such as the aforementioned $3 hopping all the sixes – on the payout, almost every casino will deduct, from your payout, the amount that it would cost to leave up your multiple bets. For example, if you bet $3 ‘hopping all the sixes’, and the next roll was a winning 5 + 1 roll, you would be entitled to a $15 payout. However, the dealer will only send you $13 because $2 will be taken away to pay for the losing ‘forty-two’ and ‘thirty-three’ combination.

Similarly, if the winning roll is 3 + 3, you would be entitled to $30, but the dealer will send you $28, after deducting $2 to pay for the ‘forty-two’ and ‘fifty-one’ on the next roll.

If you do not want the dealer to deduct the amount and pay for the next roll, just tell the dealer to not deduct the amount. An easy way to say it would be to say, ‘bring my hops down’ (said just like that).

This is an important nuance for bankroll management reasons.

TL;DR

A hop bet is a one roll bet that typically pays 15-1 or 30-1, depending on what the player is betting. Easy hops typically pay 15-1 are hops that have two winning combinations; while hard hops typically pay 30-1 and have one winning combination.

I say ‘typically’ because some casinos will pay 16-1 and 31-1. Note that 16 for 1 and 31 for 1 are the same as 15-1 and 30-1.

To make a hop bet, gently throw your chip to the stick person or dealer and say ‘hopping’ along with what you think will appear. If you make the bet early enough and before the dice are sent out, the dealer or stick will help the player by clarifying which hop the player wants.

That’s the hop bet in a nutshell.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below.

Posted in: Casino, Craps, Gambling

This is the 5^th post in a detailed series of posts about playing and winning at craps in the casino. In my last post, I talked about the best and the worst bets on the table.

Part 5 of 6

• 1 The Craps Dealers and Other Staff at the Dice Table: Who’s Who
• 2 How the Craps Table Layout Works and How the Dice Work
• 3 How to Play a Craps Game in a Casino
• 4 The Best and Worst Craps Bets You Can Make
• 6 How (and Why) to Act Like a Craps Player

But I didn’t spend a lot of time on “the worst bets.”

I just listed the 5 best bets and explained in detail how to make them and how the house edge worked for them. Then I flippantly pointed out that all the other bets at the table are worse, but the worst of all are the proposition bets in the middle of the table.

I stand by that, but I think you deserve more information about these other bets anyway.

And that’s the purpose of this post—to explain the other bets on the table. I thought the best way to organize this post would be to rank these other bets by house edge.

Place Bets

You can bet on certain numbers to place. Those numbers are:

• 4
• 5
• 6
• 8
• 9
• 10

If you’ve been paying attention to the other posts in this series, you’ll notice immediately that those are the same numbers that become points if rolled on the come out roll.

As with all the bets at the craps table besides the odds bet, a place bet pays off at less than the odds of winning. Here are the payout odds for each of the place bets:

• Place 4 and Place 10 pay off at 9 to 5 odds.
• Place 5 and Place 9 pay off at 7 to 5 odds.
• Place 6 and Place 8 pay off at 7 to 6 odds.

Of course, the probabilities on each of those are different. For the Place 4 or Place 10 bet, the odds are 2 to 1.

Let’s say you place 3 bets on Place 4, and you lose twice and win once, which is the statistical prediction. We’ll also assume you’re betting $100 each time. On the 2 losses, you lose $200. On the single win, you get paid off at 9 to 5 odds, which means you win $180. That’s a net less of $20 on those 3 bets, which makes the house edge for that bet 6.67%.

The odds of winning Place 5 or Place 9 are 3 to 2, but the payoff is 7 to 5. The house edge on that bet is 4%.

The best of the place bets is Place 6 or Place 8. The house edge on either of those bets is only 1.52%, making that bet almost as good as the pass line or don’t pass bet.

To make a place bet, you must wait until after the come out roll. These bets aren’t “working” on the come out roll. After that, though, you can make these place bets. Also, these place bets lose if the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the place number.

At any rate, from best to worst, here are the place bets along with the house edge for each:

• Place 6 or Place 8 – 1.52%
• Place 5 or Place 9 – 4%
• Place 4 or Place 10 – 6.67%

You can remove place bets at any time. You can also increase the amounts you have bet on them. Or you can decrease the amount. But you can only do this before a roll of the dice.

Buying 4 and/or Buying 10

The biggest edge of the Place bets is when you bet on Place 4 or Place 10, but you can reduce this edge in a simple way at most casinos. You do this by buying the 4 or the 10.

When you do this, you pay an immediate 5% commission on the bet, and if it wins, it pays off at 2 to 1 instead of at 9 to 5.

You want to bet $100 on Place 4 or Place 10. You tell the dealer you want to buy the 4, and you place the $100 wager with an additional $5 to “buy” it. The dealer will put a “buy” button next to your bet so he’ll know to pay you off at 2 to 1 instead of 9 to 5 if you win.

Most casinos don’t use coins anymore, so the minimum bet you can buy a 4 or 10 with is $20. The commission on that is $1.

The house edge when you buy 4 or buy 10 is still 4.76%, but that’s a huge improvement over 6.67%, It’s a 2% difference.

Like other place bets, you can add to, subtract from, or remove money from your buy 4 and buy 10 bets any time.

Lay Bets

You might have noticed by now that most craps bets have opposites, and place bets are no exception. The opposite of making a place bet is to lay a bet. This means to bet against a specific number coming up. The big difference between lay bets and place bets is that you must pay a 5% commission on a lay bet.

The house edge for lay bets is actually better than the house edge for place bets, although most people don’t make lay bets. Here are the actual percentages:

• Lay 4 or Lay 10 is 2.44%.
• Lay 5 or Lay 9 is 3.23%.
• Lay 6 or Lay 8 is 4%.

Another interesting thing about laying bets is that the house edge for the 4 or 10 is the lowest of these bets, which is the opposite of place bets, where those numbers have the highest house edge.

You can add to, subtract from, and remove lay bets anytime, too—just like with place bets. The dealers use a “buy” and a “lay” button to distinguish between the 2 kinds of bets.

The Field Bets

One of the biggest areas on the craps table is the area for the field bet. You’ll see 2 kinds of gamblers making field bets:

• Beginners
• System players

Beginners like the field bet because it looks like a good deal. After all, you win if any of the following numbers, you’ve won:

• 2
• 3
• 4
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12

Also, the field bet pays off immediately after every roll. New gamblers like that, too, because they’re often impatient.

The field bet is similar to an even money bet at the roulette table, only with better odds for the player.

The betting systems are dull when you’re making the other even money bets at the craps table—the pass/don’t pass and the come/don’t come bets.

To place a field bet, you put your money on the table in the area labeled “Field.” If ANY of the numbers listed above come up on the next roll, the bet pays off at even money.

But often the 2 and the 12 are circled, which means the field bet pays off double if that’s the total.

You can even find some casinos that pay 3 to 1 on a 2 or 12. Obviously, the house edge is lower on a game where one of these results pays off triple.

Also, the field bet is different from most of the other bets I’ve discussed because it’s a one roll bet. It’s resolved, win or lose, on the next roll of the dice. Most of the other bets I’ve discussed stay on the table until they’re resolved, which often takes multiple rolls.

The house edge on the field bet is 5.55% if both the 2 and 12 pay off at 2 to 1. If either the 2 or the 12 pays off at 3 to 1, the house edge drops to 2.77%.

I still think the house edge is too high on the field bet for it ever to be worthwhile to place this wager. I think you should stick with bets where the house edge is under 2%.

Big 6 and Big 8

The Big 6 and the Big 8 bets are the last of the bets you can place for yourself at either end of the table. All the rest of the craps bets I’ll discuss are proposition bets from the center of the table.

These are terrible bets, and usually anyone who knows anything about craps avoid both of them.

Here’s why:

A bet on Big 6 or Big 8 is a bet that the shooter will roll a 6 or 8 before rolling a 7. There are 5 ways to make a 6 (or an 8), and there are 6 ways to make a 7. So the odds are 6 to 5.

But since the Big 6 (or Big 8) bet pays off at even money, the house has a huge edge—9.09%.

This makes the Big 6 and the Big 8 bets the worst bets at the ends of the table.

But here’s what really makes the Big 6 or the Big 8 a lame bet.

You can place a Place 6 or a Place 8 bet and get a better pay off—for the exact same outcome.

If the house edge on the Big 6 or Big 8 is 9.09%, and the house edge on the Place 6 or Place 8 bet is 1.52%, why on earth would you ever place the Big 6 or Big 8?

Bets like this are sucker bets. Casinos shouldn’t offer them. I think they’re predatory.

But at the same time, it’s your job to educate yourself about what’s available and what the probabilities mean.

The Rest of the Bets Are the Proposition Bets in the Middle of the Table

In the 1^st post in this series, the one about the staff working the craps table, I point out that the stickman manages all the bets in the center of the table. To place any of these proposition bets, you give your chips to the dealer, who in turn gives them to the stickman to place on your behalf.

What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Tournament

You basically have 2 types of proposition bets you can place:

• One roll bets
• Hardways

One roll bets’ outcomes are determined (win or lose) by the next roll of the dice.

Hardways might take multiple rolls to determine an outcome.

All of these bets have a house edge far beyond what you should be willing to accept from a casino game. The stickman, if he’s good at his job, really “sells” these bets, though. Please—don’t fall for it.

When I describe the bets, their payoffs, and the house edge for each, you’ll understand why.

I’ll start with the one roll bets.

The Any Craps Bet – 11.1%

This is a bet that the next roll of the dice will result in a total of 2, 3, or 12.

The any craps bet pays off at 7 to 1.

The probability of winning, though, is 8 to 1.

You know how to do the math already, but the house edge is 11.1%. That’s twice the house edge of American roulette, which is another game you should skip.

Some gamblers bet “any craps” to hedge their bet. This is bad logic on the part of the craps player,

The 3 or 11 Bet – 11.1%

What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Machines

You have 2 ways to make a 3, and 2 ways to make an 11. This makes the probability of getting a 3 17 to 1. The same is true for a total of 11.

More generous casinos offer a 15 to 1 payoff for this bet, which makes the house edge 11.1%.

Some casinos have offered a 14 to 1 payoff for a bet on 3 (or a bet on 11), which has an even higher house eedge—16.67%.

The 2 or the 12 Bet – 13.89%

You can bet that the next roll will result in a 2. Or you can bet that the next roll will result in a 12. Either of these bets has a house edge of 13.89%.

The probability of getting a 2 is 35 to 1. There’s only one way to get that total, and 35 ways to get any other total. The same is true of getting a 12.

But the bet only pays off at 30 to 1.

As with all the bets in this section, you shouldn’t make either of these bets. The house edge is too high.

The Any Seven Bet – 16.67%

This is a one roll bet that the next roll of the dice will result in a total of 7. You have 5 to 1 odds of rolling a 7, but the bet only pays off at 4 to 1.

Again, doing the math is illustrative:

What Bet Has The Best Odds In Craps

You place 6 any seven bets, and you win 1 while losing the other 5. And you’re betting $100 each time.

You’ve lost $500 on the 5 bets you’ve lost, and you’ve won $400 on the one bet you won. Your net loss is $100.

That’s an average loss of $16.67 per bet, which is 16.67% of $100.

It’s one of the biggest sucker bets on the table. Skip it.

The Horn Bet – 11.1% to 16.67%

The horn bet is like a bigger, better any craps bet. It includes the 2, 3, and the 12, but it also throws in the 11 for good measure, so you have 4 totals which can make you a winner.

But the horn bet isn’t really one bet—it’s 4 bets. You’re actually placing an individual bet on each of those 4 totals. The payoff is lousy, of course, and depending on which total comes up, the house edge is between 11.1% and 16.67%.

It’s also a tricky way for the casino to get you to make 4 lousy bets instead of just one.

Now let’s talk about the hardway bets!

The hardway bets are multi-roll bets. Like the pass or don’t pass bet, or many other bets, it can take several rolls of the dice before a hardway bet is decided.

A hardway bet is a bet that a total will come up “the hard way” before the shooter rolls a 7, or before the total comes up “the easy way.”

What Is The Best Odds Bet In Craps Odds

What’s that mean?

A hard total is a total of 4, 6, 8, or 10 that comes up as doubles. For example, a hard total of 4 is one where both dice show a 2. (If the dice show a 1 and a 3, that’s not a hard way.)

The Hard 4 and Hard 10 Bets – 11.1%

There’s only one way to make a hard 4. You need a 2 on each of the dice.

But there are 6 ways to roll a 7.

And there are 2 ways to roll an easy 4.

So you have 8 ways to lose and one way to win, for odds of 8 to 1.

The bet only pays off at 7 to 1, though.

This makes for a house edge of 11.1%.

The Hard 6 and Hard 8 Bets – 9.09%

Normally, a total of 6 or a total of 8 is easier to roll.

But there’s still only one way to roll a hard total of 6 or a hard total of 8.

So the number of ways you could possibly lose increase, making this bet more of a longshot than a hard 4 or a hard 10.

You have 6 ways to roll a 7. And you can roll an easy 6 in 4 ways, which means you have 10 ways to lose and 1 way to win.

That gives you 10 to 1 odds.

As you probably guessed, the casino only pays 9 to 1 on this bet.

Let’s do the math on this one just for fun. You bet $100 on 11 rolls, and you lose 10 of them for a loss of $1000. You win 9 to 1 once, for a win of $900, giving you a $100 net loss.

Over 11 rolls, that’s an average loss per roll of $9.09, and the house edge is indeed 9.09%

What about Hop Bets? (16.67%)

A hop bet is a one roll bet on a hardway. This is a bet that the next roll of the dice will come up 4, 6, 8, or 10. (Choose one.)

The odds against any of these individual totals coming up the hard way are always 35 to 1. There’s only one way to get any specific pair when rolling 2 dice.

The bet pays off at 29 to 1. The house edge is 16.67% on this bet.

Some Final Thoughts about Proposition Bets

Many craps players make proposition bets as a way to protect their other bets from losing. For example, if you make a pass-line bet, you might also make an any craps bet.

Let’s say you try this. You bet $100 on the pass line, and you bet $20 on any craps.

• If the shooter rolls a 7 or an 11, you win $100 on the pass line and lose $20 on the any craps bet, for a net win of $80.
• If the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12, you lose $100 on the pass line, but you win $140 on the any craps bet, for a net win of $40.

This sounds like a can’t miss system initially, but it doesn’t take into account that 2/3 of the time, the shooter is going to set a point.

The casino loves to encourage these proposition bets, too. They’re very profitable, and part of the stickman’s job is to make money for the casino. The stickman will say things like “get down on that craps!”

Of course, after a point is set, the stickman starts encouraging players to make hardway bets. He’ll especially try to get people to bet on the point the hardway. If the point is 8, the stickman will call out, “Bet the hard 8!”

He also tries to encourage the dice to come out winners, but let’s face it.

The dice aren’t listening.

That’s a psychological ploy to make you think that the stickman is on your side.

Conclusion

The only bets you should make at the craps table are the ones with a house edge of less than 2%. This limits you to the following bets:

• Pass
• Don’t pass
• Come
• Don’t come
• Free odds
• Place 6
• Place 8

ALL of the other bets at the table are sucker bets, ESPECIALLY the proposition bets in the center of the table.

If you stick with nothing but the bets I’ve listed, you’ll already be light years ahead of most novice craps players—especially if you take the maximum amount of action on the free odds bet.