Craps Bets: Hardway Bets and Proposition Bets
Craps experts always tell you that the best wagers in the game are also the simplest: pass line, don't pass line, free odds and come wagers. But always using these bets can make craps boring after a while. If you want to try something different, check out two different craps bets listed in this article: hardway bets and proposition bets.
Advanced Craps Bets: Hardway Craps Bets
These are the "double" bets. A craps player uses the hardway bet to bet that the dice will both yield the same number, such as 2-2 or 4-4. One calls the total of these numbers, not their single values, so 2-2 is really a bet on 4 and 4-4 a bet on 8. These are called hardway bets because one wagers on "hard" totals instead of "soft." A 3-3 is the hard 6; a 4-2 is a soft 6.
The only possible hardway bets are:
Hard 4 = 2-2 Hard 6 = 3-3 Hard 8 = 4-4 Hard 10 = 5-5
The doubles 1-1 and 6-6 do not qualify as hard bets. Why? Because they are necessary to make the numbers 2 and 12 for the other bets; neither of these totals can be made by other dice combinations.
You win a hardway bet if the hard total you bet on comes before either a 7 or the soft equivalent.
Because the odds against hardway bets occurring are great, the payoffs are larger than for pass line and other such bets.
Advanced Craps Bets: Proposition Bets
Proposition bets are familiar to sports bettors are future bets. In craps, it means wagering on the outcome of the next roll, not the current one. So you might as well think of proposition bets as "advanced" bets.
Types of proposition bets include:
Any 7 = Bet that the next throw will produce 7 Snake Eyes = Next result will be 2, that is 1-1 Yo Eleven = A proposition bet on 11 Any 3 = A proposition bet on number 3 Any Craps = A wager on the craps figures 2, 3, 12 Midnight = Slang for a proposition bet on 12 Horn = A bet on 2, 3, 11, 12 combined
Now here is a table of proposition bets and their respective house advantages. Payoffs vary.
Any 7 = 16.67% Any 3 = 11.11% Any Craps = 11.11% Snake Eyes = 13.89% Midnight = 13,89% Horn Bet = 12.50% Yo Eleven = 11.11%
Proposition bets and hardway bets have a higher house advantage than bets like pass line and don't pass line. But if you want to gamble for bigger payoffs and bigger thrills, try these on the next (and next to the next) rolls.