Hop bets at craps
I’ve seen many articles discussing house advantages on craps and how bad hop bets are. I don’t think I’ve ever seen what the house advantage is on hopping sevens, however. I am probably wrong but it seems like it would be low. If you bet all three combos for $1 each and hit one, it pays $15. That’s 5-1, and isn’t that the chances of rolling a seven? Could you please explain this to me? Thank you.
James
Hi James,
Many craps players are unaware of the math involved in the game of craps. Casinos thrive because of it. Before specifically answering your question, James, let’s look at the game in general.
The game of craps is quite different from other table games because of the variety of bets that are available. There are the boring pass and come bets along with their inverse don’t pass and don’t come bets. They are boring because it can take several rolls before a decision is reached, and when it is the payoff is relatively small. Depending on the size of the odds bet (paid at true odds) associated with the base portion of the bet, the house edge runs from well less than one percent to about 1.4% if there is no odds bet.
There are place and lay bets that can be changed at the bettor’s whim. These have higher house edges (from 1.52% to 6.67%) for the privilege. There is a “field” bet. This is a one roll bet that wins if a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 is thrown, but loses when any other number is thrown. Its house edge is 5.56%.
Then there is a large variety of bets that are held in the center of the table by the stickman. Most of these are one roll bets such as any craps (two, three or 12), yo (11), any seven, and hop bets (a one-roll bet that a specific number will appear on the next roll. Also, in this center area are hardway bets which pay if a “hard” point number consisting of two dice with the same number (2-2, 3-3, 4-4 or 5-5) is thrown before a seven or a “soft” combination (different numbers on the two dice totaling a four, six, eight or 10) is rolled. All of these bets carry a hefty house edge – from 9.09% to 16.67%.
Some craps tables have bets with names such as fire bet, all tall, all small and so on. These bets have the potential of a large payoff, but also carry house edges greater than 20%. Think about it. Over time, a player betting a 20% house edge bet will lose $20 for every $100 played.
Now, let’s look at the hopping sevens bet(s). You are right, James, when you say that the odds against rolling a seven are 5 to 1. On average, the seven will appear once every six rolls. Yes, you are paid 15 to 1 for your one winning hop bet of $1, but you lose the other $2. If you were paid 5 to 1 on your $3, you would win $15 and you could also remove your initial $3 bet making the total $18 – 18 for 3 or true odds. Instead you only have $16.
To calculate the house edge, take the $2 loss and divide it by the true odds win amount of 18 dollars: 2 / 18 = 0.1111 which is 11.11%. The house edge on all “two-way” hop bets (where there are two ways the dice can be thrown to win – example: 5-2 and 2-5) is 11.11%. This is not as bad as the 16.67% edge on the any seven bet, but you will still lose $11.11 for every $100 bet on hopping sevens long term.
Casinos are very good at making things appear better than they really are. How else could they make enough money to prosper?
Learn the math of the game and follow it in your playing and betting decisions. To have the best chance of being a winner at a session, bet only the lowest house edge bets – pass/come with odds or don’t pass/don’t come with odds. While this may be a boring method, your money will last longer betting this way.
May all your wins be swift and large and all your losses slow and small.
Jerry “Stickman”
Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the video poker section of "Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker!" You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerry@aol.com.
This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net.
Hop bets at craps
is republished from CasinoCityTimes.com.