Famous last words: Hardways and Sbobet
What are your thoughts of betting a Hard 8 alongside a pass line wager if the point is 6? Clint R.
Hey, Clint, ya really want to lose your hard-earned money in such a race to the brink? You will with hardways wagers, and here is why. A pass line bet, with no odds, has a house advantage of 1.4%. With a $5 wager and 50 playing decisions per hour, your theoretical loss (all bets lose over time) is $5 X 50 X 0.014, or $3.50 per hour. Reasonably cheap entertainment, right? In contrast, the hard six or eight wager on a crap game has a house advantage of 9.1%. The damage to your bankroll would be $5 X 50 X 0.091, or $22.75 per hour. If you feel the need to wager the kinfolk 8 with your example of the 6, place the 8 instead. The house edge is only 1.5%.
Dear Mark,
When “placing” the 4 on a crap game, a dealer recommended I “buy” the bet instead. He said it is a better wager for the player, not the house. Was he correct? Donnie G.
When you “buy” a wager in craps, you give the house a 5% commission in order to be paid correct odds for that bet. So was the dealer right? Yeah, you got the straight scoop, but, readers of this column only wager on crap games having a less-than-2% house edge. A buy bet on the 4 or 10 only reduces the house edge from 6.67% to 4%. That ain’t no 2%, friend, more like a dollar doing 60 mph in a 30 zone.
Dear Mark,
This may seem trivial, but I do have a small wager on crap terminology with one of my gambling buddies. When the dice “pass,” doesn’t that mean the seven has rolled and the next shooter now takes possession of the dice? Harold T.
Technically, Harold, in crap chatter, “pass” does NOT mean that the dice are passed to the next player after a seven shows. You are partly correct in that control of the Sbobet dice is transferred (“passed” in your way of thinking) when the shooter “sevens out,” but in dice phraseology, “pass” actually means something different, and proudly ambiguous. Ya see, dice are said to “pass” when the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on the come-out roll, and the dice don’t “pass” when the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12. If the come-out roll is a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number “sets the point”, and the shooter continues to toss the dice until the point number is rolled again, or the shooter “sevens out.” If the shooter rolls the point before rolling a seven, the dice “pass.” If the shooter rolls a 7, the dice don’t pass, but the shooter loses control of the dice.
I warned you, Harold, it was ambiguous, yes, but then it’s a college level Craps 102 question, so what can you expect?
Dear Mark,
Can the player call his odds Off at any time? Also, are come bet odds always Off on the come-out roll? Vic H.
Yep, Vic, to both of your questions. Odds bets can be called “off” by the player at any time, but are generally left on the layout until the bet is determined. Also, come odds bets are usually “off” on the come-out roll, unless the dealer agrees, on the player’s request, to have the odds bets “working.” Odds bets that are “off” on come wagers will be returned to the player if the line bet loses on the come-out roll.
Gambling thought of the week: “There are those who believe that sports betting is the ultimate something-for-nothing activity.” Dan Gordon