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Pssst...
Wanna know a secret? How about the secret of protecting your pass
line bet on the come out?
Many dealers will encourage you to make additional
hedge bets on craps numbers (2, 3 and 12) to protect your pass line
bet. You’ll always hear "any craps" bets called
whenever a new shooter is coming out.
Wanna know the secret that craps pros use to profit
on the come out?
Let’s find out!
Any craps is the most common hedge bet and pays
seven to one. This means that if you have a ten dollar pass line
bet and a $1 any craps bet, you’ll win $9 ($10 - $1) if the
7 (or 11) rolls, and lose only $3 ($10 passline - $7 any craps)
instead of $10 if the 2, 3, or 12 rolls.
It sounds okay, but let’s look at the numbers.
At the end of 36 rolls, you’ve invested $36 (36 x $1) in these
hedge bets. The 2, 3 or 12 will theoretically roll four times (once
each for the 2 and 12, and twice for the 3) in 36 rolls. So if you
win these craps bets four times, you’ve won $28 (4 x $7) and
spent $36 (36 x $1), giving you a $8 ($36-$28) loss.
You can also bet $2 ($1 each) Craps and Eleven (C&E).
Craps (2, 3, or 12) pays 7 to 1, while the eleven pays 15 to 1.
If the eleven rolls you win $24 ($10 passline + $15 eleven - $1
any craps). The seven will win you $8 ($10 passline - $2 C&E).
If the 2, 3 or 12 should roll, you’ll lose $4 (+$7 craps -
$1 eleven - $10 passline) instead of $10.
This time, though,
in 36 decisions, you’ve invested $72 (2 x $36) in hedge bets.
The 2 and 12 will have each rolled once, and the three and eleven
twice. You would make $7 on the 2 ($1 x 7), $14 on the 3 ($2 x 7),
$7 on the 12 ($1 x 7), and $30 on the eleven ($2 x 15). This totals
$58 ($7 + $14 + $7 + $30), but you’ve already invested $72,
so you have a $14 ($72-$58) loss. Another winner for
the house!
Finally, you can make a 3-way craps bet (on the
2, 3, and 12) for $3. This is different from the any craps bet because
the odds are higher -- 30 to 1 for the 2 and 12, and 15 to 1 for
the 3. So if the 2 or 12 roll you win $18 ($30 - $10 - $2) instead
of losing $10, and if the 3 rolls, you win $3 ($15 - $10 - $2) instead
of losing $10. This bet also means that you will win on the 7 and
11 (from your pass line bet) AND on the 2, 3, and 12 (from the 3-way
craps bet). In 36 rolls, however, this time you’ve invested
$108 ($3 x 36). The 2 and 12 will roll once, and the 3 twice. At
30 to 1, the 2 and 12 pay $30 each, for a total of $60. At 15 to
1, the 3 pays $30 ($2 x 15). You made $90 ($30 + $60) but spent
$108 for a loss of $18!
Unfortunately, as you can see, you can not profitably
protect a $10 pass line bet by hedging it with craps bets.
Some craps writers
have maintained that a craps hedge bet is only profitable with a
passline bet of $25 or more, with a $4 any craps bet. Let’s
look at the math. If you bet $4 any craps you’ll win $112,
which comes from $4 (bet) x 4 (number of times 2, 3, or 12 rolls)
x 7 (payoff). You’ll lose $144 ($4 x 36) resulting in a $32
loss. So, it’s still not a good bet. In fact it’s worse
than a $10 passline bet with a $1 any craps bet!
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