Odds on Craps Hardways
Written March 15, 2008 by Jack Jones
In Craps, hard-way bets are very enticing to players. To win this bet, your number not only has to appear before the seven, it has to emerge with two dice showing the same number. For example, if you are betting a hard six, it must be a pair only (3-3) in order for you to win your wager. If it shows as a 4-2, 2-4, 5-1, 1-5, or if the seven rolls, you lose.
Sticking with the six as an example, the correct odds on making the six is 10 to 1, calculated as four easy ways of making the six (4-2, 2-4, 5-1, 1-5) plus, six ways of making a seven (1-6, 6-1, 5-2, 2-5, 4-3, 3-4), totaling 10, divided by the one way of making a hard six (3-3). Thus, if there are ten ways to lose, and one way to win, there is your 10 to 1.
Though the true odds of a hard six or eight materializing are 10 to one, I’m sorry to say your friendly casino is only going to pay you a paltry 9 to 1, giving them a 9.1% edge on either the hard-way six or eight.
Now you know why they are called “hard-ways.”
