Gaming Guru

What's the Big Deal about Betting the Hardways?

Dear Frank:

I have a question on bets with big house edges, like the field bet, and the hardways, etc. If I am betting black on the passline (with 5x odds) and I play the hardways for five bucks, how is it that bad?

I mean the house edge on the passline for a $600 bet is 0.3 percent, which is two bucks, and the house edge for a hardway for five bucks is 11 percent or 55 cents, why is it so bad? Just a thought. Your comments would be appreciated.

Cheers!
Sachal

Dear Sachal:

Your $100 pass line bet with $500 in odds is a good bet. You will lose $1.41 cents on that bet, not two dollars. But that 55 cents on that five dollar hardway -- well let me answer this by way of analogy.

In Atlantic City, you can buy the 4 or 10 for $35, paying the one dollar vig up front. The house edge is 2.8 percent on this bet. However, if you put out $35 for the 4 and $35 for the 10 at the same time, the house will collect three dollars for the bets. Now, how big a deal is that one extra dollar? The casinos that do this are multi-million dollar businesses. How important is one single, stinking dollar to these people?

That dollar is important because it adds up. So your loss of 55 cents is added to your $1.41 loss making you lose $1.96 every time you bet. Why do that? If you feel compelled to bet an extra five dollars then put it on the pass line and only lose seven cents instead of 55 cents.

Those smaller cents make a lot more sense to me. Hey, if that one extra dollar is good for the casinos, then saving that 55 cents should be good for you!

I am giving you a free 30-day subscription to my private members-only website at www.goldentouchcraps.com. We have over 5,000 members on this private site and the conversations are interesting, enlightening and fun.

Enjoy!

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete