Have you ever heard the expression “hedge your bets”? Hopefully you will have, if not, check out this definition:
“If you hedge your bets, you are not risking everything in one opportunity, but you are proving more than one thing.”
Then, in a horse race you may have backed more than one horse, you may have bet from the start of the season that multiple teams would win the Super Bowl, or to get away from gambling analogies, you could be dating two people. In all of these examples, you are increasing your chances of winning (or being lucky) a larger cash.
How does this apply to Craps? As the article asks you: what is a cover bet in Craps? Well, to put it in layman’s terms, you have more than one bet on the outcome, hoping to make a small profit, or in the worst case, minimize the losses you might make by playing with a small bankroll.
How can this be used in craps? First of all, some players like to hedge their bets by betting on the pass line on the come out roll and then start betting “any craps” with a small amount, in case a 2, 3, or 2 rolls up. 12. Let’s say you are betting $10 units. Then we bet $10 on the pass line and $2 on “any craps”. If the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12, the pass line players lose their bets, but “any craps” wins. “Any Craps” pays 7-1, so the final result will be:
Pass line bet — lost. LOSS $10
Bet “Any craps” — won. PROFIT $14
If any other number comes up, we lose the $2 bet, but our pass line will stand and it could win on a 7 on the come out roll.
This is an example of hedging bets in craps. Is it a profitable system? Like all systems, it is not. If you cover all your bets, you will lose in the long run. Why? The odds of rolling craps (2, 3 or 12) are 8-1 and the casino pays odds 7-1, making it a losing bet.
However, it is clear that, although hedging your bets does not guarantee you to win, it is designed to help you win more bets, having smaller losses; Let’s look at other ways to hedge your craps bets.
Another option to cover your bets when playing craps is to cover 6 or 8. This is done when you bet on the don’t pass line and the point is set to 6 or 8. Why? This is because 6 and 8 are the two numbers that are most likely to come up when playing craps, so it makes sense to add them if you want to cover your bets, as they are points that will surely come up before a seven. Let’s do another example, using a $10 bet on the don’t pass line and see how we can hedge to hopefully cover our losses or guarantee a better win.
We bet $10 on the don’t pass line. The come out roll is 8, so the point is set to 8. Since we’re looking to cover our bet on either 6 or 8, we have to bet there. Remember, if the point is anything other than 6 or 8, we won’t cover it. Now, since 6 and 8 pay 7-6, we’ll bet $9 there.