Lay And Hardway Bets

Obviously, even as we have detailed the five main bets one can make at the craps table, those are merely the most popular. There are a series of others, as one can readily see just by glancing at the table layout. Here are a few of them - lay bets and hardway bets:

* LAY BETS -- This is similar to the "place" bet in that you will wager $20 or more, with the object of the wager being a particular number or numbers. You are going to "lay" the number here, which means you'll pay a small commission or "vig" to the house. Here you will win if the 7 rolls before the number you have designated. You will lose if not. You're laying the commission because since you're betting on the seven, you're betting on a combination total that is always going to be more likely to be rolled than any single number you choose to bet against. This bet can be placed either before or after the come-out roll.

* HARDWAY BETS -- Here you are betting that a total will come out the "hard way," meaning that it will be the product of a pair. For example, if you are betting on "six, the hard way," you are betting that a pair of threes will be rolled. A pair of fives constitutes "ten, the hard way," and so on. In this bet, you will lose if the seven rolls, and lose if your number comes out "the easy way," that is, if it happens as the result of anything but a pair.