Have you ever stood at a craps table and been amazed at how fast the dealer calculates the payouts? You just accept the money they hand you without knowing if it is the correct amount. Well, I’m about to let you into a little secret-the way the dealers calculate how much to pay each bet.
Pass Line Odds
These are probably the easiest to figure out for the dealer. In fact, most of the time the dealer doesn’t even know how much they have paid you, but they know it is correct. Sounds weird, but often a dealer looks at a chip as just that and doesn’t care what the monetary value of that chip is. You can use the same method to just look at the payout and know if it is the right amount. Remember, the pass line bet is always paid even money; it is only the back bet that is paid odds.
4 and 10 pay 2-1 so, therefore, all the dealer has to do is match into your odds bet twice. Having said that, sometimes the dealer will do flash dealer tricks. Do not be intimidated. To figure out what you should be paid, just double the bet.
5 and 9 pay 3-2. For any dealer that has craps as a second ป๊อกเด้ง ไฮโล game, this is such an easy bet to pay because it is the same odds as a blackjack. The non-thinking way a dealer pays this out is to size into the bet and then put an additional half on top. Trust me here, any dealer worth their salt can do this in their sleep. (In fact, if you learn to do this, it will help you when tipping 15%–just blackjack the check and divide by 10. In other words, a $20 blackjack pays $30, 15% of a $20 dollar check is $3.)
6 and 8 pay 6-5. The following non-thinking way for calculating bets only works if you are betting $5 or $25 chips. The dealer is going to size in with a stack of the same denomination and a stack of one denomination lower. In other words if you’re playing $25 chips, the dealer will size in with a stack of $25s and a stack of $5s.
Place Bets
Before we discuss how to calculate place bets, we first need to discuss calculating bets using units. My favorite saying when a novice dealer would freeze when trying to calculate a larger value bet is, “A chip is a chip is a chip.” What this means is no matter what its value, it is still only a chip. If the odds are 2-1, you are going to pay 2 chips for every 1 chip bet. It doesn’t matter what the value of that chip is. You then must get used to calculating the monetary amount from the unit amount-nine $5 chips equals $45, nine $25 chips equals $225.
*Sometimes the $100 chip can be an exception to this rule because it is comprised of 4 units of the lower denomination chip which is the $25, but we are not going to concern ourselves with that here.
4 and 10 pay 9-5. This means for every $5 you have bet you will be paid $9. One $5 unit pays 9 dollar units, two $5 units pays 18 dollar units and so on. You can translate this to one $25 unit pays 9 $5 units, and two $25 units pays 18 $5 units. See how easy that is.
5 and 9 pay 7-5. You use exactly the same principle here, only you multiply by 7 instead of 9.
6 and 8 pay 7-6. There are a couple of different ways to calculate this but my favorite is the bet plus the cap. What does that mean? The cap is the chips on the top the dealer places off at an angle-a $12 dollar bet will have a stack of 2 $5 chips and the 2 $1 chips placed off at an angle, therefore this bet would pay $12 + $2=$14. Take a more complicated bet of $36-the bet would be a $30 stack with a $6 cap paying $36+$6=$42.
Hardways
6 and 8 pay 9-1. This is sooooo easy. All you do is multiply by 10 and deduct the bet.
4 and 10 pay 7-1. Once again you are going to use the unit method. One $5 chip pays seven $5 chips, or $35. One $25 chip pays seven $25 chips, or $175.
One Roll Bets
If you were training as a craps dealer, you would not be taught to calculate payouts using “keys” because you would need to know several ways to calculate the payouts at high speed. If you have a mental block on one way, you need a secondary way to calculate the payout. As a player you only have one bet to figure out, your own, and “keys” are by far the easiest way to do this, so here they are.
C and E is the term for any crap and eleven. If a crap rolls 3 times the total bet. If eleven rolls 7 times the bet. So if you had a $6 C and E it would pay $18 if a crap rolled and $42 if the eleven rolled.
Horn Bet is the term for a bet covering the 2, 3, 11 and 12. If the 3 or 11 roll, you multiply the bet by 3. If the 2 or 12 roll, you multiply the bet by 7 then minus ¼ of the bet. So a $15 horn bet would pay $46 if the 3 or 11 rolled and $101 if the 2 or 12 rolled.
Horn High is the same as a horn bet with an extra unit on one of the numbers. So a Horn High Yo would have 1 unit on the 2, 3, 12, and 2 units on the 11. The keys for these are 2, 5, and 11 times the bet plus the individual bet. On a Horn High bet if the 3 or 11 roll and they aren’t the high, you double the bet plus the individual bet on that number. If they are high, you multiply by 5 plus the individual bet. If the 2 or 12 roll and they aren’t high it is 5 times the bet plus the individual bet. If they are high it is 11 times the bet plus the individual bet. Let’s use a $25 Horn High 12 as an example: the 2, 3 and 11 all have a $5 bet while the 12 has a $10 bet. So if 3 or 11 roll it is ($25 x 2)+$5=$55. If the 2 rolls it is ($25 x 5)+$5=$130. Finally if the 12 rolls it is (25 x 11)+$10=$285. For an easy way to calculate 11 times add the two numbers together and take that number and put it in the middle-34 x 11 would be 3+4=7 making 374.
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