Hop bets at craps; Odds bets at craps; Still more on pass versus place betting; More on come vs. Place bets; The 6/8 progression; Playing 8/5 Jacks or Better; Ah, that royal flush! Figuring the best video poker games; Oh, what a promotion! Having fun with slots; Etiquette at craps; Differences in buy bets; The best and worst buy bets; Betting. Proposition Bets and Hop Bets are all one-roll bets located in the center of the layout. The Stickman places these bets on the appropriate betting area, and they win only if that specific combination of the number rolls on the next toss of the dice. These high paying bets are an exciting part of the game, with some of these bets paying as high. Basically, an 'on the hop' craps bet is wagered when you want the shooter to roll a specific combination of the dice. For example, you can bet that the dice will be rolled and land on (4,1). This would be the same as an easy or soft 5. To make this bet in a casino, just tell the dealer your bet: '4 and 1 on the hop'. There are dozens of craps bets advertised right on the table felt - wagers including pass and don't pass, come and don't come, place numbers, the field, hardways, one-roll propositions. Hop bets are prime offering on craps' secret menu. There's not a space on the layout to illustrate them. You have to know they're available to make them. The standard craps table layout that is used in both brick-and-mortar and web-based casinos is comprised of two identical sections, the so-called side section, and the center section. The side sections are managed by a dealer each, which is exactly why there are two standing dealers at the table.

Ah, the hops bet. It’s the stuff that dreams and big fish stories are made of.

A single hop on an easy number and suddenly that little $10 bet is $150. Parlay that $160 into another bet, hit that parlay, and what was originally $10 is now $2400.

Some nights, this dream becomes a reality.

That’s why players love the hop bets. It’s one of the few ways where a player can take $100 and leave with $5000.

Some nights, the hops are just…hopping.

WHAT IS A HOP BET?

The simple explanation

For those who are not aware, first, an explanation of the hop bets.

In craps, a hop bet is a one roll bet where the player bets on what they think will appear on the next roll.

Hop bets are always one roll bets.

The rest of this article will go into the technical and detailed explanation of the hop bet. If you want the simple explanation, just skip to the bottom to the TL;DR part.

The technical and unsettled explanation of a hop bet

The technical definition of a hop bet is more debated.

There are some who would argue that, by definition, a hop bet must have either one combination (the hard hop) or two combinations (the easy hop).

For example, is the Big Red (Any 7) or the Any Craps bet considered a hop bet? There are those who would argue that those bets are not hop bets because there are six combinations to win the Big Red bet and four combinations to win the Any Craps bet, those are not hop bets.

Having said the above about the Big Red or Any Craps, if the player threw out $3 and said ‘hopping the sevens’, the dealer or stick would mark the ‘five two’, ‘thirty four’, and ‘sixty one’ combination (those are the most commonly used terms for each combination, as I have never heard the ‘sixty one’ referred to as the ‘sixteen’).

Typically, a hop bet will pay in the neighborhood of either 30 to 1 for hard hops and 15 to 1 for easy hops.

The Hard Hop

An example of one combination is any number where both dice must match exactly, such as ‘hopping hard 8’. If you are hopping hard 8, that means on the next roll, the dice must come up 4 + 4. This can be referred to as ‘hopping forty-four’ or ‘hopping hard 8’.

The payoff for a ‘hard hop’ is usually 30-1, although, this can vary from casino to casino.

Note that hopping a hard 8 is not the same as betting hard 8. When a player throws out a chip and says ‘hard 8’, the dealer will make the hard ways 8 bet, which pays 9-1. The hardways bet is a multi-roll bet and pays 9-1.

Advice:to avoid confusion, when players want to hop, my advice is to always say the word, ‘hopping’ in front of the bet. It would be very disappointing if your intention was to hop a hard 8, but you ended up winning a hard 8 bet instead.

A real-life story…a few months ago, I was standing next to a newbie craps player and he asked me how to bet the 8 that paid 30-1, as he had seen another player win $300 on a $10 bet. I knew he meant that he wanted to hop the hard 8, so I told him, to throw out his $10 and say, ‘hopping hard 8’. He threw out the chip and said, ‘hard 8’. I immediately tried to correct him and told him to say, ‘hopping hard 8’. He was confused but I told him, ‘if you want 30-1, you have to say, hopping hard 8’.

He hopped the hard 8 and a roll later, won $300. The ‘hard 8’ would have paid $90 (with the caveat that it’s a multi-roll bet).

Oh…I have this on a Real Craps Game video that will appear in the future.

The Easy Hop

An example of two combinations is any number where both dice can be different, such as hopping easy 8. There are two ways to hop and easy 8: 2+6 and 6+2 and also 3+5 and 5+3.

If you’re still learning hop bets, I know what you’re thinking. I said there are two ways to hop, but I just listed four combinations. That’s because the 2+6 and 6+2 counts as one bet, and the 3+5 and 5+3 counts as another bet. In craps parlance, the player can just combine the two numbers and refer to them as ‘twenty-six’ or ‘sixty-two’. Since the casino does not require the player to specify which individual die will have which number, the terms ‘ twenty-six’ and ‘sixty-two’ refer to the exact same thing.

Similarly, ‘thirty-five’ and ‘fifty-three’ refer to the latter easy 8 combination.

Note that if the player wants to bet an easy hop, the player must specify which easy hop he or she wants to bet. For example, there are two versions of the easy 8: the ‘twenty-six’ combination and the ‘thirty-five’ combination. So if the player wants to bet an easy 8, the player must specify which easy 8 the player wants.

The payoff for an easy hop bet is usually 15-1, although, this, too, can vary from casino to casino.

What numbers can be hopped?

The craps player can hop bet any number: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12.

Some craps tables have areas marked specifically for hop bets, while some tables do not.

How to hop a number

Craps Table Layout With Hop Bets

To hop a number, simply toss out your bet to either the dealer or the stick person and say what combination you want to hop.

My advice is that if you want to hop, say the word, ‘hopping’ or ‘hop’ along with your bet. Otherwise, the dealer or stick person may mark another bet.

You may hop more than one combination. For example, if you threw out $3 and said ‘hopping all the sixes’, the dealer will mark the ‘twenty-four’, ‘fifty one’, and ‘thirty-three’ combinations. If one of those combinations roll, the payout will be dependent upon whether the easy or hard 6 rolled. If the easy 6 rolled, then the payout will be 15-1; whereas if the hard 6 rolled, the payout will be 30-1.

Note that if you win the hop bet, the dealer will pay and automatically leave your hop bet up for the next roll. If you do not want to automatically leave the bet up, you may request that the hop bet be taken down; in which case the dealer will return the hop bet to you.

Craps Layout With Hop Bets For Sale

Also, if you make multiple hops bets – such as the aforementioned $3 hopping all the sixes – on the payout, almost every casino will deduct, from your payout, the amount that it would cost to leave up your multiple bets. For example, if you bet $3 ‘hopping all the sixes’, and the next roll was a winning 5 + 1 roll, you would be entitled to a $15 payout. However, the dealer will only send you $13 because $2 will be taken away to pay for the losing ‘forty-two’ and ‘thirty-three’ combination.

Similarly, if the winning roll is 3 + 3, you would be entitled to $30, but the dealer will send you $28, after deducting $2 to pay for the ‘forty-two’ and ‘fifty-one’ on the next roll.

If you do not want the dealer to deduct the amount and pay for the next roll, just tell the dealer to not deduct the amount. An easy way to say it would be to say, ‘bring my hops down’ (said just like that).

This is an important nuance for bankroll management reasons.

TL;DR

A hop bet is a one roll bet that typically pays 15-1 or 30-1, depending on what the player is betting. Easy hops typically pay 15-1 are hops that have two winning combinations; while hard hops typically pay 30-1 and have one winning combination.

I say ‘typically’ because some casinos will pay 16-1 and 31-1. Note that 16 for 1 and 31 for 1 are the same as 15-1 and 30-1.

To make a hop bet, gently throw your chip to the stick person or dealer and say ‘hopping’ along with what you think will appear. If you make the bet early enough and before the dice are sent out, the dealer or stick will help the player by clarifying which hop the player wants.

That’s the hop bet in a nutshell.

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below.

Posted in: Casino, Craps, Gambling