In the center area of the craps table there is an area called “Proposition Bets.” These bets have high payoffs and are very popular, but also have low chances of winning. However, instead of betting these numbers individually, players have found that they can increase their chances of winning by betting on more than one number at a time and “splitting” their bets.

A split bet is a bet that covers two numbers but only pays off for one of them. An example of this is the very popular “C & E” bet, standing for Craps and Eleven. If you give the dealer “$2 C & E,” it means you are really placing $1 on Any Craps (2, 3 or 12) and $1 on the eleven (“Yo”).

Any Craps pays 7:1 and the “Yo” pays 15:1. So, on the very next roll only, if the 11 comes up, you would win $15 for the Yo, and lose your $1 for the any craps. In addition, the dealer will give you only $13 back and leave $2 up for another C & E bet. If you don’t want this to happen, you need to say “my C & E bet down please,” and you will get the full $15.

The Any Craps bet is a different story. This will win if the 2, 3 or 12 rolls, but only pays 7:1. Normally if the 2 or 12 rolls you get 30:1, and if the 3 rolls you get 15:1. But you are paying a little extra to be able to bet on all three numbers at once. So, if you bet $2 C & E and the next roll is a 12 (or 2 or 3) you will get $7 but you lose the $1 Yo bet. Again, the dealer may keep your $2 bet up for the next roll and give you only $5 unless you request that your bet be taken down.

Another popular bet is the Hi-Lo bet (the 12 and 2). Although these are included in the “any craps” bet, the Hi-Lo bet pays more - a lot more. While any craps pays only 7:1, the Hi Lo pays a whopping 30:1! As with all split bets, this is a one roll bet only. So if you bet $2 Hi-Lo, and the 2 or 12 hits, you win $30 but lose the other $1 bet. Again, call “my bet down” unless you want to leave it up.

If you combine all these split bets (the 2, 3, 11 and 12) you get a horn bet, which lets you bet all four numbers at once in $4 increments. In the horn bet, the 3 and 11 pay 15:1 and the 2 and 12 pay 30:1. But if you win one horn bet, you will lose the other three, and all four bets will stay up for the next roll unless it is taken down.

You can also combine a horn bet with a split bet. For example you can bet $5 and call it “Horn High,” which is a $4 horn bet but with $2 on the twelve. A “Horn Lo” is $4 horn but with $2 on the 2.

A good use for these split bets is to protect your pass line bet. As you know, the pass line wins on the 7 or 11 but loses on the 2, 3 or 12 (“any craps”). When you make a pass line bet you can now protect it with a $2 C & E (for an extra Yo bet), a $4 horn, or even a $5 horn high bet!

And, as always, good luck at the tables!

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