The Secrets of Laying the Four and Ten

Pssst...! Wanna know a secret?

How about the secrets of laying the fours and tens?

If you are a don't bettor, you are familiar with using lay bets to choose a number to bet against without going through the don't come box. However, you have to pay a 5% vig on the amount of your winnings. So if you laid the four (or ten) for $40, it would have a payoff of $20. The vig would be 5% of $20, or $1.

Usually, if you lay more than $20, the casino will round up your vig to the next even dollar amount. If you lay $50, for example, you should win $25, and 5% of $25 is $1.25, so you could be charged $2 for the vig..

Wanna know the secret that craps pros use to maximize profits when they lay the four or ten?

Let's find out!

If you ask the dealer before you bet if you can lay the four (or ten) for $50 and pay only $1 vig, he will usually let you. You can also ask if you can lay both the four and ten together, for $25 each, and still only pay the $1 vig. Normally these bets would be two separate bets, requiring vigs of $1 each, but if you ask first, you can usually save the $1.

The fours and tens are different from the fives and nines because they have their own corresponding hardways, which pay 7:1. Since the four (or ten) appears only 3 times in 36 sample rolls you can use these hardway bets as insurance to protect your lay bets.

The three ways that a four can be rolled are - 1 & 3 (soft) , 3 & 1 (soft) , and 2 & 2 (hard). By betting on the hard four you reduce your possible loss due to the four rolling from 3 in 36 to 2 in 36. If you are laying $50 no four you can also bet $7 hard four. This way if the seven rolls you win $18 ($25 - $7) but if the hard four rolls you only lose $1 ($50 - $49) instead of $50.

The three ways that a ten can be rolled are 4 & 6 (soft), 6 & 4 (soft) and 5 & 5 (hard). By betting on the hard ten you reduce your possible loss due to the ten rolling from 3 in 36 to 2 in 36. If you are laying $50 no ten you can also bet $7 hard ten. This way if the seven rolls you win $18 ($25 - $7) but if the hard ten rolls you lose only $1 ($50 - $49) instead of $50.

You lose your $50 lay bet only if the soft four or ten rolls, but this happens only 2 in 36 times, compared to 7 in 36 winners (6 in 36 for the seven plus 1 in 36 for the hardway).

On a combined wager, you can bet $28 no four, $28 no ten and $4 each on the hard four and ten. Of course, you should ask if you can only pay $2 vig for both bets. This way if the seven rolls you win $24 ($28 - $4) and if one of the hard numbers roll you break even ($28 - $28). If a soft number rolls now you only lose one bet and it is certainly to your advantage to put it back up again.

Give this combined wager a try the next time you're on the don't side!

Pssst...! Now you know the secrets of laying the fours and tens!.

(c) 2005 by Larry Edell

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