Hot Hand Hank: Hardways junkie, a craps strategy

How Hank plays

On the come-out, Hank bets the Pass Line.

Once a point is set, he puts a bet on every hardway: Hard 4, Hard 6, Hard 8 and Hard 10. Each one wins if its number rolls as a pair (2 and 2, 3 and 3, 4 and 4, 5 and 5) before it rolls any other way or a 7 shows. When one hits, he puts it right back up.

Why people like it

Hardways pay big for a small bet: 9 to 1 on the Hard 6 and 8, 7 to 1 on the Hard 4 and 10. And the stickman calls every one of them. A hard eight on stream is Hank’s whole day.

The catch

Doubles are rare, and an easy way loses the bet as surely as a 7 does. The edge is 9.09% on the 6 and 8 and 11.11% on the 4 and 10, which is why Hank tends to lose steadily between hardways.

The bets

Every bet Hot Hand Hank makes and its house edge
Bet	House edge
Pass Line	1.41%
Hard 4	11.11%
Hard 6	9.09%
Hard 8	9.09%
Hard 10	11.11%

The share of each bet the house keeps over the long run. Odds bets pay true odds, so they have none. How house edge works.

A sample hand

One shooter's hand at a $10 table with 3-4-5 odds. Every regular plays the same dice, so you can compare them. These are the bets Hot Hand Hank really makes: the table's own bot and payout rules played it. Play money.

Hot Hand Hank's bets and results, roll by roll, in play money
Roll	Hot Hand Hank bets	What happens	Roll result
32Come-out	Pass Line $10	Five, no field five. The point is five, mark it!No decision	—
42Point 5	Hard 4 $2 · Hard 6 $2 · Hard 8 $2 · Hard 10 $2	Easy sixHard 6 loses $2	−$2
44Point 5	Hard 6 $2	Eight, the hard way! Eighter from DecaturHard 8 wins $18	+$18
54Point 5	—	Nine, center field nineNo decision	—
21Point 5	—	Craps three, ace-deuceNo decision	—
41Point 5	—	Winner! Five, pay the line!Pass Line wins $10	+$10
65Come-out	—	Yo-leven, front line winner!Pass Line wins $10	+$10
22Come-out	—	Four, the hard way! Little Joe from Kokomo. The point is four, mark it!No decision	—
33Point 4	—	Six, the hard way!Hard 6 wins $18	+$18
64Point 4	—	Ten easyHard 10 loses $2	−$2
43Point 4	Hard 10 $2	Seven out! Line away, pay the don'tsPass Line loses $10Hard 4 loses $2Hard 8 loses $2Hard 6 loses $2Hard 10 loses $2	−$18
After the hand, counting chips still on the felt			+$34

On PlayCraps Live

This week−$52per 100 rolls · −$997 over 1,924 rolls

All time−$24per 100 rolls · −$12,326 over 52,162 rolls

Rolls won37%of the rolls that decided a bet, all time

Weeks on top0of 4 weeks played

Play money won or lost per 100 rolls at the table, each week Hot Hand Hank played. Hover a bar for the week.

Best week: Nov 2 – 8, 2026, −$15 per 100 rolls. Worst week: Nov 9 – 15, 2026, −$52 per 100 rolls.

All amounts are play money. See the whole table on the weekly leaderboard.

The honest part

Every bet Hot Hand Hank makes has a house edge of 1.41% to 11.11%. A good week is luck. Over enough rolls, no strategy beats that edge: the cheaper ones just lose more slowly.

Play money only. No real-money gambling. Nothing is wagered or paid out.