The Horn bet (or craps 11) is a popular one roll wager that many pros include in their strategy. In this guide, you will discover the ins and outs of this bet.
Here are the key topics that pro dice influencer Bill Collins will cover below:
The craps Horn bet is located closest to the stick man at the table in the prop bets portion of the center of the craps table layout.
You can make a Horn by getting the stickman’s attention, telling him that you want an “X-dollar (amount) ” Horn bet. You then toss him the chips you want to bet.
He will be ready to catch your chips and will put your chips in the proper position for your bet on the table. Where he puts your chips inside the Horn bet rectangle on the table will tell him who has that particular bet.
After your Horn bet is made, if a Horn number rolls on the very next roll of the dice, you win your bet at proper payout for how you bet.
If not, you lose your craps Horn bet and will need to place your bet again if you want a Horn bet on their roll after that.
Horn bets in craps are usually made in $4 increments, with $1 out of each $4 bet allocated for each:
two
three
eleven
twelve.
When one of those numbers rolls on the next roll of the dice, you win that portion of the craps Horn bet, but lose the other three parts of the bet.
Your losing part of the bet will be subtracted from your winnings on the number that won and you will be paid the difference.
Horn bets pay 15 to 1 when the three or eleven rolls with a Horn bet made. That is because there are two combinations that the dice can end up in that produce a winner for each. 2-1 or 1-2 for three and 6-5 or 5-6 for eleven.
The online craps Horn bets pay 30 to 1 when the two or twelve rolls with a Horn bet made. That is because there is only one combination that the dice can end up in that produce a winner for each. 1-1 for two and 6-6 for twelve.
What the casino has done in creating the Horn bet is make it easy for the player to bet the four individual Horn bets on two, three, eleven, and twelve all at once for the next roll of the dice.
The casino’s house advantage is 11.11 percent on the three and eleven parts of the Horn bet; while their house advantage is 13.89 percent on the two and twelve parts of the Horn bet.
As you can see, the casino has found a way to get the player to combine four high vig bets and make them without even hardly thinking about it.
I believe that greed for that whopping 15 times payout or 30 times payout is what makes a lot of players feel obligated to be constantly making high-vig Horn bets, where you have to roll one of the four hardest numbers to roll in order to get a win.
Keep in mind
In the long term, you can expect to hit the 2 and 12 once every 36 tosses and the 3 and 11 once every 18 rolls.
For some reason, maybe because of the way Horn High Yo sounds when you say it, the Horn Hi Yo seems to me to be the most common of the Horn High bets made.
But, it doesn’t have any secret winning powers that the other Horn high bets don’t have. I know one player who tosses a lot of 12’s, so he always bets a Horn high 12.
The Whirl bet in craps bet takes the craps Horn bet and adds in the Any Seven bet to it, so that you win the designated payouts when a craps horn number or a seven rolls on the next roll after the Whirl bet is made.
The Any Seven portion of the bet has a payout of 4-to-1 and carries a house advantage of 13.33 percent.
The Whirl bet in craps is a bet in increments of 5$ units, which puts $1 on each of the four horn numbers, plus $1 on Any Seven portion of the bet.
The bets that are on the numbers that lost when the Whirl bet is won gets subtracted from the payout.
For example
If you win a $5 Whirl bet by rolling a Horn number, then $4 are subtracted from your winnings, a dollar each for the three losing Horn numbers and another 1$ for the losing Any Seven portion of the Whirl bet.
One interesting aspect of the Any Seven bet being combined with the Horn bet in craps to create the Whirl bet is that it kind of serves as a hedge.
If a Seven rolls with a $5 Whirl bet, you win 4$ on the Any Seven portion of your bet, while losing $4 on your Horn bet, so you end up breaking even instead of losing your Horn bet portion.
However, with the Whirl bet in craps, when a Horn bet winning number rolls, you win less than if just betting the Horn bet by itself because the bet on the Any Seven portion is subtracted from the Horn bet winnings.
I believe that newbies should, at some time, just for fun, give different bets on the table a try to see if they like making that bet or not.
Some players are content to play craps just for fun and the team spirit that inhabits the craps tables when they play.
They view any losses as the cost of entertainment. If that describes you, have a go at the Horn and Whirl bets and get more familiar with them.
Final Thoughts
I rarely bet any of the high-vig prop bets in the center of the table.
You won’t get the 30-to-1 or 15-to-1 monster payouts, but you can get plenty of action by playing the Field bet instead, as it carries only a 2.78% house advantage and is also a one-roll bet.
Players seem to remember when they hit the big payouts, while tending to forget about all the small losses they incur getting those nice wins.
Want to learn more bets and strategies or discover the ins and outs of the table layout? Check out more guides in the Craps Academy to master the game in no time.
Was this guide helpful?
171
Thank you for voting.
You have already voted.
Bill Collins
Professional Craps Player
About Bill Collins
Author of the craps novel, "Vegas Fever";
20+ years of successful craps experience, consistently winning since 2003;
Professional writer of Craps guides, with numerous articles published;
Level 0 
0 Coins 
Bonuses 
Casinos 
Games 
Academy 
News 
Shop 
NEW Q&A 
Sweepstakes 
7 min
Thank you for voting.
Level 8 
