A roll of eleven in craps is referred to as “yo,” “yo-leven,” or “yo eleven.” It’s called out this way by the croupier because the word “eleven” can easily be confused with “seven” since the sounds are so similar. On a simple table, the yo is not present as a big number, but there are tables that offer the yo bet as a single roll wager. This is a high risk-high reward type bet since of the 36 combinations of the dice that can occur, only two of them come up as eleven. In other words, there is a less than 6 percent chance that this bet will be a winner. But when you do win, you will earn 15:1 odds. So if you bet $1, you will get a return of $16 back when you hit this bet. This is obviously a really good thing.
Timing such a bet is tough. A lot of people think that if it’s been a while since an eleven has hit, the odds are in line for it to happen again soon. This is a misconception, though. Every roll of the dice is an independent occurrence, so the true odds of a yo hitting are always 17:1, even if it’s been 100 rolls since the last 11. This isn’t like black jack where each card that comes out influences the identity of the unrevealed cards. Each roll sees the odds reset, so the past has absolutely no influence upon the future. The odds are always in favor of the casino with such a bet since the payout is less than the true odds, but this doesn’t mean that you should just avoid the bet altogether. If you’re lucky, the yo is extremely beneficial. Just don’t focus on making this a part of your core strategy. Instead of building a strategy around a successful yo bet, make it more a fun diversion from the crux of your game. Look toward coming up with a sound money management system and use the yo once in a while when you’re up money to try and supplement your winnings. You can always throw a Nickel on the Yo, which actually means a $5 bet that Yo-leven hit.
There’s a smart way to approach this and a reckless way. First of all, don’t try using the yo to chase your losses. When you’re down, putting money on the eleven might seem attractive, but you need to remember that the odds are against you. When you’re down a lot, your best choice is to walk away from the table (or computer). The dice are not guaranteed to move in your direction any time soon. So you should only use the eleven bet when you’re up. Start by putting $1 on it each hand. If you lose 15 hands in a row with the yo, try bumping up your bet to $2 for seven hands. Statistically, you are likely to hit an eleven in this time period, but there’s no way to say that this will actually happen for you. Worst case scenario, you will lose $29. For 22 hands, this isn’t a bad price to pay entertainment-wise. And if you really are up, this will seem like a small loss. If on the 22nd hand you win, you will have $32 returned to you, after risking $29, so you’ll see a very small profit. This is just one possible way that you can approach this bet. You can make your first Yo-leven bet at Casino Titan when you are ready.
The yo is a tough bet to win, but it can be fun and it can help you out when the dice are hot. It’s a risky bet, however, so make sure you approach it knowing this and having a clear strategy of how to use it to your advantage.
