What does this quote mean?

Question

"Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six"

I know its a gambling reference, but I don't know craps to well so does it mean you just gotta gamble and win or something like that

Answer 1

It means you need to make a high-risk play to get something very desirable, to take a big risk for a big reward.

In craps, a hard six, or "six the hard way," is 3 + 3 on the dice, a very unlikely roll (3%). A six any other way (4 + 2 or 5 + 1) is much more likely (14%). So a bet on a hard six pays much more (7 to 1) than a bet on any other six (7 to 6).

Answer 2

In craps you have 3 ways to hit 6; 5+1, 4+2, 3+3. You have one chance on 3 to hit a hard six (3+3) compare to 2 out 3 to hit a soft 6. But sometimes you can get lucky...

Answer 3

It is a dice term, in the game of Craps...and signifies rolling the dice, and as they come to rest upon the felt table surface...the uppermost sides are showing a 3 and also a 3.

Hard six is 3 + 3 on the dice.

There are also hard 4, 8 and 10. The hard 12 is never called that. It's termed...BOXCARS...or a MIDNIGHT.

"Make your bets while the dice are in the air."

Answer 4

I used to fly fighters in the USAF so this question was personal for me...you guys got the quote WRONG. Although this was my initial reaction, I also went back and re-viewed the scene on YouTube. I did this on normal and one half speed, and the actual quote is "Sometimes you have to roll to hard six." NOT "...a hard six."
"Rolling to hard six", in fighter parlance, means that even though you are being closely pursued by a bogey, it is necessary (sometimes) to reverse course and pass close aboard (pass nose-to-nose), and expose yourself to a "snap shot", rather than attempt to "separate" (escape) by accelerating out of danger. The theory is that if the maneuver is successful you will be in a neutral position (face to face, or tail to tail) rather than a defensive one (being chased and a missile stuffed up your butt). Copy all?

Answer 5

It's definitely a reference to dice, and everyone here is correct, in that it is a metaphor for high stakes for high rewards. But there is more! William Adama was an ace Viper pilot before he was Admiral of the Battlestar Galactica. This reference is taken from not just dice play, but also Viper space combat.

When you have a Cylon on your six (behind you) and if you invert your Viper in a roll and then hard pitch your Viper by pulling the stick all the way back, you will have rolled a hard six facing a fast approaching enemy right in your sites, facing what used to be your six. This maneuver or similar was seen many times in the tv series, where Starbuck or Apollo were being tailed and then they manage to turn completely around and target their pursuers.

The risk is that your pursuer is still behind you as you roll and especially as you pitch. Because when you pitch (up or down) your Viper, you are briefly exposing more of your Viper making you a bigger target. But if you survive that, you get to get the enemy off your tail and maybe even directly in your sites.

George Lucas had a nazi fighter pilot do this in Red Tails but with a different maneuver. The Nazi plane being chased pulled up real hard to stall his plane and then used that sudden decrease in velocity, briefly making him an easy target, to quickly slide his plane in the opposite direction (his six) and get a few shots off at his pursuer.

It's a risky maneuver and highly warned against by naval fighter pilot instructors around the world. But sometimes, you have to roll a hard six.

"If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop and punch him really hard in a sensitive spot, he'll think twice about coming back again." - Adama

Answer 6

it means you have to work hard to get what you want cause a hard six is the hardest thing to roll in craps,,,the odds are against you that you will suceed

Answer 7

It means that sometimes things will be harder to do than other things and you just got to do it; knuckle down and do it.