1. Drop The Hardways Bomb. We’re going to end this discussion of how to win at craps with a little.
2. Pass Line bet This is, by far, the most popular Craps bet. It also has a low house edge of just 1.41%. The bet is placed on the “come out roll,” which is whenever the marker is turned to black, showing “OFF.”.

1. Best Way To Play Craps
2. Best Way To Play Craps And Win
3. Best Way To Play Craps For Beginners
4. Tips For Craps
5. Best Way To Bet Blackjack

Paying out a massive 30/1, Craps - 2 or 12 is the top paying bet at the craps table. You have a 2.8% chance of winning. For this bet, you will have to contend with a 13.9% house edge – but the payoff is most definitely worth it. Craps - 3 or 11. The pass line is the most basic element in craps betting, so it’s the best place to start when learning the game. A new round cannot begin until someone places a bet on the pass. Numbers like 4, 5, and 6 are neither wins nor losses.

This post in my playing and winning at craps series looks at the various craps bets available and ranks them from best to worst. If you don’t know who the people are running the craps game, if you don’t understand how the table and dice work, or if you’re not sure how the game plays out, check out my previous posts in this series.

Part 4 of 6

• 1 The Craps Dealers and Other Staff at the Dice Table: Who’s Who
• 2 How the Craps Table Layout Works and How the Dice Work
• 3 How to Play a Craps Game in a Casino
• 5 Craps Bets Ranked According to House Edge
• 6 How (and Why) to Act Like a Craps Player

The basic bets in craps, as it turns out, are the ones that offer the best odds for the player. The more complicated the craps bet is, the worst it is for the player mathematically.

Craps is a game of streaks, and you can win or lose a lot of money playing fast.

But you’ll almost certainly lose your money faster if you take the sucker bets.

Stick with my list of the best craps bets on this page, and avoid my list of the worst craps bets on this page, and you’ll be all set.

The Best Bets at the Craps Table

The come out roll is the 1^st roll of each “round” of craps. This is the most important roll in the game, and the best bets at the craps table are tied closely to the concept of the come out roll. So I’m going to reiterate how that works:

• The shooter starts a round of craps with a come out roll.
• If she rolls a 7 or an 11, the dice win. If she rolls a 2, 3, or 12, the dice lose.
• If she rolls any other number, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, a point is set.

If a point is set, the shooter continues to roll the dice until she rolls a 7 or until she rolls the point again. If she rolls a point before rolling 7, the dice win. If she rolls a 7 before rolling the point, the dice lose.

The Pass-line bet is the most popular bet at the craps table, and it’s also one of the best bets you can make. This is called right betting. If you bet on the Pass-line bet, you’re a right bettor. You’re betting that the dice will win.

Craps players are no different than most people. They like to root for people to succeed. At most craps tables, the players are almost all rooting together for the dice to win.

I should point out, though, that the casino doesn’t care if you’re betting the Pass-line bet or the Don’t Pass bet. The casino has a mathematical edge regardless of which bet you place, so they know in the long run they’re going to profit.

I should also point out that you can only make a Pass-line bet before a come out roll. You cannot place the Pass-line bet before subsequent rolls during a round.

It’s the most prominent area on the table, too, so it should be easy. The bet pays off at even money if the dice win—and I discussed the winning criteria above. The bet loses if the dice lose.

The Don’t Pass bet is the opposite of the Pass-line bet. It’s called wrong betting, and if you place this bet, you’re a wrong bettor. This wager is a winner if the dice lose, but casinos—to maintain an edge over the house—either bar 2 or bar 12 from winning. Which number is barred will be listed on the craps table in that section.

These are the 2 main bets available at the craps table, and they’re also the 2 best bets at the craps table.

A right bettor has a high chance of winning on the come out roll. He can win 8 different ways immediately. There are only 4 ways for him to lose immediately.

How do you know this?

• There are 6 ways to make a 7, which wins on the come out roll: 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, and 6-1.
• There are also 2 ways to make an 11, which also wins on the come out roll: 5-6 and 6-5.

But there’s only one way to roll a 2 and only one way to roll a 12. There are 2 ways to roll a 3, for a total of 4 ways to lose immediately on the come out roll.

Since there are 36 total possible combinations, it’s easy to calculate the probability of winning on the come out roll as a percentage, too. 8/36 is 22.2%, and 4/36 is 11.1%. A third of the time, the outcome of the round will depend on the come out roll immediately. This also means that 2/3 of the time, a point will be established.

And when a point is established, the odds favor the wrong bettor. If the point is a 6 or 8, the odds of a wrong bettor winning are 6 to 5. If the point is 5 or 9, the odds of winning are 3 to 2. And if the point is a 4 or 10, the odds of a wrong bettor winning are 2 to 1.

The Free Odds Bet

I mentioned in a couple of my previous posts that the absolute best bet on the craps table isn’t printed on the table. That bet is the odds bet or the free odds bet. This is the only bet in the casino that has no house edge.

You can only place an odds bet after a point has been set. When you place this bet, it’s in addition to your existing Pass-line or Don’t Pass bet. This bet pays off at the same odds of winning, so the house edge is 0.

Best Way To Play Craps

• If the point is 4 or 10, the odds bet pays off at 2 to 1—the same as the odds of winning.
• If the point is 5 or 9, the odds bet pays off at 3 to 2—the same as the odds of winning.
• If the point is 6 or 8, the odds bet pays off at 6 to 5—the same as the odds of winning.

Casinos limit the amount of money you can bet on odds to a multiple of your original bet. In a casino where you’re only allowed to match your original bet, this is called single odds. In a casino where you’re allowed to place an odds bet that’s twice as much as your original bet, it’s called double odds.

The effect of the odds bet on the total amount you have in action is to reduce the house edge. For example, on the Pass-line bet, the house edge is 1.41%. If you make a single odds bet, the house edge drops to 0.8%. A double odds bet reduces the house edge to 0.6%. And so on.

Some casinos are generous with this. You can find casinos that allow you to bet 10X and even 100X on your odds bet.

And the closer your cumulative edge gets to 0, the closer the game gets to a break-even game.

When you’re making an odds bet on a Pass-line bet, you’re taking odds.

But wrong bettors can also place odds bets. They work slightly differently, but the house edge is still 0. Wrong bettors placing an odds bet are said to be laying odds.

The payoffs, in this case, are the opposite.

• If you lay odds on a 4 or 10, the payoff is 1 to 2.
• If you lay odds on a 5 or 9, the payoff is 2 to 3.
• And if you lay odds on a 6 or 8, the payoff is 5 to 6.

In other words, if you’re a wrong bettor and place the odds bet, you must risk more money than you’ll win. This doesn’t matter to smart math types like you and me, because we understand the house edge is the same. But for many players, risking more money if you lose than what you’ll win is foolish.

As a result, many wrong bettors turn their nose up at laying odds, even though they shouldn’t.

I also want to point out here that there’s nothing wrong with being a wrong bettor, regardless of what the other players at the table might think. Any time you’re gambling, you should ignore the attitudes of the other gamblers.

In fact, the house edge for being a wrong bettor is only 1.36%, as compared to 1.41% for being a right bettor. So the odds are slightly better for being the wrong bettor.

3X 4X 5X Odds

In some casinos, the maximum odds you can take are listed as 3x4x5x odds. This means that if the point is 4 or 10, you can bet 3x your original bet on the free odds bet. If the point is 5 or 9, you can bet 4x your original bet on the free odds bet. And if the point is 6 or 8, you can bet 5x your original bet.

The casinos didn’t just decide on these multiples randomly. Their goal was to simplify their payout procedures on these bets.

Since the payoff on a 4 or 10 free odds bet is 2 to 1, if you bet 3x your original bet, your total payoff (including your original Pass-line bet) is 7 to 1.

The total payoff on a 5 or 9 free odds bet combined with a Pass-line bet is also 7 to 1. You get 3 to 2 on your money.

The same holds true for the payoff on the 6, or 8 free odds bet.

These limits make it easier for the casino to pay off your bets. A table with 3x 4x 5x odds is a better deal than a table with single odds or double odds, but it’s not as good as a table with 10X odds or 100X odds.

An Example from Real Life Play

Brian sits down to play craps. He has $1000 total, and he bets $10 on the Pass-line on the come out roll. The shooter rolls a 6, setting a point.

This casino offers 10X odds, so Brian places a free odds bet of $100. He now has $110 in action on the table.

On the next roll, the shooter makes the point, making Brian a winner.

He gets paid off $10 on his original bet of $10.

Since the point was 6, he gets paid off at 6 to 5 on the $100 free odds bet, which means he wins another $120 on that bet.

Brian’s bankroll has increased to $1130. He likes this shooter and thinks she might get hot, so he places a $20 bet on the Pass-line on the next come-out roll.

This time she rolls a 10 as the point. Brian now places $200 on the free odds bet, putting $220 total into action.

It takes her several rolls, but she does eventually roll a 10, so Brian collects winnings again—this time $20 for the original Pass-line bet, but also 2 to 1 on the odds bet, for winnings of $400 there. That’s $420 in total on an initial bet of $220.

Brian now has $1550, and the shooter hasn’t even changed yet. In fact, he’s only made 4 bets.

Now that he’s confident the shooter is hot, he decides to let his winnings ride on the Pass-line bet, although he does collect his winnings on the odds bet. So he now has $40 on the Pass-line bet.

This time the shooter rolls a 9 and Brian places $400 on the odds bet. She succeeds again, and Brian collects $40 on his Pass-line bet as well as 3 to 2 on his $400 odds bet, which is $600 more in winnings. That’s a total win on this round of $640.

Brian now has $2190. He’s double his money in just 3 rounds of craps, all with the same shooter.

Doubling your money at the blackjack table would take at least an hour if you got hot, even if you’re betting fairly big. This is one of the reasons I love craps so much.

Of course, winning streaks can evaporate and become losing streaks just as quickly. But it’s hard not to find these winning streaks exhilarating when they happen.

An Odds Bet Trick Based on Some of the Actualities in the Casino

If you’re betting something simple, like $10 or $20, on the Pass-line, betting the odds is easy. You just bet the largest multiple you’re allowed on the odds bet. It’s easy to calculate—if you have double odds, you bet $20 or $40, and so on.

But if you’re betting $5, $15, or $25, the odds bet gets trickier because of the payoffs. For example, suppose the point is a 5 or 9, which pays off at 3 to 2. It’s easier for the casino to pay you off at 3 to 2 if you’re betting $6 instead of $5. That’s because a 3 to 2 payoff on a $5 odds bet is $7.50, and the casino would rather not deal in change. If you bet $6, a 3 to 2 payoff is $9.

There’s no need for anything special on the 4 or 10 points because a 2 to 1 payoff never involves change unless you bet change. 2 to 1 on $15 is $30—no problem there.

But the 6 or 8 is another unique situation because that bet pays off at 6 to 5. Most casinos allow you to bet 5 units on the odds bet if you have 3 units bet on the Pass-line, even if the casino only offers single odds.

So if you bet $15 on the Pass-line, and the point is 6 or 8, you can bet $25 on the odds bet.

Strategy Considerations Based on the Odds Bet

Since anything you can do to lower the house edge is something you should do as a gambler, the obvious correct strategy in craps is always to take the biggest odds bet you can. Based on the information in that last section, if you’re playing at a table that only allows single odds bets, you should always bet 3 units so that you can make that 5 unit odds bet if the 6 or 8 comes up.

You won’t run into many casinos in Las Vegas that limit you to single odds, though. Most of the Vegas casinos allow at least 2X odds, and many of them offer 3x4x5x odds. A few of the casinos which cater to high rollers also offer 10x and 100X odds. So that section might not come into play unless you’re playing craps in Reno or Atlantic City at a casino which does limit you to single odds.

The Come and Don’t Come Bets Are Great, Too—And They’re Not as Hard to Understand as You Might Think

Some new craps players ignore the come and don’t come bets because they don’t understand them. That’s a shame because these are on the short list of the best craps bets you can make.

The come bet allows you to make a series of bets on rolls subsequent to the come out roll. In other words, this bet treats the next bet as a new come out roll, and it wins just like a Pass-line bet would win.

In other words, it’s another way to bet on the dice winning.

You bet $5 on the come out roll, and the shooter rolls an 8. You already had a $10 bet on the pass line, but now you can also bet $20 on the odds bet. (The casino offers 2x odds.)

But you can now also make a come bet. This bet will win just like a Pass-line bet would. If a 7 or 11 shows up on the next roll, you win, and if a 2, 3, or 12 comes up, you lose. If a point is set here, it’s called a come point number. And for your come bet to win, that number must come up again before the shooter rolls a 7.

You can even take the free odds bet on the come bet. The house edge on the come bet is the same as the house edge for the Pass-line bet.

Don’t come works like don’t pass, but again, it treats that subsequent roll of the dice as a new come out roll.

You get to keep making come or don’t come bets until the shooter rolls a 7 and “sevens out,” or until there’s a new come out roll.

So here’s how the come bet works in a nutshell:

You can only make a come bet on a roll subsequent to the come out roll. You can keep making come bets as long as you want, too. Or you can wait and only make come bets once in a while. You can wind up with lots of money in action this way.

One of the things you’ll hear gamblers say about the come bet is that it’s “always working.” This means that it still applies even on a new come out roll. The free odds bet, though, is off on the come out roll.

If you understand come bets, you also understand don’t come bets. They’re just like the don’t pass bet, but on those subsequent rolls.

The Worst Craps Bets You Can Make

All the rest of the craps bets are worse than those 5 bets. To review, the best bets are:

• Pass
• Don’t Pass
• Come
• Don’t Come
• Free Odds

Some of the worst bets are better than others, but there’s really no reason you should ever mess with any of the other bets on the table. The house just has too much of an edge over the player.

But the worst of the worst of those bets are the proposition bets in the middle of the table. You can place some other bets occasionally for grins, but not these. The house edge on these is over 9%, and in some cases, it’s almost 20%. That’s too much of an edge for the casino for a smart gambler.

I’ll cover those other bets in detail in the next post in this series.

Conclusion

The best bet at the craps table is the free odds bet, because it has no house edge. It pays off at the same odds as the odds of winning it are.

But you can only take the free odds bet after you’ve taken one of the other basic bets. The Pass-line bet and the come bet are both bets on the dice to win. The Don’t Pass and don’t come bets are both bets on the dice to lose. The house on those bets are 1.41% and 1.36%, respectively.

The house edge on all the other bets skyrockets. Those are the worst bets at the table, but the worst of the worst are the proposition bets in the center of the table.

Craps is my favorite game in the casino, and if you learn how to play, it will be one of your favorites, too. I’ve written multiple posts explaining how to play.

In this post, I want to do something a little different.

I want to offer you the best tips for playing craps WELL.

If you want to do well at the craps table, these are the only 11 tips you’ll ever need.

1 – Stick With the Pass, Come, and Free Odds Bets

The pass line bet is the basic bet when playing craps for real money. It’s a bet that the shooter will roll a 7 or an 11 on his come-out roll, or that the shooter will roll a point number and subsequently hit that point number again before rolling a 7. The pass line bet loses if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 on the come-out roll.

The come bet is just like the pass bet, but it treats a roll after the come-out roll as if it were a new come-out roll.

And the free odds bet is only available if you’ve made a pass or come bet, and the shooter has set a point. The odds bet pays off at the true odds of rolling the point again before rolling a 7.

If you stick with those bets, you’ll be playing the most exciting game in the casino and facing terrific odds. These bets make craps almost as attractive a game as blackjack.

2 – Most of the Bets at the Craps Table Offer Lousy Odds

One of the great things about craps is that it’s easy to learn how to make the best bets and avoid the lousy ones. That’s because the only good bets at the table are these:

• Pass
• Don’t pass
• Come
• Don’t come
• Free odds
• Place 6
• Place 8

You literally have dozens of bets to choose from at the craps table, but the house edge on the bets listed above are all less than 1.5%.

3 – Here’s What You Should Do If You’re a Beginner

If you’re a beginner craps player, stick with the pass line bet. Don’t start making a lot of come bets until you’re comfortable with what’s happening with the pass line bet.

It might be a good idea to take one of the free casino game classes where they’ll teach you how to play. Dozen spins casino no deposit bonus.

Once you’re comfortable with the pass line bet, expand your repertoire by making occasional come bets, too.

Try not to have more than two or three numbers working at one time. Any more than that, and you might be devastated by a big loss you’re not expecting.

4 – Understand the House Edge in Craps

The house edge represents the difference between the odds of winning and the payout odds for the game. Craps, like every other casino game, pays out less than the odds of winning. The difference is where the casino makes its profit.

The house edge is expressed as a percentage, and it’s an estimate of how much you should expect to lose in the long run on a game.

In the case of craps, the house edge for the pass and come bets is the same – 1.41%.

The house edge for the don’t pass and don’t come bets is 1.36%.

The great thing is the house edge for the free odds bet. It’s called “free” odds because it carries no house edge. The payout for this bet is the same as the odds of winning it.

By taking or laying odds on top of your pass, don’t pass, come, or don’t come bets, you’re effectively reducing the house edge for the game even further.

5 – Pick Your Wins Up From the Table

It’s your responsibility to pick up any money you win from the table. If you just leave those chips on the table, they’re considered new bets, and they stay in action.

Best Way To Play Craps And Win

If you’re on a winning streak, that’s cool. You’ll just win that much more money. In fact, win three or four times in a row by letting your winnings ride can net you a lot of cash fast.

But if you’re a more conservative player, pick the chips you’ve won up off the table after you win.

6 – Ignore Dealers at the Craps Table That Recommend a Bet

One of the dealers at the craps table is comparable to the ringmaster in a circus. He’s the stickman, and part of his job is to sell you on the idea of making bets in the middle of the table.

The house edge on those bets is terrible, and when I say terrible, I mean over 9%.

Would you rather lose an average of 9% on each bet or an average of 1.5% on each bet?

It’s the difference between losing $15/hour and losing $90/hour.

7 – Don’t Use Betting Systems at the Craps Table

Any game with bets that offer even money payouts is ripe for betting system players. Craps is no exception. In fact, you’ll have no trouble finding a Martingale or Paroli system player at the craps table.

These two systems work in precisely the opposite way, but both systems also don’t do anything to help you win the game. A negative expectation bet is a negative expectation, no matter what.

The Martingale System and the Paroli System are examples of positive and negative progression systems. You raise and lower the size of your bets based on whether you won or lose previous bets.

Here’s an example of the Martingale in action at the craps table:

You bet $5 on the pass line, and you lose when the shooter 7s out. Now you bet $10 on the pass line, and if you win, you’ve won back your $5 loss along with a $5 profit.

But if you lose, you have to bet $20 on your next bet, and so on.

Eventually, you’ll run into a losing streak that’s so long that it will be impossible to place the next bet in your progression.

With the Paroli System, you’ll let your winnings ride until you’ve had a specific, arbitrary number of wins in a row.

For example, you might set a goal of winning 3 times in a row. You bet $5 on pass, win, and bet $10 on the 2^nd round, and win again. Now you bet $20. If you win all 3 bets, you’ve won $35 over 3 rounds of the game.

But this approach doesn’t work, either, in the long run.

8 – Don’t Try to Become a Craps Professional

Contrary to what you might read and what some people might tell you, it’s not possible to get an edge at craps in the long run. Without being able to get a mathematical edge, you can’t possibly play craps for a living.

Best Way To Play Craps For Beginners

Even the odds bets, which have no house edge, can only be made when you’ve made an initial bet with a negative expectation.

On top of the negative expectation, you have a highly volatile game. Just because the house edge on the odds bets is 0% doesn’t mean those bets pay off often. They still lose most of the time.

It’s just that, theoretically, in the long run, you’ll win as much money as you lose on such bets.

If you want to be a professional gambler, learn to count cards in blackjack, or handicap sports with a high degree of accuracy, or play poker at a pro-level.

Tips For Craps

But stay away from craps if you want to gamble professionally.

9 – Skip Don’t Pass and Don’t Come Bets If You’re New

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You might think that don’t pass and don’t come are the best bets at the craps table. And since the house edge for these bets is 1.36% instead of 1.41%, that’s true.

But that doesn’t mean you should place these bets.

In fact, if you’re new, I suggest avoiding them.

Here’s why:

Most of the other players are betting with the shooter. It’s fun to root for a shooter to win, and it’s fun to have a sense of teamwork and camaraderie at the craps table.

If you’re betting against everyone at the table, you’ll probably have less fun.

Unless you just have one of those personalities.

10 – Take as Big an Odds Bet as Possible While Still Being Comfortable

Let’s say you’re at a craps table where the minimum bet is $5 and the maximum bet is $500. And the maximum amount of odds this casino will let you take is 2X your bet.

Don’t bet $15 on the pass line and ignore the odds bet.

And don’t bet $15 on the pass line and then put $30 on the odds bet.

In one case, you’re letting the house have a more significant edge than you need to.

In the other case, you’re putting more money into action on a single roll of the dice than you’re comfortable with.

Neither of these situations is good.

11 – Free Casino Classes Are Great – Except for the Strategy Advice

Craps, more than most casino games, is a good one to learn via the free casino classes that most gambling halls offer during their slow periods. You can get an excellent feel for how the game plays and how the betting works. Most real money online casinos will also allow you to play for free and practice before you’re ready for the real thing.

Just ignore any strategy advice that live casino dealers offer. Sometimes the dealers don’t know anything about the math behind the game and give what they think is good advice. Other times, the dealers are just rooting for you to lose.

Conclusion

With a basic understanding of how to play craps, you can have more fun in the casino than most. And you’ll stand a good chance of having some big winning sessions.

It’s just as important to play smart at the craps table as it is at any other casino game.

Thinking about these 11 craps tips will keep you on the side of the gambling angels.