Craps Bets Explained
I’m writing a series of blog posts about casino games and the good and bad strategies for playing those games.
- Best Bets In Craps And Why
- World Bet Craps
- Craps Game Bets
- Craps Table Bets Explained
- Basic Craps Bets
- What Is The Best Bet In Craps
Craps is one of my favorite casino games, so I’ve been looking forward to writing this one.
Odds Bet: This bet comes in just behind the pass bet if there is a point set in the game’s first roll. The bet is paid out at true odds which mean that there is no house edge on this bet. In the casino craps table there is no room for odds bets and a lot of casinos allow odd bets to be placed as much as 100 times the bet placed for pass line. An example would be, if you place a pass line bet of $10 your odds bet can be. Place Bets in Craps Game These bets are somewhat simple. There are actually two different types of place bets. One is called place bet to win and the other is place bet to lose. Understanding Craps Odds Perhaps more than any other casino game, craps is a game that is concerned with the odds. Or at the very least, you should be when you play. In other words, understanding the odds is paramount to understanding craps itself and you can’t possibly. Craps Come Bet Explained US Players and Credit Card, BitCoin Deposits Accepted! Come Bet - Come Bar The come bet works much like the pass line bet and it is one of the most popular wagers on the table with some of the best odds and lowest house edge.
For this style of play, these are the best craps bets to make: 1. Pass Line Bet 2. Don't Pass Bet 3. Don't Come Bet 5.
And the beautiful thing about craps is that it’s a game of pure chance. The best strategy is just to choose the bets with the lowest edge for the house and have fun.
But I’ll have some things to say about some of the strategies and systems that other writers promote, too.
They’re mostly bad craps strategies.
Here’s the Only Craps Strategy You Need
When you’re dealing with an entirely random game – like craps – the only strategy that matters is choosing the bets with the lowest house edge and having fun.
I’ll have something to say about shooters and whether they have control over the outcomes later in this post, but for now, let’s just agree that games like craps are purely chance.
In other games that are entirely random, like slot machines, you don’t even really need to decide which bet to place. It’s chosen for you before you sit down.
When playing craps for real money, you have a handful of good bets you can make, but most of the bets on the table are bad. Just skip the bad bets, and you’re all set.
The Bests Bets at the Craps Table
The best bets at the craps table are the pass line bet and the don’t pass bet.
The come and don’t come bets are also great wagers.
I always advise casino gamblers to try to limit their gambling to games where the house edge is lower than 2% — preferably 1.5% or lower.
The house edge for the pass and come bets is the same, 1.41%, which means they qualify.
The house edge for the don’t pass and don’t come bets is even lower, 1.36%, but the 0.05% isn’t worth worrying about. Most people prefer to root for the shooter to succeed.
The other bet to think about at the craps table is the odds bet. This is a bet you can only place after making one of the 4 bets I already mentioned and when the shooter has set a point.
This is one of the only bets in the casino that has no house edge. It’s a break-even bet, but it can be expensive.
It can also drive the effective house edge on the money you have in action down to almost nothing.
Here’s how that works.
How the Odds Bet Changes the House Edge for the Better
If you’re betting on the pass line and the shooter sets a point, you can expect to lose $1.41 for every $100 you bet. That’s on average and in the long run.
If you’re playing at a casino that only allows you to place an odds bet at 1X the size of your pass line bet, you can put another $100 into action.
Your expected loss remains $1.41, though, which effectively cuts the house edge in half, from 1.41% to 0.71%.
If you’re able to bet 2X your original bet on the odds bet, you can lower that even further to 0.36%. (You have $300 in action, but your expected loss is still only $1.41.)
The more you’re able to bet on the odds bet, the lower the house edge for all the money you have in action becomes.
It’s clear why betting on the pass line and taking the most odds that you can is an effective strategy. With the odds bet, you can get the house edge in craps lower than 0.5% at least some of the time at the table, making it an even better game than blackjack.
And what’s more, you don’t have to memorize basic strategy to get the low house edge at craps.
You just need a big enough casino bankroll to make the right bets, and you need enough sense to avoid the bad bets at the table – of which there are many.
Any Strategy that Involves Placing ANY Other Bets at the Craps Table Is a BAD Craps Strategy
There’s a reason gambling experts measure bets according to their house edge. That’s because it’s the single best indicator of how good or bad a bet is.
The house edge is a statistical estimate of how much money you’ll lose as a percentage of your original bet over the long run.
If the house edge is 1.41%, the casino expects to win an average of $1.41 every time you bet $100.
If the house edge is 16.66%, the casino expects to win an average of $16.66 every time you bet $100.
Which bet looks like the better bet for the casino?
And which one looks like the better bet for the gambler?
It shouldn’t be hard to make the distinction.
Even the best of the bad bets on the craps table are inferior to the 1.41% or 1.36% you can get from the pass, don’t pass, come, and don’t come bets.
And trust me on this:
You can have PLENTY of fun sticking with the basic bets at the craps table.
Betting Systems Where You Raise and Lower the Size of Your Bets Are Bad Strategies
The classic example of this kind of betting system is the Martingale System, where you double the size of your bets after each loss. When you do this repeatedly, you eventually win back the money you’ve lost along with a profit of one unit.
The problem with a system like the Martingale is that you’ll eventually run into a big enough losing streak that it will wipe out all those small profits and then some.
Most people underestimate how quickly a bet’s size gets when doubling after every loss.
They also overestimate how likely they are to avoid long losing streaks.
If you double a $5 bet once, that’s $10.
But if you run into a losing streak of 8 bets in a row, you’re looking at having to bet $640 to make up for your losses.
Also, every roll of the dice is an independent event. The odds don’t change based on how many times you’ve won or lost in a row.
You might think the probability of losing that 8th bet is lower than the likelihood of losing the first one, but the truth is that the dice have no memory. They have the same 6 sides, no matter how many times you’ve lost in a row.
Each bet in craps is an independent event, and any betting system will assume that the odds are changing based on how many times in a row you’ve won or lost.
Money Management Strategies Don’t Hurt Anything, but They Won’t Improve Your Odds of Winning, Either
Money management strategies involve having strict gambling discipline about how much of your bankroll you’re willing to risk before quitting the game. They also require you to stop when you’ve won an arbitrary amount of money.
Money management techniques are often used in conjunction with betting systems.
Here’s an example of a money management strategy in craps:
You decide your bankroll for the session is $250, and you’re playing for $5 per roll of the dice.
Your stop-loss limit is $100, so, if your bankroll drops to $150, you must quit the craps session and go do something else.
Your win goal is $250, so once your bankroll gets up to $500, you must quit the game and go do something else.
This kind of strategy might increase your chances of walking away from the game a winner.
But that’s only because a lot of gamblers will just keep playing until they’ve lost their entire stake. They just don’t generally have a lot of sense about that sort of thing.
The Jury’s Out on Dice Setting or Dice Control
I’ve seen multiple reputable gambling writers express interest and some belief that some craps shooters can influence the probability of specific outcomes. I’m skeptical – in the extreme – but I’ll give it an appropriate amount of credence.
The idea is that you hold the dice a specific way – “setting” the dice – then throw with a minimum amount of force – just enough to hit the back wall and eliminate most of the rolling action.
A controlled shooting expert doesn’t have to be perfect. Instead, they’re trying to be like someone who’s playing darts. They improve the probability enough to change the negative expectation on a bet to a positive expectation.
You can buy books and videos explaining how to get an edge at craps this way, but I can’t imagine the amount of practice and record-keeping required to have any confidence in your ability to change the odds.
Imagine if you spent 1000 hours trying to learn how to control the dice and coming up short. Maybe you just don’t have the knack for it.
Best Bets In Craps And Why
That doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.
I’d rather learn to count cards in blackjack.
Conclusion
Those are the best and the worst of the strategies I know of for playing craps in the casino. I know plenty of people who would disagree with every recommendation I’ve made, but the math behind the game doesn’t lie.
The best strategy is to stick with the bets with the lowest house edge and have as much fun as you can.
People who are just getting started with craps have a hard time understanding all the available craps bets. The truth is that the process is rather simple if you understand that out of all the possible craps bets there are only a few that’s worth the effort when playing craps. This means that you won’t have to learn or remember all of them.
The Best Craps Bets
It is possible to bet on any two dice combo but if you’re a newcomer to the game you should limit your bets to those listed below.
Pass Line Bet: This is a basic crap bet that is placed prior to the game’s first roll (come out). In games where the shooter rolls 7 or 11 you’ll win money if you placed a pass line bet but you’ll lose the bet if he rolls 2, 3 or 12. Likewise when the shooter throws the point number you’ll win on this bet and lose if he rolls a 7 before he rolls the point. Pass line bets are popular because players generally like to root for the shooter.
Don’t Pass Bet: The don’t pass bet is the exact opposite of the pass line bet. In this case players are betting against the shooter. The result is that you’ll win the don’t pass bet if the game’s shooter rolls a 2 or 3 or if he rolls 7 before rolling a second point. You’ll lose if he manages to roll the point before the 7 a second time around. If the come out roll is 12 the don’t pass bet neither wins or loses.
World Bet Craps
Odds Bet: This bet comes in just behind the pass bet if there is a point set in the game’s first roll. The bet is paid out at true odds which mean that there is no house edge on this bet. In the casino craps table there is no room for odds bets and a lot of casinos allow odd bets to be placed as much as 100 times the bet placed for pass line. An example would be, if you place a pass line bet of $10 your odds bet can be $20 or up to 100 times that which will be $1000.
For point numbers of 6 or 8 the odds bet pays 6 to 5. It pays out 3 to 2 for point numbers of 5 or 9 and 2 to 1 when the points are 4 or 10. Odds betting should always be placed on a point.
Laying Odds Bet: The laying odds bet is a stark contrast of the odds bet. It is a bet that is made to say that the shooter will throw a 7 before he rolls a second point. It also has a zero house edge.
Come Bet: Similar to a pass line bet the craps come bet is wagered on the outcome of point rolls. There is a designated area on the table that is marked for come bets. You’ll win the bet if the forthcoming roll is either 7 or 11 and lose if it’s a 2, 3 or 12. A point is set up for any roll other than those numbers.
Come Bet Odds Bet: Come bet odds are very similar to odds bet the only difference being that it must be used on a come bet rather than on a pass line bet.
Don’t Come Bet: The odds for this bet are the same as the don’t pass bet and is very similar to this bet except that it is wagered on a point number.
The bets listed above are the basic craps bets that you should be familiar with and use especially if you are a beginner. The smallest possible house edge is available on these best craps bets and they cannot be eliminated from the table until resolved. These are the only bets you need to play craps betting strategy using odds bets and decrease casino advantage to minimum.
Craps Bets With High Casino Edge
For those with a greater risk appetite, there are opportunities to win more on each roll through alternative bets. While these do pose a more aggressive house edge, players can use these bets to their advantage in order to win more substantially with each successful shoot.
Place Bet: The place bet pays slightly less than true odds, but allows players the chance to profit from rolling a place number before they roll a 7, and are associated with a particular place number depending on the bet.
Place To Lose Bet: Similar to the place bet, the place to lose bet wagers that a 7 will be rolled before the relevant place number, providing players with inverse odds to the place bet.
Buy Bet: Players can choose a place bet or a buy bet for particular numbers. The buy bet pays out at true odds, but usually attracts an additional commission of 5% from the casino on winning amounts.
Big 6 and 8 Bet: A big 6 or 8 bet pays out when the die total 6 or 8, depending on the bet, before they total 7. These bets are often avoided because they pay out at even odds, versus a place bet on either the 6 or the 8 which will pay out in a ratio of 7:6.
Hard Ways Bet: The hard way bet is a wager that the shooter will roll a 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 with exact match even die before rolling a 7, or the same number the easy way (i.e. with an odd and even die). For example, 3-3 is a hard way 6, whereas 5-1 is an easy way 6. These bets pay out at 7:1.
Single Roll Bets:These bets are resolved in one roll, as opposed to running, multi-roll bets which can continue to pay on more than one roll. There are a number of single roll bets, or proposition bets, that can be placed, as follows:
Snake Eyes – where the shooter rolls 1-1. Pays at 30:1.
Ace-Deuce – where the shooter rolls 1-2. Pays at 15:1.
Yo-Leven – where the shooter rolls 11. Pays at 15:1.
Boxcars – where the shooter rolls 12. Pays at 30:1.
Hi-Lo – where the shooter rolls 1-1 or 6-6. Pays at 15:1.
Big Red – where the shooter rolls a 7. Pays at 4:1.
The Horn – effectively four distinct bets on 2, 3, 11 and 12, paying out after a three-parts deduction for the losing three bets depending on the number rolled. Pays at 27:4 on 2/12 and 3:1 on 3/11.
Craps Game Bets
World – effectively five distinct bets on 2, 3, 11, 12 and 7. Pays at 26:5 on 2/12, 11:5 on 3/11 or 0:1 on 7.
Craps Table Bets Explained
On The Hop – a bet on two particular die being rolled, i.e. 3 and 5. Pays at 15:1 for singles and 30:1 for a pair (e.g. 4-4).
Basic Craps Bets
While each of these bets will offer more significant returns, these bets are positioned at less favorable odds to the shooter, and as such command a much more significant house edge. As a result, these wagers should only really be placed by more experienced or more confident players.
What Is The Best Bet In Craps
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