Good Craps Bets

Learn all the good bets on the craps table. Fat Tony's offering a great place to play craps, excellent free advice, and more. Craps is a fast paced game that doesn't allow you a lot of times to sit and ask questions. If you're just learning to play it would probably be good to team up with an advanced player at first.

Here’s a rundown of all the various bets in craps…

(A) Pass Line

This is the basic bet that most players make, and it’s actually one of the bestbets on the layout, with a house edge of only 1.41%. Ifyou want an easy game then you can simply stick to this bet and ignore all the otherbets. (Though to get the best chances of winning, you should really learn the Free Odds bet too.)

(B) Field Bet

This wager good for ANY single roll of the dice at ANY time. The player wins evenmoney if a 3, 4, 9, 10, or 11 is rolled. On most tables a 2 pays double and 12 paystriple. The player loses if a 5, 6, 7, or 8 is thrown. The house edge is a modest2.77% — there are better and worse bets.

(C) Come Bet

A “virtual” Pass Line bet. It’s just like the Pass Line but can be made at any time,almost ALWAYS in the middle of a round when a point has already been established.

(D) Place Bets:

The Place Bet is basically an “on-demand Point”. The player is betting that thePlaced number will roll before a 7 rolls. This bet can be made at any time, butis usually made after a point number is already established. It’s paid as follows:

A “Buy” bet is the same as the place bet, only with a different payoff. When youBuy a point you pay a 5% commission and are paid true odds if the bet wins (2:1on the 4 and 10, 3:2 on the 5 and 9, and 6:5 on the 6 and 8). The house edge onBuy bets is 4.76%, making the Buy a better deal than thePlace bet on the 4 or 10, and a worse deal on any other numbers.

Some casinos take the 5% commission only on a win In such cases the houseedge for Buying the 4 or 10 is only 1.67%.

(E) Proposition Bets:

These bets can be made on any roll of the dice.

The house edge on prop bets ranges between 11.1% and 16.67%. If your folly requires you to make prop bets thenyou should at least find a table layout with Downtown odds in order to reduce theridiculous House advantage, though even then it’s still throwing money away.

(F) Free Odds on the Pass Line:

After a point has been established, the player can increase a pass line bet by “takingodds”. Free Odds bets are paid according to the TRUE ODDS of the dice, meaning thatthese bets carry NO HOUSE EDGE, which is why they’re called”Free” Odds. This is the only bet in the casino where the odds aren’t against you.For any given amount of money that you intend to bet on Craps, you want the highestpercentage possible on the Free Odds. Herein lies the reasonwhy you should shop for a casino that offers 5X, 10X, 20X or 100X table odds!

The Free Odds bet is placed behind the pass line or original “Flat” bet. Each pointnumber pays different odds.

We have a whole separate article dedicated to the Free Oddsbet.

(G) Free Odds on Come Bets:

Odds on come bets can be made exactly the same way as odds on pass line bets, exceptthat the player hands the Odds bet to the dealer who will place it on the numberrolled and on TOP of the original Flat bet. Just like the regular Odds bet, theOdds on the Come Bet also carries no house edge.

(H) Don’t Pass Line:

This bet is the same as a pass line bet only in reverse. If the first roll is 7or 11, the player loses, 2 or 3 wins and 12 is a push or what is called a “Bar”(neither wins or loses). Most people bet the Pass instead of the Don’t Pass, soif you bet the Don’t you may be viewed as an enemy by the other players. The houseedge is 1.36%.

Don’t Come Bet:

Same as a Come bet only in reverse. Just as with the Don’t Pass Line, dealer willplace bet behind the Don’t Come number as it is rolled. If a 7 is rolled beforethe number the player wins. This player is betting with that a point number willNOT roll before a 7 does.

Hardways

These bets win if 4, 6, 8, or 10 are thrown in pairs as pictured on the table layout.They lose when the number rolls “Easy” (not in pairs or as pictured on the tablelayout) OR if a 7 rolls first.

Best Online Craps Games

Craps is a popular game but not for the house. It has an extremely low edge. The edge is so low that sharp players in land-based casinos have said that if the casino rewards program is good enough, you can end a table session even or lose a bit and come out ahead overall. This is why not every online sportsbook and casino out there will include craps in their casino rebate or count it toward the bonus rollover.

Predictem has listed the online sportsbooks & casinos that have the best Craps game as well as which will offer bonuses or rebates.

Bookmaker is the only sportsbook that will give you a true bonus and, to some extent, allow you Craps table play count toward the rollover. Heritage and 5dimes will give you rebates but only on losses, not volume of play.

Playing the Don’t Pass in Craps

The don’t pass line bettor on a craps table is usually the quiet guy or gal who tends to keep to themselves and avoid eye contact with all the other ‘right-way’ shooters. This bet is opposite of the pass line bet. When you make a don’t pass bar bet you are banking on the shooter to ‘seven out’ before hitting a point number. It’s actually not a bad bet, but most people prefer to go with the shooter. Similar to the pass line bet, as a ‘wrong bettor’ you must also place your chips on the area marked ‘Don’t Pass Bar’ which is located directly above the pass line. See the craps table layout below:

Typical Casino Craps Table Layout

How do I win on the come out roll? The come out roll is the only segment of the wrong bet that is at a disadvantage. The reason for this disadvantage is the wrong bettor only wins on the come out roll if a 2 or 3 is rolled, which can only be accomplished three ways-1,1 1,2 2,1. The pass line bettor, however, can win only if a 7 or 11 is rolled, which can be done eight ways-1,6 6,1 2,5 5,2 3,4 4,3 5,6 6,5. During the come out roll the pass line bettor has an 8-3 advantage over the don’t pass bettor, but as soon as a point is established the don’t pass bettor wins two thirds of the time as opposed to the pass line bettor who only wins one third of the time.

Is there a difference between taking odds and laying odds? Yes. As a pass line bettor you are taking odds because the casino has the advantage due to the fact that the number seven can be rolled in more combinations than any other number. Therefore, the pass line odds bet is paid more than even money. The don’t pass bar odds bet pays even money simply because the player now has the advantage over the casino. There’s no way a casino is going to offer more than even money when they are already facing a disadvantage!

Is the don’t pass odds payoff the same as the pass line odds payoff? No. In fact, the don’t pass bar odds are paid exactly opposite of the pass line odds. For example, if the point was the number four a $5 bet on the don’t pass bar backed by a $10 odds bet would win $5 from the original don’t pass bar bet and another $5 from the $10 odds bet. Notice that the payoff on the point number four is 1 to 2 which is opposite of the same point number if bet on the pass line. The wrong bettors must pay more to win less as they have the advantage that the next roll will produce a seven-out.

Good Craps Bets

Where do I place my don’t pass bar odds bet? Unlike the pass line odds bet which is placed directly behind the original bet, the don’t pass bar odds bet is placed next (on the side) to the original bet. The odds bets are bridged, or heeled. Bridging means that the odds payoff will be the same amount as the original don’t pass bar bet, for example, one red chip next another red chip, then placing a third chip red chip on top of the two. Healing means that the odds payoff will be greater than the original don’t pass bar bet, in this case the original red chip bet on the don’t pass bar will be sided by another red chip and then topped (off center a bit) with four white chips thus indicating a greater payoff if a seven out occurs. I know, confusing stuff!

Good Craps Bets Games

The don’t pass bet can be removed by the player at anytime, but I don’t recommend it because it’s a great bet. If you can get by the come out roll without to much damage I highly encourage playing the don’t pass bar. There are different systems and strategies to use while betting the wrong way, but first you must be.

Craps Game Bets