Craps Rules Strategy

• How To Play Craps Basic Strategy
• Craps Rules Betting Strategy

Beginner’s Craps Game Guide. Learn How to Play Craps Online. Learn How To Play Craps. Here we explore the specifics of craps strategy, dice setting, the types of craps bets and betting systems, and the theoretical probability of winning. We review the probability of certain dice.

Here we explore the specifics of craps strategy, dice setting, the types of craps bets and betting systems, and the theoretical probability of winning. We review the probability of certain dice outcomes, and suggest the best (and worst) bets depending on your goals for the game.

Craps Strategy Guide

The best craps strategy is to learn how to play the game, understand the basic bets which offer the best odds, and stick with those bets. Betting systems which involve raising and lowering your bets based on some arbitrary criteria are a bad idea, because they don’t affect your chances of winning. Hedging your bets is also a bad idea.

Craps is a straightforward casino game, but the bewildering number of bets, many of which are the worst bets in the casino, make it a profitable enterprise in every casino. The strategy that we recommend involves being realistic and having fun while you play. This page looks at some strategies to avoid, and it also explains which legitimate strategic choices actually make sense mathematically.

Learn How to Play

The best way to learn how to play crap is to take one of the free classes that the casino offers, but keep in mind that they won’t go into a lot of detail about which bets are best and which bets are worst. They will show you how the action works, though, so if you’re new to the game, taking one of these classes is a great idea. There is no faster way to learn the game, in fact.

Know the Best Bets

The number of good bets at the craps table is relatively small. If you stick with these bets, you’ll minimize the house edge, which is the percentage of every bet that you’re mathematically expected to lose over the long run. Don’t be fooled by short-term standard deviation. In the short run, which is longer than you think, anything can happen. The smart play is still to stick with the bets offering the best odds.

The only good bets at the craps table are the following:

1. Pass
2. Don’t Pass
3. Come
4. Don’t Come
5. Free Odds
6. Place Bets on 6 and/or 8

The house edge for pass and don’t pass bets (and for come and don’t come bets) is only 1.41% and 1.36% respectively. That means that the casino expects to win $1.41 (or $1.36) for every $100 you wager at the craps table. Compared to the house edge of 5.26% at the roulette table, this is a lot of entertainment for very little money. And if you take the free odds when they’re available, you can reduce the house edge even more.

On the other hand, most of the proposition bets on the craps table have a house edge of 6% or more. Some of them even have a house edge in the double digits. Don’t waste your money placing bad bets. You’re better off spending that money on a show or something.

Don’t Forget to Claim Your Winnings

One common error that neophyte craps players make is forgetting to pick up their winnings from the table. If you leave it on the table, it’s considered part of the action on the next roll, so be sure to pay attention and claim your winnings when you want them.

Craps Systems Don’t Work

Any number of bogus systems involving changing the size of your bets based on a variety of criteria are available. For example, one system might have you increase your bets when the shooter wins. The stated goal of such behavior is to increase the amount of money you have in action during a shooter’s hot streak.

The reason this doesn’t work is called the gambler’s fallacy. This is the name mathematicians give the idea that previous events have an effect on subsequent events, when in reality, these events are independent of each other.

The thinking goes like this. If a shooter has won four times in a row, he’s hot, and you should bet more in order to take advantage of his winning streak. The fallacy is that the fifth roll’s math has no relation to the previous bets.

Sizing Your Bets

You should bet an amount you’re comfortable with, and you should also put as much money into the free odds bet as you can. For example, if you’re playing in a casino that allows double odds, then bet 1/3 of what you’re comfortable with on the pass line, and bet the other 2/3 on the free odds. By doing so, you’re reducing the house significantly, because the odds bet has no house edge—it pays out at true odds. This turns a good bet at the craps table into a great bet.

Getting Along with the Other Players

We’re big believers that your #1 goal at a gambling table should be to have as much fun as possible. If you win money on top of that, then that’s just gravy. So here’s a craps strategy recommendation that focuses almost exclusively on having fun, proper etiquette, and it’s aimed at new players:

Avoid the don’t pass and don’t come bets.

The odds are slightly better on those two bets, but it’s probably not worth it, because you’re betting against the shooter and most of the rest of the table. Some people might find that to be too confrontational for their tastes.

Besides, isn’t it more fun to root for someone to win, especially if everyone else is? Rooting for someone to lose is just a downer. And that’s bad strategy.

Craps Dice Setting

Setting the dice in craps is (theoretically) an advantage play strategy. Advantage players try to use skill to get an edge over the house in casino games. Dice control fans claim that someone can develop enough skill at throwing the dice that they can affect the odds just enough to give the player a slight edge over the casino.

Casinos have some experience dealing with advantage players because card counting has been a thorn in their sides since the 1960s. They’ve established a large number of countermeasures to thwart card counters, in fact. They ban players suspected of counting cards. They change the rules of the game to make it harder for counters to get an edge. They increase the number of decks and/or use automatic shuffling machines to eliminate a counter’s edge.

So the question a skeptic might ask is this: If setting the dice in craps works, why haven’t the casinos taken any measures to prevent dice setters from taking them for all they’re worth?

The rest of this page ignores the question of whether or not dice setting actually works. Instead, it provides an overview of how to learn to control the dice. Perhaps with enough practice, you can demonstrate mathematically that dice control is a viable advantage play technique.

Dice Setting 101

According to the dice control experts, anyone who can throw the dice can learn how to control the dice with enough practice. The three things to focus on when learning how to control the dice are alignment, delivery, and grip.

Alignment refers to how the dice line up with the craps table. They should line up as if they were sitting flat on the table.

Delivery means the actual throw. You’re required to throw the dice hard enough to hit the opposite wall. Your goal as a dice setter is to toss the dice gently enough to just barely hit the wall. Most players try to give the dice some backspin. You want the dice to stay together as they fly through the air.

Grip might be the most important aspect. You should use a gentle grip while making sure that the dice are kissing each other. They should have absolutely no space between them.

Remember that your goal isn’t to roll a specific total. Your goal is simply to tilt the odds in your favor by avoiding rolling certain numbers. You don’t want to “crap out”.

Get a replica of a casino craps table built in the basement or garage of your home, practice, and track your results until you’re confident that your dice throwing skills provide you with an actual edge over the casino. This will require a large number of trials to be statistically valid, and you should probably enlist the help of a confederate in order to keep track of the numbers.

Betting Strategies When Setting the Dice in Craps

Before you can apply your newfound skills in a casino, you’ll need a bankroll. This is the amount of money that you’ve set aside strictly for the purposes of gambling. You should be comfortable taking this money out of your lifestyle budget. You don’t want to risk losing your rent money or your car payment at the craps table.

You should also keep in mind that even if you succeed in getting an edge over the casino, there is still an element of chance involved. Skilled dice setters don’t claim to be able to shoot with 100% accuracy, and if you get on a losing streak, you can go broke. (Card counters deal with the same issue.)

Once you have the size of your bankroll established, you can decide on the size of your bets. Dice control experts claim to be able to get an edge of about 1% over the house, which is similar to the edge card counters are able to achieve. Your goal is to maximize your profits while minimizing your chances of going broke.

According to the Kelly Criterion, the best way to do this is to size your bets as a percentage of your bankroll equal to the edge you have over the casino. So if you have a 1% edge over the casino, you should bet 1% of your bankroll. So if your bankroll is $10,000, you should place bets of $100.

The best bets to make are the pass line and come bets with as much odds as the casino will let you take. Betting on the 6 or the 8 are also good choices. You don’t have to do anything complicated when placing the bets—just go with the wagers that offer the best odds for any craps player, regardless of whether or not they’re using an advantage technique, and you’ll be fine.

I’ve seen some websites which claim that big winners at your table will draw unwanted attention from the casino. The assumption is that even though you’ll be making reasonably small bets in order to stay under the radar, other bettors might bet big and win based on how well you’re shooting.

I’ve never seen or heard of any casino barring a dice shooter for being too good at the game, though. I’ve never even seen anyone claim such a thing. It’s not impossible, but my guess is that it’s unlikely enough that you needn’t worry about it.

Summary

Dice control is a technique that tries to turn the game of craps from a game of pure chance into a game of skill (like darts). It’s questionable whether or not it’s a realistic advantage play technique, but it’s theoretically possible. Learning how to set the dice involves experiment with your grip, your delivery, and the alignment. Having a reasonable sized bankroll and sticking with the best bets on the table will help someone maximize their chances of turning this into a viable casino strategy.

Craps Bets Explained

It’s hard to believe now, but just a few decades ago, craps was the biggest moneymaker in any casino. Over the last fifty or so years, it’s gradually declined in popularity, while slots and blackjack have becoming increasingly popular. One of the reasons for this decline is the seeming complexity of the game, which features a multitude of what seem like bewildering bets.

The truth is, though, that the best bets on a craps table are the simplest bets, so you don’t even have to learn all the betting types to play. If you stick with the basics, you can have lots of fun, and your money will last a long time.

This page describes those bets along with some of the more exotic (and not necessarily recommended) other bets.

The Pass Line Bet

This is one of the most basic bets in the game. You place a pass line bet before the come-out roll, which is the first roll of the dice in a round of play. If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, the pass line bet wins. If it’s a 2, 3, or a 12, the pass line bet loses.

Players love this bet because it’s rooting for the shooter to win. It’s also one of the best bets at the table, with a house edge of only 1.41%.

The pass line bets pays out even money.

Don’t Pass Line

This is the opposite of the pass line bet. If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, the don’t pass line bet loses. If it’s a 2, 3, or a 12, the don’t pass line bet wins.

How To Play Craps Basic Strategy

The house edge on the don’t pass line bet is marginally better than the house edge on the pass line bet. It’s 1.36%, which is 0.05% better. You’d have to be betting $2000 or more per hour to even notice the difference, and even then, in the long run, you’re only gaining $1 per hour over the pass line bet.

Players who stick with the don’t pass line bet are called “wrong bettors”.

If any number other than 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12 comes up, a point is set. We’ll discuss that more soon.

The Come Bet

If the pass line and the don’t pass line bets were the only two options available, anyone could learn craps in moments, but it wouldn’t be such an interesting game. That’s why the come bet is available, too.

The come bet basically treats the roll of the dice after a point has been set as if it were another come-out roll. It’s treated the same as a pass line bet.

So if a shooter is trying to make a point, and you’ve made a come bet, then that bet pays out just like it would if this were a come-out roll instead an attempt to make a point.

The Don’t Come Bet

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. If the come bet is the equivalent of a pass line bet, then the don’t come bet is the equivalent of the don’t pass line bet. Just like the come bet, it’s a bet against the shooter trying to make the point, but it treats that roll just as if it were a come-out roll.

Taking Odds

This the best bet in the game. In fact, it’s almost always the best bet in the casino. The trick is that you can only take odds after you’ve made an initial pass line or come bet.

Taking odds is a bet that can be made any time a point is established. The amount you bet in this case wins if the point is rolled before a 7 is rolled.

And unlike every other bet in the casino, the taking odds bet pays out at true odds. There is no house edge.

Casinos limit the amount you can wager on taking odds as a multiple of the amount you wagered on the initial pass line or come bet. The higher the multiple, the better deal this bet becomes.

If the point is 4 or 10, taking odds pays out 2 to 1.

If the point is 5 or 9, taking odds pays out 3 to 2.

If the point is 6 or 8, taking odds pays out 6 to 5.

Laying Odds

This is the opposite of taking odds, and it pays out when the shooter gets a 7 before rolling a point. You can only lay odds if you placed a don’t pass line or don’t come bet first, and like taking odds, you can only wager a particular multiple of that bet. The casino has house rules about the max you can bet.

The payouts for this bet also pay out at true odds, but since you’re placing the opposite bet, the payouts are different, as follows:

If the point is 4 or 10, laying odds pays out 1 to 2.

If the point is 5 or 9, laying odds pays out 2 to 3.

If the point is 6 or 8, laying odds pays out 5 to 6.

Place Bets

Besides the bets already mentioned, the only other good bets at the craps table are place bets. You can make a wager on a place bet on any of the point numbers at any time. The point numbers are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. If the number you chose is rolled before a 7, then you win. If a 7 rolls before your number, then you lose.

These bets do NOT pay out at true odds. The house edge varies based on which number you make a place bet on.

If you make a place bet on 6 or 8, then the casino pays out 7 to 6, giving the house an edge of 1.52%.

If you make a place bet on 5 or 9, then the casino pays out 7 to 5, giving the house an edge of 4%.

If you make a place bet on 4 or 10, then the casino pays out 9 to 5, giving the house an edge of 6.67%.

Buy and Lay Bets

The buy bet is the same as a place bet, only it pays out at true odds instead of at the payouts for a place bet. There’s a catch, though. The house charges a 5% commission (or vig) on this bet. This makes the house edge on all of those bets the same: 4.76%.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you should never place a buy bet on 5, 6, 8, or 9, but you should never make a place bet on 4 or 10, either. You’d have to be a fool to give the casino that much of an edge over you without getting something else in exchange.

Lay bets are the opposite of buy bets, and, like the buy bets, the casino charges a 5% commission in exchange for paying out at the bets’ true odds. You’re betting that a particular number will NOT be rolled before a 7 comes up.

Put Bets

Put bets aren’t allowed in all casinos. In fact, casinos in Atlantic City and Connecticut don’t even offer this option, but it’s not a big deal, because this isn’t such a great idea for the player anyway.

A put bet allows a player to bet on the pass line after the come-out roll. The player gets to choose her point. Of course, you can achieve the same effect with a buy or place bet.

Proposition Bets

Many of the bets on a craps table are proposition bets. Just as the bets listed above offer some of the best odds in the casino, the bets listed below offer some of the worst odds in the casino. Most of the proposition bets are one-roll bets–the outcome of the next roll determines a win or loss.

The Field Bet

The field bet is popular with beginners to craps, but that doesn’t make it a good bit. It only SEEMS like a good bet. A bet on the field is a bet that the next roll will be one of the following: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12.

This seems like a good bet because it pays out on 7 out of 12 numbers.

The house usually pays out even money for 3, 4, 9, 10, or 11, and it usually pays out 2 to 1 for a 2 or 12. Some generous casinos even pay out 3 to 1 for a 2 or 12.

The house edge for the usual payout structure is 5.56%, but at casinos which offer the 3 to 1 payout on the 2 or 12, it’s only 2.78%.

Big 6 and Big 8

This is the same thing as a place bet on 6 or a place bet on 8, with one exception. The big 6 and the big 8 bets only pay even money. (A place bet on these numbers pays out at 7 to 6.) This is what gamblers call a sucker bet. This one change makes the house edge on these two bets 9.09%. Compared with a 1.52% house edge, big 6 or big 8 are such lousy bets that you’d almost think they’d be illegal.

Hardways

A hardway bet is placed on an exact combination of dice, and these combinations are pictured on the betting surface of the craps table. There are four possible hardway bets:

1. Hard Four (2-2)
2. Hard Six (3-3)
3. Hard Eight (4-4)
4. Hard Ten (5-5)

Hardways are won if the combination is rolled before a 7.

The Hard Four and Hard Ten bets pay out 7 to 1, and they have a house edge of 11.11%.

The Hard Six and Hard Eight bets pay out 9 to 1, and they have a house edge of 9.09%.

Any Craps

This is a one-roll bet that the next total will be 2, 3, or 12. The bet has a payout of 7 to 1 and a house edge of 11.11%.

Any 7

This is a one-roll bet that the next total will be 7. This bet pays out at 4 to 1 and has a house edge of 16.67%.

Eleven or Three

These are two separate bets, but they’re more or less the same. Each bet is a one-roll wager that the next total will be 11 (or 3). In either case, it pays out at 15 to 1 and has a house edge of 11.11%.

Twelve or Two

These are also two separate bets that are more or less the same. Each bet is a one-roll wager that the next total will be 12 (or 2). Either way, it pays out 30 to 1, and the house edge is 13.89%.

Horn Bet

This is a one-roll bet on the following four numbers: 2, 3, 11, and 12. You have to place this bet in a multiple of 4, with 25% of the total on each of those numbers. If any one of these numbers is rolled, you win. The house edge on this one is 12.5%.

Horn High Bet

This is like a horn bet, but it’s made in multiples of 5 instead of 4. 20% of the bet goes on three of hour numbers, while the other 40% of the bet is placed on the high number that the players chooses. For example, if you bet $5 on this one, you might put $1 each on the 2, 3, and 12, and then put your additional $2 on the $11. The house edge is huge and depends on which of the high numbers you choose.

Craps Rules Betting Strategy

C&E

This is an abbreviation for “craps and eleven”. It’s a one-roll wager that the next number rolled will be 2, 3, 11, or 12.

Hop Bet

The hop bet is a one-roll bet that the next roll will be a particular combination. For example, you might bet on a 2-2 coming up next, which is called a “hopping hardway”. You could also bet on another combination, like 6-4. Most of these bets pay 15 to 1, but the 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5 pay 30 to 1. The house edge on the former is 11.11%, and the house edge on the latter is 13.89%.

As you can see, the best bets at the craps table are the simplest bets. Stick with those, and you’re playing one of the most exciting and least expensive games in the casino. The more complicated bets are for suckers. Avoid them like you’d avoid angering a large bull.

Odds for Dice Outcomes in Craps

When someone discusses craps odds, they’re discussing one of two things—the odds of rolling a certain number, or the payout for a particular bet. Odds are one way of describing a probability, but they’re also a way of describing how much a bet pays.

This page explains both types of craps odds. We refer to payout odds as the number that a bet pays off, and true odds as the probability that a given outcome will appear. The difference between the true odds and the payout odds is the house edge, which is the number that explains how the casinos stay so probable.

The Basics of Probability

Probability is that branch of mathematics that deals with the likelihood of something happening (or not happening). An event’s probability is always a number between 0 and 1, but that number can be expressed in multiple ways.

A simple example of a probability is a coin flip. The probability of the result being heads is 0.5, because half the time, that’s what will happen. 0.5 can be expressed also as 50%, ½, or 1 to 1.

That last expression of the probability is the one we’re most concerned with on this page, because that’s an expression of the odds.

The equation for calculating a probability is to divide the number of ways something can happen by the number of total ways it could happen. When rolling dice, you can calculate the odds of rolling a 1 by dividing 1 by 6. There are 6 possible outcomes, but the one you want to know is the chance of rolling a 1.

1/6 can also be expressed as 0.167 or 16.7% or 5 to 1. When expressing a probability as odds, you compare the number of ways something won’t happen with the number of ways something can happen. There’s only 1 way to roll a 1 on a single die, but there are 5 ways to roll something else, so the odds are 5 to 1.

When you’re calculating multiple probabilities, you add the probabilities together when you want to know the odds of event A OR event B happening. You multiple them by each other when you want to know the odds of event A AND event B happening.

For example, if you want to calculate the probability of rolling a total of 2 on 2 dice, you would multiply the probabilities of rolling a 1 on the first die by the probability of rolling a 1 on the second die. 1/6 X 1/6 = 1/36, which can be represented as odds of 35 to 1. (You’re calculating the odds of rolling a 1 on die A AND the odds of rolling a 1 on die B.)

On the other hand, if you wanted to know the probability of rolling a 1 on either of the two dice, you’d ADD the two probabilities together, and you’d get a result of 1/6 + 1/6, or 2/6, which can be reduce to 1/3. That would be expressed in odds as 2 to 1.

True Odds

When you discuss the odds of something happening, you’re discussing the true odds, or the probability, that something will happen. The difference between the true odds and the payout odds is what creates an edge for the casino. Casinos wouldn’t make a profit if they paid bets off at their true odds; they’d only break even. And like any other business, casinos exist to make a profit.

Payout Odds

So every bet in a casino pays out at less than true odds, except for one, which we’ll discuss later. For example, if you make a bet on something that has a 3 to 1 chance of happening, and the casino pays out at 2 to 1 on that bet, the casino will make a profit in the long run.

Suppose in a mathematically perfect simulation that you place four bets of $1 each on something that has a probability of occurring of 3 to 1. You would win once and lose three times. If you lose $1 on your three losses, and you win $2 on your single win, how much money did you net? You lost $1.

For every dollar that you wagered in that scenario, you lost an average of 25 cents.

That’s the house edge in a nutshell.

The House Edge

The house edge is usually expressed as a percentage of each bet that you can expect to lose over the long run. In the example above, the house edge was 25%, which is huge.

The house edge on most casino games is between 1% and 10%, but in craps, you’ll find some of the best bets and some of the worst bets in the casino.

The Best Odds in Craps

The best bets at the craps table are the ones with the lowest house edge, and luckily, those are also the simplest bets you can make. These bets include the pass bet, the don’t pass bet, the come bet, the don’t come bet, taking odds, and laying odds.

The house edge on the pass bet and the come bet is 1.41%, which means that for every $100 you wager, you should expect to lose, in the long run, an average of $1.41.

The house edge on the don’t pass and the don’t come bet is 1.36%, which means that for every $100 you wager, you should expect to lose, in the long run, an average of $1.36.

When you take odds or lay odds, your bet pays out at true odds. This means the house edge is 0, making this the best bet in the casino. The only catch is that in order to take or lay odds, you have to make a pass or don’t pass bet first.

The Worst Odds in Craps

The worst bets at the craps table are the complicated bets. They have the highest house edge, and when we say the house edge is high, we mean that it’s staggering.

The craps table features countless proposition bets of varying complexity, but here are a few examples of bets with bad odds in craps.

The Big 6 and Big 8 bets offer a house edge of 9.09%. That’s absurd when you consider that you can place the same bet as a “place bet” and only face a house edge of, at most, 6.67%.

Hardway bets also offer lousy odds. The house edge is either 9.09% or 11.11%, depending on which hard total you’re wagering on.

The Any Seven bet is another doozy. The house edge on this one is a whopping 16.67%.

Any time you find a game with bets with a house edge that ranges between 1.36% and 16.67%, you should educate yourself about which bets are offer the best odds and which ones offer the worst odds.

Theoretical Probability of Winning Craps

The game of craps is unique in a couple of ways. For one thing, the game offers some of the best bets in the casino. For another, it also offers some of the worst bets at the same time. Most casino games either have a high house edge or a low house edge; craps has both.

Another intriguing aspect of craps is that it’s the only casino game where you can bet on something NOT happening. In all other casino games, the only event that you can bet on is the one that happens. You can’t bet that red won’t come up in roulette; you can only bet on black or on one of the green zeroes.

Both of these make for interesting uses of probability in analyzing the game.

Possible Totals and Their Probabilities

In craps, there are only 12 possible totals, but the probabilities of the various totals vary significantly. That’s because, as a probability problem, each total (except for 2 and 12) can be achieved in multiple ways.

Here’s a list of each of the totals along with the ways of achieving them and the probability of getting each of them:

2 is only possible if you get a 1 on both dice. The probability of that happening is 1/36. This is calculated by multiplying the odds of getting a 1 on the first die with the probability of getting a 1 on the second die. As a math problem, it looks like this: 1/6 X 1/6 = 36.

3 is possible in 2 different ways. The first is to get a 1 on the first die and a 2 on the second die, and the second is to get a 2 on the first die and a 1 on the second die. This makes a total of 3 twice as likely as a total of 2, which is a probability of 2/36.

4 is possible in 3 different ways. You can get a 1 on the first die and 3 on the second. You could also get a 3 on the first die and a 1on on the second. Or you could get a 2 on both dice. That’s 3 times as likely as getting a 2, which means the probability is 3/36.

5 is possible in 4 different ways. You can get a 1 and a 4, a 4 and a 1, a 2 and a 3, or a 3 and a 2. That’s 4 times as likely as getting a 2, which means the probability is 4/36.

6 is possible in 5 different ways. You can get a 1 and a 5, a 5 and a 1, a 2 and a 4, a 4 and a 2, or a 3 and 3. That’s 5 times as likely as getting a 2, which means the probability is 5/36.

7 is the most likely outcome when rolling two dice. There are 6 ways to get a total of 7: a 1 and a 6, a 6 and a 1, a 2 and 5, a 5 and a 2, a 4 and a 3, and a 3 and a 4. This is 6 times as likely as rolling a 2, which means the probability is 6/36.

The rest of the totals correspond accordingly. A total of 8 has the same probability as a total of 6. A total of 9 has the same probability as a total of 5. A total of 10 has the same probability as a total of 4. A total of 11 has the same probability as a total of 3, and a total of 12 is exactly as likely as a total of 2.

Expressing these Probabilities

Expressing a probability as a fraction is just one way to express it. Another way is to express a probability as a decimal. You could also convert that to a percentage, which is very common and quite intuitive. Finally, you can express probabilities in odds format.

Understanding that something will happen once every 36 times is intuitive enough when looked at as a fraction. But 2.78% is also an intuitive way of looking at it. Poker players probably prefer to look at that number as odds, which are 35 to 1. (There are 35 ways to NOT roll a 2, and only 1 way to roll the 2.)

Understanding the House Edge

Probability matters because of the house edge. Casino games are rigged, as it turns out, but not in the way you think. The reason casinos are profitable is because they never pay bets out at their true odds of happening.

For example, if you place a bet that a 2 is going to come up on the next roll of the dice, the odds of winning are 35 to 1. But this bet pays off at 30 to 1.

So suppose you bet $1 on that total 36 times in a row, and you saw mathematically perfect results. (This won’t happen in the short run, but the more rolls of the dice that are seen, the closer the results will mirror the mathematical expectation.)

You’ve bet a total of $36. You won one of those bets, and you got $30 out of the deal. The difference of $6 is your net loss. That difference represents the house edge, and it’s usually expressed as a percentage. The house edge on this particular bet is 13.89%, which means that you can expect to lose $13.89 for every $100 you wager.

This number might be meaningless, but you can use it to calculate how much entertainment you see for your dollar. The reality is that if you play any game with a house edge long enough, you’ll eventually lose all your money to the house. The trick is to maximize the amount of entertainment you get out of the deal.

Calculating Expected Losses per Hour

Suppose you’re playing craps, and you’re making the bet on the 2 over and over. The house edge is 13.89%. Assume that you’re able to make 40 bets per hour at $2.50 per bet. That’s $100 per hour you’re putting into action.

At that rate, you’ll lose $13.89/hour over the long run.

Compare that with another game, roulette. Let’s say that you’re playing on a standard American roulette wheel, where the house edge is 5.26%. You can assume 40 bets per hour here, too, and if you assume the same amount per bet, you’re looking at losing $5.26 per hour over the long run.

Roulette seems like the better game, right? But that’s just because we picked one of the worst bets at the craps table.

The best bet at the craps table is the don’t pass bet, which has a house edge of only 1.36%. Now you’re looking at an expected loss of $1.36 per hour. Heck, you can drink a couple of free cocktails an hour and wind up having a lot of fun for very little money at that rate.

Understanding probability and the house edge is the first step to becoming an intelligent gambler.

Craps Betting Systems

Betting systems of any kind are exercises in futility. No manipulation of your betting amounts can change the fact that all casino games have an insurmountable edge over the house. This includes craps betting systems.

The big error that most betting systems make is assuming that the odds of something happening change because of what happened previously. This is true (to an extent) in a game like blackjack, but that’s because the deck has a memory—once a specific card has been played, it can’t be played again until the deck has been re-shuffled.

In other games, like roulette and craps, each outcome is an independent event. Just because someone has been rolling hot all night doesn’t mean she’s statistically likely to continue rolling hot. It also doesn’t mean that she’s due for a loss. The odds of each outcome of each roll remain the same regardless of what happened on the previous one, two, three, or even thirty rolls.

The rest of this page explores and examines some craps betting systems.

Hedge Bets

Some of the worst systems you’ll come across involve what’s called “hedge betting”. These bets are supposed to reduce your risk. For example, you might try to hedge your bet on a pass line bet by also placing a bet on any craps. This seems like a can’t lose system, but once you examine the math, the system falls apart.

Suppose you make a pass line bet of $20. You have 8 ways to win, 4 ways to lose, and 24 results which are essentially “no result”. After 36 rolls, on average, you’ll have won $20 eight times, lost $20 four times, and seen a “no effect” the rest of the time, for an average win of $80.

Now suppose you make a pass line bet of $20 and a $5 bet on “any craps”. You now have 12 ways to win and 24 ways to lose. You’ll only win an average of $60 over 36 rolls with this system.

You’re better off just sticking with the pass line bet, obviously, right?

The Rothstein System

Another craps betting system that might be familiar to some players is called “the Rothstein system”. It’s just a variation on a popular betting system called the Martingale System, and it’s equally worthless.

The way this system works is that you begin by placing a single betting unit on the pass line. If you lose, you bet again, but this time you bet three units. If you lose again, you bet seven units. In other words, any time you lose, you double your last bet and add one unit.

If you win after your first bet, you’re up by one unit. If you win after your second bet, you’re up by two units. And so on.

Each time you win, you go back and start over again with one unit.

The Watcher System

We’ve also seen this one called “the Patience System”. Your goal is to win $10 a day with this system. You need a bankroll of $500 minimum for this system.

This time, instead of betting the pass line, you’re betting don’t pass. To use this system, you watch the game until there have been four successful pass line bets in a row. Then you bet $10 on don’t pass, because surely by now the dice are bound to lose, right?

This system is flawed because it doesn’t take into account the fact that each roll of the dice is an independent event. The probability on the upcoming roll doesn’t change just because of the four rolls prior.

People who like this system like to point out that the odds of the dice winning five successive passes are 31 to 1. So the idea is that you’ll win $10 31 out of 32 times. The advice this system promotes is also to quit playing for the day once you’ve won.

What if you do lose, though? The system has a plan for that, too. You double your bet on don’t pass. The odds of six successive passes are 63 to 1, and if you win this time, you win your money back and then some. And if you lose again, you double your bet again, because the odds of seven successive passes are 127 to 1.

Every progressive betting system faces the same problem. Eventually you’ll wind up with a long enough losing streak that you won’t be able to make your next bet in the progression because it’s over the house maximum bet.

Also, you’re not betting that five (or six, or seven) successive passes will be made. You’re only betting on the next pass. The odds of winning are slightly less than 50%, regardless of what happened on the previous rolls.

Hot and Cold Betting Systems

The idea behind these kinds of systems is to bet the pass line when the shooter is hot, and to bet the pass line when the shooter is cold. One common way to approach this system is to bet the pass line.

If the shooter wins, you continue to bet the pass line. As soon as the shooter loses, you switch to betting on the don’t pass line. You switch back as soon as the shooter wins again. The goal is to eventually catch someone on a winning streak (or a losing streak) and win lots of money during that streak.

This would work great if the house didn’t have a total on the don’t come bets that don’t win or lose. The percentage of those will eventually eat up any edge you might have gained using this system.

The Best System Is No System at All

Going with the best odds is the best craps system you can use. That’s easy enough to do. Just bet the pass line (or the don’t pass line), and whenever you’re able to take or lay odds, take or lay the maximum you can. This reduces the house edge dramatically. It doesn’t eliminate it, but your entertainment dollar will stretch a lot farther.

Martingale System – Progressive & Reverse

The Martingale System is arguably the most famous betting system in history. It’s an example of a “progressive betting system”. In this case, progressive means that bets get progressively larger until the player has a win—you shouldn’t confused the word’s use with its use when discussing slot machine jackpots, for example.

The Martingale System is easy enough to learn to use. Find a gambling game which offers an even money bet. The pass line bet in craps would be one example, as would betting on black or red in roulette. (This system is especially popular with roulette players.)

Then place a one unit bet. If you win, pocket your winnings. If you lose, double the size of your next bet; i.e., bet two units. If you win this time, you’ve won back the bet you lost on your first bet plus one unit. If you lose, you double up again on your next bet, this time wagering four units.

The system is designed to result in a profit of one unit after each inevitable win.

An Example of the Martingale in Action

Here’s a fictional example. You bet $10 on the pass line at the craps table and lose. On your next bet, you bet $20, and you lose again. On your third bet, you bet $40, and you win.

You lose $10 on the first bet and $20 on the second bet, for a total loss of $30. When you win on the third bet, you’re up $10.

Does the Martingale System Work?

At first glance, this seems like an unbeatable betting system, and it actually would be unbeatable if it weren’t for two things:

1. The fact that you don’t have an unlimited bankroll, and
2. The fact that casinos have betting limits.

It might seem unlikely that your next bet would be so high that your bankroll couldn’t cover it, but let’s look at the actual numbers. Assume you have a gambling bankroll of $5000. How many times in a row would you have to lose before you ran out of money?

The progression looks like this: $10, $20, $40, $80, $160, $320, $640, $1280, $2560, $5120…

So you only have to lose ten times in a row in order to need to bet more than your entire bankroll in order to continue using your system. But what’s worse is that all those bets were eating into your bankroll before that point, so you’re actually out of money after nine bets, not ten.

Some might think that with even money bets it’s extremely unlikely that you’d ever lose nine times in a row on an even money bet, but it happens more often than you think. And when it does happen, it’s a devastating loss.

But that’s not the only problem with this system. The other problem is betting limits. Casinos don’t let you wager any amount you want to. They have a maximum bet (and a minimum bet) at any table.

It’s not unusual to find a table where you have a minimum $10 bet and a maximum $500 bet. You only have to lose six times in a row in order to be unable to continue your progression.

So on a practical level, the Martingale doesn’t work. You’ll never have an unlimited bankroll, even if you find a casino with extremely high betting limits.

The other problem is that eventually you’ll have to place such a large wager that you’re putting a tremendous amount of money into action of a tiny net win. Do you really want to place a wager for $320 in order to see a net win of just $10? Common sense would tell you that’s a bad deal.

The Reverse Martingale

A related betting system is the “Reverse Martingale”, which is also sometimes called the “Anti-Martingale”. In this variation of the system, you increase your bets when you’re winning, and you reduce your bets when you’re losing. The theory is that you’ll benefit from your hot streaks while minimizing the damage from your inevitable losing streaks.

The Reverse Martingale proceeds from a mistake in logic called the gambler’s fallacy. This is the belief that if something has happened several times in a row, it becomes less likely to happen again, and vice versa. The reality in almost all gambling games is that each bet is an independent event, and the odds don’t change.

In other words, if you spin a roulette wheel five times in a row, and it lands on red each times, the odds of the ball landing on black the sixth time are still the same. They don’t increase or decrease based on the previous events.

All casino games have a mathematical edge over the player. No betting strategy changes that mathematical fact. Betting systems like the Martingale can be fun in the short run, and they might even occasionally show a small profit. But if you play a negative expectation game long enough, you’ll eventually see a net loss. That’s how casino gambling works.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You just need to understand it so that you can have the right attitude about gambling. It’s entertainment, and you should treat it as such. Don’t pin your ability to make a living or pay your bills on the false hopes offered by progressive betting systems.

On the other hand, if playing using a progressive betting system makes the game more fun for you, then by all means indulge yourself. Gambling is supposed to be fun.

Craps is a dice game in which the players make wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other (playing 'street craps', also known as 'shooting dice' or 'rolling dice') or a bank (playing 'casino craps', also known as 'table craps', or often just 'craps'). Because it requires little equipment, 'street craps' can be played in informal settings.

History

Craps developed from a simplification of the early English game of 'hazard'. Its origins are complex and may date to the Crusades, later being influenced by French gamblers. What was to become the modern American version of the game was brought to New Orleans by Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, a gambler and politician descended from wealthy colonial Louisiana landowners. There was a flaw in Bernard's version of the game in which players could exploit the casino using fixed dice and taking advantage of the way players can bet with or against the dice thrower. A man named John H. Winn introduced the 'don't pass' betting option in order to fix this problem and it is this version of craps that still exists today.

The game, first known as crapaud (a French word meaning 'toad' in reference to the original style of play by people crouched over a floor or sidewalk), reportedly owes its modern popularity to street craps. Street craps may be played by rolling the dice against a backstop, such as a curb or stair-stoop, or without a backstop, at the choice of the players.

During World War II, street-style craps became popular among soldiers, who often played it using an Army blanket as a shooting surface. With no backboard or sidewalk curb to hit against, this gave rise to presumed methods of dice control, of which the best was known as the 'army blanket roll'.

Casino craps

'Casino craps' or 'bank craps' is a game played by multiple or a single player betting against a casino. The players and casino employees stand or sit around a large oval 'craps table.' In most houses sitting at a craps table is discouraged unless the player is handicapped.

The craps table

In a casino, players make bets with chips on a specially made craps table with a 'layout' - a table cloth made of felt that displays the various betting possibilities, which vary somewhat in bet presence, position, and payout among casinos. The tables have the shape of a bathtub, about 14 feet (4.3 m) long, 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, about 28 inches (71 cm) above the floor at the bottom, where the layout is, and about 24 inches (61 cm) from the layout up to the rim of the tub.

With the table oriented with its long sides running left to right, along one long side is the casino's bank - thousands of chips, stacked 20 high, standing on the layout. Along the opposite side of the tub is usually a long, angled mirror. The left and right U-shaped sections of the table each have the same bet areas marked on the layout, with space for usually up to 8 players to stand (or occasionally sit, on barstools) and place their bets on each side. The walls of the tub around these sections are usually covered with a rubberized pyramid-shaped texture, used to randomly reflect the dice that are thrown towards them from the opposite side of the table.

An additional group of bets, referred to as proposition bets, is in the middle of the layout and used for bets by players from both sides. The top rim of the table has horizontal grooves for players to keep their chips (lying horizontally) while not in play.

The table is run by up to four casino employees: a boxman, seated (usually the only seated employee) behind the casino's bank, who manages the chips, supervises the dealers, and handles 'coloring up' players (exchanging small chip denominations for larger denominations in order to preserve the chips at a table); two base dealers who stand to either side of the boxman and collect and pay bets to players around their half of the table; and a stickman who stands directly across the table from the boxman, takes and pays (or directs the base dealers to do so) the bets in the center of the table, announces the results of each roll (usually with a distinctive patter), and moves the dice across the layout with an elongated wooden stick.

Each employee also watches for mistakes by the others because of the sometimes large number of bets and frantic pace of the game. In smaller casinos or at quiet times of day, one or more of these employees may be missing, and have their job covered by another, or cause player capacity to be reduced.

Some smaller casinos have introduced 'mini-craps' tables which are operated with only two dealers; rather than being two essentially identical sides and the center area, a single set of major bets is presented, split by the center bets. Responsibility of the dealers is adjusted: the stickman continuing to handle the center bets, and the base dealer handling the other bets as well as cash and chip exchanges.

By contrast, in 'street craps', there is no marked table and often the game is played with no back-stop against which the dice are to hit. (Despite the name 'street craps,' this game is often played in houses, usually on an un-carpeted garage or kitchen floor.) The wagers are made in cash, never in chips, and are usually thrown down onto the ground by the players. There are no attendants, and so the progress of the game, fairness of the throws, and the way that the payouts are made for winning bets are self-policed by the players.

Rules of play

Each casino may set which bets are offered and different payouts for them, though a core set of bets and payouts is typical. Players take turns rolling two dice and whoever is throwing the dice is called the 'shooter'. Players can bet on the various options by placing chips directly on the appropriately-marked sections of the layout, or asking the base dealer or stickman to do so, depending on which bet is being made.

While acting as the shooter, a player must have a bet on the 'Pass' line or the 'Don't Pass' line. 'Pass' and 'don’t pass' are sometimes called 'Win' and 'Don’t Win' or 'Right' and 'Wrong' bets. The game is played in rounds and these 'Pass' and 'Don't Pass' bets are betting on the outcome of a round. The shooter is presented with multiple dice (typically five) by the 'stickman', and must choose two for the round. The remaining dice are returned to the stickman's bowl and are not used.

Each round has two phases: 'come-out' and 'point'. To start a round, the shooter makes one or more 'come-out' rolls. A come-out roll of 2, 3 or 12 is called 'craps' or 'crapping out', and anyone betting the Pass line loses. A come-out roll of 7 or 11 is a 'natural', and the Pass line wins. The other possible numbers are the point numbers: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. If the shooter rolls one of these numbers on the come-out roll, this establishes the 'point' - to 'pass' or 'win', the point number must be rolled again before a seven.

The dealer flips a button to the 'On' side and moves it to the point number signifying the second phase of the round. If the shooter 'hits' the point value again (any value of the dice that sum to the point will do; the shooter doesn't have to exactly repeat the value combination of the come-out roll) before rolling a seven, the Pass line wins and a new round starts. If the shooter rolls any seven before repeating the point number (a 'seven-out'), the Pass line loses and the dice pass clockwise to the next new shooter for the next round.

In all the above scenarios, whenever the Pass line wins, the Don't Pass line loses, and vice versa, with one exception: on the come-out roll, a roll of 12 will cause Pass Line bets to lose, but Don't Pass bets are pushed (or 'barred'), neither winning nor losing. (The same applies to 'Come' and 'Don't Come' bets, discussed below.)

Joining a game

A player wishing to play craps without being the shooter should approach the craps table and first check to see if the dealer's 'On' button is on any of the point numbers.

• If the button has been turned to 'Off', then the table is in the come-out round, and a point has not been established.
• If the dealer's button is on, the table is in the point round where most casinos will allow a pass line bet to be placed. Some casinos will place the bet straddling the outer border of the pass line so as to indicate that it is to be paid the same odds as a place bet, instead of just even money. Other casinos will take the bet on the pass line, which is a disadvantage to the player (since the seven is the most common roll and likely to happen before the 'point').

In either case, all single or multi roll proposition bets may be placed in either of the two rounds.

Between dice rolls there is a period for dealers to make payouts and collect losing bets, after which players can place new bets. The stickman monitors the action at a table and decides when to give the shooter the dice, after which no more betting is allowed.

When joining the game, one should place money on the 'Come' bet area of the table rather than passing it directly to a dealer, keeping in mind that the dealer's exaggerated movements during the process of 'coloring-in' (converting currency to an equivalent in casino chips) are required so that any disputes can be later reviewed against security camera footage.

If a new player feels that he or she needs assistance in learning the rules of craps, it is recommended to approach an empty craps table at a slow time of day (for example, between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.). The dealers are likely to be approachable and friendly and will explain the betting process. Also, casinos often offer training sessions for new craps players.

Rolling

The dealers will insist that the shooter roll with one hand and that the dice bounce off the far wall surrounding the table. These requirements are meant to keep the game fair (preventing switching the dice or making a 'controlled shot'). If a die leaves the table, the shooter will usually be asked to select another die from the remaining three but can request using the same die if it passes the boxman's inspection. This requirement is used to keep the game fair (and reduce the chance of loaded dice).

There are many local variants of the calls made by the stickman for rolls during a craps game. These often incorporate a reminder to the dealers as to which bets to pay or collect.

Rolls of 4, 6, 8, and 10 are called 'hard' or 'easy' (e.g. 'six the hard way', 'easy eight', 'hard ten') depending on whether they were rolled as a 'double' or as any other combination of values, because of their significance in center table bets known as the 'hard ways'. Hard way rolls are so named because there is only one way to roll them (i.e., the value on each die is the same when the number is rolled). Consequently, it is more likely to roll the number in combinations (easy) rather than as a double (hard).

Two is 'snake eyes,' because the two ones that comprise it look like a pair of small, beady eyes. During actual play, more common terms are 'two craps two' during the comeout roll because the pass line bet is lost on a comeout crap roll and/or because a bet on any craps would win. 'Aces; double the field' would be a more common call when not on the comeout roll to remind the dealers to pay double on the field bets and encourage the field bettor to place subsequent bets and/or when no crap bets have been placed. Another name for the two is 'loose deuce'.

Three is typically called as 'three craps three' during the comeout roll, or 'three, ace deuce, come away single' when not on the comeout to signify the come bet has been lost and to pay single to any field bettors. Three may also be referred to as 'ace caught a deuce,' or even less often 'acey deucey'.

Four, usually hard, is sometimes referred to as 'Little Joe from Kokomo.' or 'Little Joe on the front row' or just 'Little Joe'. A hard four can be called a 'ballerina' because it is two-two ('tutu').

Five is often called 'no field five' in casinos in which five is not one of the field rolls and thus not paid in the field bets. Other names for a five are 'fever' and 'little Phoebe'.

Six may be referred to as 'Jimmie Hicks' or 'Jimmie Hicks from the sticks', examples of rhyming slang. On a win, the six is often called '666 winner 6' followed by 'came hard' or 'came easy'.

Seven rolled as 6-1 is sometimes called 'six ace' or 'up pops the Devil'. Older dealers and players may use the term 'Big Red' because craps tables once prominently featured a large red '7' in the center of the layout for the one-roll seven bet. During the comeout, the seven is called 'seven, front line winner,' frequently followed by 'pay the line' and/or 'take the don'ts'. After the point is established, a seven is typically called by simply '7 out' or '7 out 7'.

Eight rolled the hard way, as opposed to an 'easy eight' is sometimes called an 'eighter from Decatur'. It can also be known as a 'square pair', 'mom and dad', or 'Ozzie and Harriet'.

Nine is called a 'centerfield nine' in casinos in which nine is one of the field rolls, because nine is the center number shown on the layout in such casinos (2-3-4-9-10-11-12). In Atlantic City, a 4-5 is called a 'railroad nine'. The 4-5 nine is also known as 'Jesse James' because the outlaw Jesse James was killed by a .45 caliber pistol. Other names for the nine include 'Nina from Pasadena', 'Nina at the Marina', and 'niner from Carolina'. Nine can also be referred to as 'Old Mike,' named after National Basketball Association Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan. Jordan wore number 45 later on in his playing career.

Ten the hard way is 'a hard ten', 'dos equis' (Spanish, meaning 'two X's', because the pip arrangement on both dice on this roll resembles 'XX'), or 'Hard ten - a woman's best friend', an example of both rhyming slang and sexual double entendre. Ten as a pair of 5's may also be known as 'puppy paws' or 'a pair of sunflowers' or 'Big Dick' or 'Big John.' Another slang for a hard ten is 'moose head', because it resembles a moose's antlers. This phrase came from players in the Pittsburgh area.

Eleven is called out as 'yo' or 'yo-leven' to prevent being misheard as 'seven'. An older term for eleven is 'six five, no jive' because it is a winning roll. During the comeout, eleven is typically followed by 'front line winner'. After the point is established, 'good field and come' is often added.

Twelve is known as 'boxcars' because the spots on the two dice that show 6-6 look like schematic drawings of railroad boxcars; it is also called 'midnight', referring to twelve o'clock; and also as 'double-action field traction', because of the (standard) 2-to-1 pay on Field bets for this roll and the fact that the arrangement of the pips on the two dice, when laid end-to-end, resemble tire tracks. On tables that pay triple the field on a twelve roll, the stickman will often loudly exclaim 'triple' either alone or in combination with '12 craps 12' or 'come away triple'.

Types of wagers

Line bets

The shooter is required to make either a Pass Line bet or a Don't Pass bet if he wants to shoot. Some casinos require all players to make a minimum Pass Line or Don't Pass bet (if they want to make any other bet), whether they are currently shooting or not.

Pass line bet: The fundamental bet in craps is the pass line bet, which is a bet for the shooter to win.

• If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, the bet wins.
• If the come-out roll is 2, 3 or 12, the bet loses (known as 'crapping out').
• If the roll is any other value, it establishes a point.
  • If, with a point established, that point is rolled again before a 7, the bet wins.
  • If, with a point established, a 7 is rolled before the point is rolled again ('seven out'), the bet loses.

The pass line bet pays even money.

Because the odds are against making a point, a player may make or increase a pass line bet and any corresponding odds (up to the table limit) at any time after a point is established. Once made, however, the pass line bet can not be taken down or reduced.

Don't pass bet: A don't pass bet is a bet for the shooter to lose ('seven out, line away') and is almost the opposite of the pass line bet.

• If the come-out roll is 2 or 3, the bet wins.
• If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, the bet loses.
• If the come-out roll is 12, the bet is a push (neither won nor lost). In some casinos, the bet pushes on 2 and wins on 12 instead. Others allow the player to choose to either push on 2 ('Bar Aces') or push on 12 ('Bar Sixes') depending on where it is placed on the layout. The push on 12 or 2 is mathematically necessary to maintain the house edge over the player.
• If the roll is any other value, it establishes a point.
  • If, with a point established, a 7 is rolled before the point is rolled again ('seven out'), the bet wins.
  • If, with a point established, that point is rolled again before a 7, the bet loses.

The don't pass bet pays even money.

Because the odds are against making a point, a player may take down or reduce a don't pass bet and any corresponding odds at any time. Once taken down or reduced, however, the don't pass bet can not be restored or increased. Because the shooter must have a line bet the shooter generally cannot reduce a don't pass bet below the table minimum, although casinos will allow the shooter to move the bet to the pass line in lieu of taking it down.

There are two different ways to calculate the odds and house edge of this bet. The table below gives the numbers considering that the game ends in a push when a 12 is rolled, rather than being undetermined. Betting on don't pass is often called 'playing the dark side,' and it is considered by some players to be in poor taste, or even taboo, because it goes directly against conventional play, winning when most of the players lose.

Pass odds: If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 is thrown on the come-out roll (i.e., if a point is established), most casinos allow pass line players to take odds by placing up to some predetermined multiple of the pass line bet, behind the pass line. This additional bet wins if the point is rolled again before a 7 is rolled (the point is made) and pays at the true odds of 2-to-1 if 4 or 10 is the point, 3-to-2 if 5 or 9 is the point, or 6-to-5 if 6 or 8 is the point.

Individual casinos (and sometimes tables within a casino) vary greatly in the maximum odds they offer, from single or double odds (one or two times the pass line bet) up to 100x or even unlimited odds. A variation often seen is '3-4-5X Odds,' where the maximum allowed odds bet depends on the point: three times if the point is 4 or 10; four times on points of 5 or 9; or five times on points of 6 or 8. This rule simplifies the calculation of winnings: a maximum pass odds bet on a 3-4-5X table will always be paid at six times the pass line bet regardless of the point.

As odds bets are paid at true odds, in contrast with the pass line which is always even money, taking odds on a minimum pass line bet lessens the house advantage compared with betting the same total amount on the pass line only. A maximum odds bet on a minimum pass line bet often gives the lowest house edge available in any game in the casino. However, the odds bet cannot be made independently, so the house retains an edge on the pass line bet itself.

Don't pass odds: If a player is playing don't pass instead of pass, they may also lay odds by placing chips behind the don't pass line. If a 7 comes before the point is rolled, the odds pay at true odds of 1-to-2 if 4 or 10 is the point, 2-to-3 if 5 or 9 is the point, or 5-to-6 if 6 or 8 is the point. Typically the maximum lay bet will be expressed such that a player may win an amount equal to the maximum odds multiple at the table: If a player lays maximum odds with a point of four on a table offering five-times odds, he would lay ten times the amount of his Don't pass bet. At a 3-4-5x odds table, the maximum odds one can win will always be 6x the amount of the don't pass bet.

Come bet: A come bet can be visualized as starting an entirely new pass line bet, unique to that player. A player making a come bet will bet on the first point number that 'comes' from the shooter's next roll, regardless of the table's round. If a 7 or 11 is rolled on the first round, it wins. If a 2, 3, or 12 is rolled, it loses. If instead the roll is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, the come bet will be moved by the base dealer onto a box representing the number the shooter threw. This number becomes the 'come-bet point' and the player is allowed to take odds, just like a pass line bet.

The dealer will place the odds on top of the come bet, but slightly off center in order to differentiate between the original bet and the odds. The second round wins if the shooter rolls the come bet point again before a seven. Winning come bets are paid the same as winning pass line bets: even money for the original bet and true odds for the odds bet. If, instead, the seven is rolled before the come-bet point, the come bet (and any odds bet) loses.

Come bets can only be made after a point has been established since, on the come-out roll, a come bet would be the same thing as a pass line bet.

Because of the come bet, if the shooter makes their point, a player can find themselves in the situation where they still have a come bet (possibly with odds on it) and the next roll is a come-out roll. In this situation, odds bets on the come wagers are usually presumed to be not working for the come-out roll. That means that if the shooter rolls a 7 on the come-out roll, any players with active come bets waiting for a come-bet point lose their initial wager but will have their odds bets returned to them.

If the come-bet point is rolled on the come-out roll, the odds do not win but the come bet does and the odds bet is returned (along with the come bet and its payoff). The player can tell the dealer that they want their odds working, such that if the shooter rolls a number that matches the come point, the odds bet will win along with the come bet, and if a seven is rolled, both lose.

Many players will use a come bet as 'insurance' against sevening out: if the shooter rolls a seven, the come bet pays 1:1, offsetting the loss of the pass line bet. The risk in this strategy is the situation where the shooter does not hit a seven for several rolls, leading to multiple come bets that will be lost if the shooter eventually sevens out.

Don't come bet: In the same way that a come bet is similar to a pass line bet, a don't come bet is similar to a don't pass bet. A don't come bet is played in two rounds. If a 2 or 3 is rolled in the first round, it wins. If a 7 or 11 is rolled, it loses. If a 12 is rolled, it is a push (subject to the same 2/12 switch described above for the don't pass bet). If, instead, the roll is 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, the don't come bet will be moved by the base dealer onto a box representing the number the shooter threw. The second round wins if the shooter rolls a seven before the don't come point.

Don't come bets can only be made after the come-out roll when a point has already been established. The player may lay odds on a don't come bet, just like a don't pass bet; in this case, the dealer (not the player) places the odds bet on top of the bet in the box, because of limited space, slightly offset to signify that it is an odds bet and not part of the original don't come bet.

Winning don't come bets are paid the same as winning don't pass bets: even money for the original bet and true odds for the odds lay.

Single roll bets

Single-roll (proposition) bets are resolved in one dice roll by the shooter. Most of these are called 'Service Bets', and they are located at the center of most craps tables. Only the stickman or a dealer can place a service bet. The bets include:

2 (snake eyes, or Aces): Wins if shooter rolls a 2.

3 (ace-deuce): Wins if the shooter rolls a 3.

Yo: Wins if the shooter rolls 11.

12 (boxcars, midnight, or cornrows): Wins if shooter rolls a 12.

2 or 12 (hi-lo): Wins if shooter rolls a 2 or 12. The stickman places this bet on the line dividing the 2 and 12 bets.

Any Craps (Three-Way): Wins if the shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12.

C & E: A combined bet, a player is betting half their bet on craps and the other half on yo (11). One of the two bets will always lose, the other may win.

Any seven: Wins if the shooter rolls a 7. This bet is also nicknamed Big Red, since the 7 on its betting space on the layout is usually large and red, and it is considered bad luck and a breach of etiquette to speak the word 'seven' at the table.

The Horn: This is a bet that involves betting on 1 unit each for 2, 3, 11 and 12 at the same time for the next roll. The bet is actually four separate bets, and pays off depending on which number is actually rolled, minus three units for the other three losing bets. Many players, in order to eliminate the confusion of tossing four chips to the center of the table or having change made while bets are being placed, will make a five-unit Horn High bet, which is a four-way bet with the extra unit going to one specific number. For example, if you toss a $5 chip into the center and say 'horn high yo,' you are placing four $1 bets on each of the horn numbers and the extra dollar will go on the yo (11).

Hard and Horny bet, which is a combination of the horn bet and all hardways.

Whirl or World: bet is a five-unit bet that is a combination of a horn and any-seven bet, with the idea that if a seven is rolled the bet is a push, because the money won on the seven is lost on the horn portions of the bet.

On the Hop This is a single roll bet on any particular combination of the two dice on the next roll. For example, if you bet on '5 and 1' on the hop, you are betting that the next roll will have a 5 on one die and a 1 on the other die. The bet pays 15:1 (just like a bet on 3 or 11) except for doubles (e.g., 3 and 3 on the hop) which pay 30:1 (just like a bet on 12, which is the same as 6 and 6 on the hop). The true odds are 17:1 and 35:1, resulting in a house edge of 11.11% and 13.89% respectively. When presented, hop bets are located at the center of the craps layout with the other proposition bets. If hop bets are not on the craps layout, they still may be bet on by players but they become the responsibility of the boxman to book the bet.

Field: This bet is a wager that one of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 will appear on the next roll of the dice. This bet typically pays more (2:1 or 3:1) if 2 or 12 is rolled, and 1:1 if 3, 4, 9, 10 or 11 is rolled. The Field bet is a 'Self-Service' Bet. Unlike the other proposition bets which are handled by the dealers or stickman, the field bet is placed directly by the player.

Players identify their Field bets by placing them in the Field area directly in front of them or as close to their position as possible. The initial bet and/or any payouts can 'ride' through several rolls until they lose, and are assumed to be 'riding' by dealers. It is thus the player's responsibility to collect their bet and/or winnings immediately upon payout, before the next dice roll, if they do not wish to let it ride.

Multi-roll bets

These are bets that may not be settled on the first roll and may need any number of subsequent rolls before an outcome is determined. Most multi-roll bets may fall into the situation where a point is made by the shooter before the outcome of the multi-roll bet is decided. These bets are often considered 'not working' on the new come-out roll until the next point is established, unless the player calls the bet as 'working.'

Casino rules vary on this; some of these bets may not be callable, while others may be considered 'working' during the come-out. Dealers will usually announce if bets are working unless otherwise called off. If a non-working point number placed, bought or laid becomes the new point as the result of a come-out, the bet is usually refunded, or can be moved to another number for free.

Hard way

A bet that the shooter will throw a 4, 6, 8 or 10 the 'hard way', before he throws a seven or the corresponding 'easy way'. A hard way occurs when both dice show identical values, also known as 'doubles' or 'pairs.' Pairs are called at the table as 'hard 8' or '4 the hard way'. A given throw featuring two identical dice is called a 'hard' throw because it only has a 1/36 probability of appearing, as opposed to 2/36 or higher for an 'easy' throw.

Easy way

Opposite of hard way is a bet that the shooter will throw a specific easy way (either 4, 6, 8 or 10), before he throws a seven. An easy way is a value that does not have two dice identical, so 3-1 is easy way 4. These are rarely available as bets except by placing on a point number (which pays off on easy or hard rolls of that number) or if made as a single-roll ('hop') bet (e.g., 'hop the 2-4' is a bet for the next roll to be an easy six rolled as a two and four).

Big 6 and Big 8

A player can choose either the 6 or 8 being rolled before the shooter throws a seven. These wagers are usually avoided by experienced craps players since they pay even money (1:1) while a player can make place bets on the 6 or the 8, which pay more (7:6). Some casinos (especially all those in Atlantic City) do not even offer the Big 6 & 8. The bets are located in the corners behind the pass line, and bets may be placed directly by players.

The only real advantage offered by the Big 6 & 8 is that they can be bet for the table minimum, whereas a place bet minimum may sometimes be greater than the table minimum (e.g. $6 place bet on a $3 minimum game.) In addition place bets are usually not working, except by agreement, when the shooter is 'coming out' i.e. shooting for a point, and Big 6 and 8 bets always work. Some modern layouts no longer show the Big 6/Big 8 bet.

Place and buy

Players can place or buy any point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) by placing their wager in the come area and telling the dealer how much and on what number(s), '30 on the 6', '5 on the 5' or '25 buy the 10'. Both place and buy bets are bets that the number bet on will be rolled before a 7 is rolled. These bets are considered working bets, and will continue to be paid out each time a shooter rolls the place or buy point number. By rules, place bets are NOT working on the come out roll but can be 'turned on' by the player.

Place bet payouts are slightly worse than the true odds: 9-to-5 on points 4 or 10, 7-to-5 on points 5 or 9, and 7-to-6 on points 6 or 8. The place bets on the outside numbers (4,5,9,10) should be made in units of $5, (on a $5 minimum table), in order to receive the correct exact payout of $5 paying $7 or $5 paying $9. The place bets on the 6 & 8 should be made in units of $6, (on a $5 minimum table), in order to receive the correct exact payout of $6 paying $7.

Buy bets are paid at true odds, but a 5% commission is charged on the amount of the bet. Traditionally, the buy bet commission is paid no matter what, but in recent years a number of casinos have changed their policy to charge the commission only when the buy bet wins. Some casinos charge the commission as a one-time fee to buy the number; payouts are then always at true odds. Most casinos usually charge only $1 for a $25 green-chip bet (4% commission), or $2 for $50 (two green chips), reducing the house advantage a bit more.

Where commission is charged only on wins, the commission is often deducted from the winning payoff - a winning $25 buy bet on the 10 would pay $49, for instance. The house edges stated in the table assume the commission is charged on all bets. They are reduced by at least a factor of two if commission is charged on winning bets only. Rarely casinos offer the place bet to lose. This bet is the opposite of the place bet and wins if a 7 is rolled before the specific point number. The place bet to lose typically carries a lower house edge than a place bet.

Lay

A lay bet is the opposite of a buy bet, where a player bets on a 7 to roll before the number that is laid. Just like the buy bet lay bets pay true odds, but because the lay bet is the opposite of the buy bet, the payout is reversed. Therefore, players get 1 to 2 for the numbers 4 and 10, 2 to 3 for the numbers 5 and 9, and 5 to 6 for the numbers 6 and 8. A 5% commission (vigorish, vig, juice) is charged up front on the possible winning amount. For example: A $40 Lay Bet on the 4 would pay $20 on a win. The 5% vig would be $1 based on the $20 win. (NOT $2 based on the $40 bet as the way buy bet commissions are figured.) Like the buy bet the commission is adjusted to suit the betting unit such that fraction of a dollar payouts are not needed.

If a player is unsure of whether a bet is a single or multi-roll bet, it can be noted that all single-roll bets will be displayed on the playing surface in one color (usually red), while all multi-roll bets will be displayed in a different color (usually yellow).

Player bets

Fire Bet: Is a registered trademark owned by SHFL entertainment, Inc. Before the shooter begins, some casinos will allow a bet known as a fire bet to be placed. A fire bet is a bet of as little as 1 dollar, made in the hope that the next shooter will have a hot streak of setting and getting many points of different values. As different individual points are made by the shooter, they will be marked on the craps layout with a fire symbol.

The first three points will not pay out on the fire bet, but the fourth, fifth and sixth will pay out at increasing odds. The fourth point pays at 24-to-1, the fifth point pays at 249-to-1 and the 6th point pays at 999-to-1. Note that the points must all be different numbers for them to count towards the fire bet. For example, a shooter who successfully hits a point of 10 twice will only garner credit for the first one on the fire bet.

Bonus Craps: Is a registered trademark owned by Galaxy Gaming. Prior to the initial 'come out roll,' players may place an optional wager (usually a $1 minimum) on one or more of the three Bonus Craps wagers, 'All Small,' 'All Tall,' or 'All or Nothing at All.' For players to win the 'All Small' wager, the shooter must hit all five small numbers (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) before a seven is rolled; similarly, 'All Tall' wins if all five high numbers (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) are hit before a seven is rolled.

These bets pay 35-for-1, for a house advantage of 7.76%. “All or Nothing at All” wins if the shooter hits all 10 numbers before a seven is rolled. This pays 176-for-1, for a house edge of 7.46%. For all three wagers, the order in which the numbers are hit does not matter. Whenever a seven is hit, including on the come out roll, all bonus bets lose, the bonus board is reset, and new bonus bets may be placed.

Bet odds and summary

Note: Individual casinos may pay some of these bets at different payout ratios than those listed below. Some bets are listed more than once below - the most common payout in North American casinos is listed first, followed by other known variants.

Note: 'True Odds' do not vary.

The probability of dice combinations determine the odds of the payout. The following chart shows the dice combinations needed to roll each number. The two and twelve are the hardest to roll since only one combination of dice is possible. The game of craps is built around the dice roll of seven, since it is the most easily rolled dice combination.

Viewed another way:

The expected value of all bets is usually negative, such that the average player will always lose money. This is because the house always sets the paid odds to below the actual odds. The only exception is the 'odds' bet that the player is allowed to make after a point is established on a pass/come don't pass/don't come bet (the odds portion of the bet has a long-term expected value of 0). However, this 'free odds' bet cannot be made independently, so the expected value of the entire bet, including odds, is still negative. Since there is no correlation between die rolls, there is normally no possible long-term winning strategy in craps.

There are occasional promotional variants that provide either no house edge or even a player edge. One example is a field bet that pays 3:1 on 12 and 2:1 on either 3 or 11. Overall, given the 5:4 true odds of this bet, and the weighted average paid odds of approximately 7:5, the player has a 5% advantage on this bet. This is sometimes seen at casinos running limited-time incentives, in jurisdictions or gaming houses that require the game to be fair, or in layouts for use in informal settings using play money. No casino currently runs a craps table with a bet that yields a player edge full-time.

Maximizing the size of the odds bet in relation to the line bet will reduce, but never eliminate the house edge, and will increase variance. Most casinos have a limit on how large the odds bet can be in relation to the line bet, with single, double, and five times odds common. Some casinos offer 3-4-5 odds, referring to the maximum multiple of the line bet a player can place in odds for the points of 4 and 10, 5 and 9, and 6 and 8, respectively. During promotional periods, a casino may even offer 100x odds bets, which reduces the house edge to almost nothing, but dramatically increases variance, as the player will be betting in large betting units.

Since several of the multiple roll bets pay off in ratios of fractions on the dollar, it is important that the player bets in multiples that will allow a correct payoff in complete dollars. Normally, payoffs will be rounded down to the nearest dollar, resulting in a higher house advantage. These bets include all place bets, taking odds, and buying on numbers 6, 8, 5, and 9, as well as laying all numbers.

Betting variants

These variants depend on the casino and the table, and sometimes a casino will have different tables that use or omit these variants and others.

• 11 is a point number instead of a natural. Rolling an 11 still pays 'Yo' center-table bets, but the Pass line does not automatically win (and the Don't Pass line doesn't automatically lose) when 11 is rolled on the come-out. Making the point pays 3:1 on Pass/Come odds bets (1:3 on Don't Pass/Come odds); all line bets are still even money. This substantially reduces the odds of a natural (from 8/36 to 6/36) and of making the point in general (since you're adding a 3:1 dog to the mix). All other things equal, the house edge on the Pass Line and Come bets for this play variation jumps dramatically to 9.75%.
• 12 pays 3:1 on the field. This is generally seen in rooms that have two different table minimums, on the tables with the higher minimums. The lower minimum ones will then have 2:1 odds. For example, the Mirage casino in Las Vegas features 3:1 odds.
• 11 pays 2:1 on the field. This variant is normally used when 12 pays 3:1, and neutralizes the house edge on the field.
• Big 6/8 are unavailable. These bets are equivalent to placing or buying 6 or 8 as points, which have better payout for the same real odds, so Big 6/8 are rarely used and many casinos simply omit them from the layout. Casinos in Atlantic City are even prohibited by law from offering Big 6/8 bets.

Optimal betting

When craps is played in a casino, all bets have a house advantage. That is, it can be shown mathematically that a player will (with probability 100%) lose all his or her money to the casino in the long run, while in the short run the player is more likely to lose money than make money. There may be players who are lucky and get ahead for a period of time, but in the long run these winning streaks are eroded away. One can reduce, but not eliminate, one's average losses by only placing bets with the smallest house advantage.

The pass/don't pass line, come/don't come line, place 6, place 8, buy 4 and buy 10 (only under the casino rules where commission is charged only on wins) have the lowest house edge in the casino, and all other bets will, on average, lose money between three and twelve times faster because of the difference in house edges.

The place bets and buy bets differ from the pass line and come line, in that place bets and buy bets can be removed at any time, since, while they are multi-roll bets, their odds of winning do not change from roll to roll, whereas pass line bets and come line bets are a combination of different odds on their first roll and subsequent rolls. The first roll of a pass line bet is 2:1 advantage for the player (8 wins, 4 losses), but it's 'paid for' by subsequent rolls that are at the same disadvantage to the player as the don't pass bets were at an advantage. As such, they cannot profitably let you take down the bet after the first roll. While you can increase your pass/come bet after the come-out roll, you should be reminded to place the point instead and get the proper payout instead of just even money.

Conversely, you can take back (pick up) a don't pass or don't come bet after the first roll, but this cannot be recommended, because you already endured the disadvantaged part of the combination - the first roll. On that come-out roll, you win just 3 times (2 and 3), while losing 8 of them (7 and 11) and pushing once (12) out of the 36 possible rolls. On the other 24 rolls that become a point, your don't pass bet is now to your advantage by 6:3 (4 and 10), 6:4 (5 and 9) and 6:5 (6 and 8). It's no wonder that they will gladly allow you to take down such a bet.

Among these, and the remaining numbers and possible bets, there are a myriad of systems and progressions that can be used with many combinations of numbers.

An important alternative metric is house advantage per roll (rather than per bet), which may be expressed in loss per hour. The typical pace of rolls varies depending on the number of players, but 102 rolls per hour is a cited rate for a nearly full table. This same reference states that only '29.6% of total rolls are come out rolls, on average,' so for this alternative metric, needing extra rolls to resolve the pass line bet, for example, is factored. This number then permits calculation of rate of loss per hour, and per the 4 day/5 hour per day gambling trip:

• $10 Pass line bets 0.42% per roll, $4.28 per hour, $86 per trip
• $10 Place 6,8 bets 0.46% per roll, $4.69 per hour, $94 per trip
• $10 Place 5,9 bets 1.11% per roll, $11.32 per hour, $226 per trip
• $10 Place 4,10 bets 1.19% per roll, $12.14 per hour, $243 per trip
• $1 Single Hardways 2.78% per roll, $2.84 per hour, $56.71 per trip
• $1 All hardways 2.78% per roll, $11.34 per hour, $227 per trip
• $5 All hardways 2.78% per roll, $56.71 per hour, $1134 per trip
• $1 Craps only on come out 3.29% per roll, $3.35 per hour, $67.09 per trip
• $1 Eleven only on come out 3.29% per roll, $3.35 per hour, $67.09 per trip

Etiquette

Besides the rules of the actual game, certain unwritten rules of etiquette exist while playing craps and are expected to be followed. Many consider these guidelines as important as the actual rules themselves. New players should familiarize themselves with them before approaching a craps table.

Rules related to casino security

Players are not supposed to handle the dice with more than one hand (such as shaking them in cupped hands before rolling) nor take the dice past the edge of the table. The only way to change hands when throwing dice, if permitted at all, is to set the dice on the table, let go, then take them with the other hand. This reduces or eliminates the possibility of the shooter switching dice by sleight-of-hand.

When throwing the dice, the player is expected to hit the farthest wall at the opposite end of the table. Most casinos will allow a roll that does not hit the opposite wall as long as the dice are thrown past the middle of the table. Occasionally a short roll will be called a 'no roll' due to the more controllable nature of such a roll. The dice may not be slid across the table and must be tossed. Typically, players are asked not to throw the dice higher than the eye level of the dealers.

Dice are considered 'in play' if they land on players' bets on the table, the dealer's working stacks, on the marker puck or with one die resting on top of the other. The roll is invalid if either or both dice land in the boxman's bank, the stickman's bowl (where the extra three dice are kept between rolls), or in the rails around the top of the table where players chips are kept. If a die or both dice leave the table, it is also a 'no roll' and the boxman will examine the dice before letting them come back into the game. However, the player may request the same die or dice.

When either of the dice land on or come to rest leaning against chips, markers, or the side of the table, the number that would be on top if the object the die is leaning on were removed, is the number that is used to make the call.

If one or both dice hits a player or dealer and rolls back onto the table, the roll counts as long as the person being hit did not interfere with either of the dice, though some casinos will rule 'no roll' for this situation.

In most casinos the shooter may 'set' the dice to a particular starting configuration before throwing (such as showing a particular number or combination, stacking the dice, or spacing them to be picked up between different fingers), but if they do, they are often asked to be quick about it so as not to delay the game. Some casinos have 'no setting' rules.

Dealers are not allowed to touch the players or hand chips directly to a player, and vice versa. If 'buying in' (paying cash for chips) at the table, players are expected to lay the cash down on the layout, which the dealer will take and then place chips in front of the player.

Some crap table layouts state 'No Call Bets.' A call bet is made when a player is allowed to make a bet without first placing the necessary chips in the right spot on the table. This might occur while a player is waiting for a marker (casino credit) to arrive, or after the dice have left the center of the table (after which time the players must usually remove their hands from the playing surface).

The casino may ask a player to leave the table or the casino for any reason.

Commonly observed etiquette

It is generally preferable to place chips on the board rather than tossing them. Tossed chips may roll on edge out of the dealer's reach and/or upset other stacks of chips. A center bet, controlled by the stickman (usually the hardest person to reach) can be made by passing chips to the nearest dealer, who will relay the bet to the stickman. When chips must be tossed it is polite to gain the dealer or stickman's attention and toss as few chips as necessary to cover the bet (a $25 chip is preferable to a stack of five $5 chips). Conversely, it is desirable to have the dealers make change from a bet, rather than make change and then pay correct change for a bet (e.g. pay for a $24 bet with a $25 chip rather than break a $25 chip into four $5 chips and five $1 chips, and pay exactly $24 for the bet).

When offered the dice to shoot, a player may pass the dice to the next player without fear of offending anyone; however, at least one player must always be a 'shooter' betting on either the pass line or don't pass line for the game to continue.

When tipping, the most common way is simply to toss chips onto the table and say, 'For the dealers' or 'For the boys' (the second is considered acceptable even though dealers often are women; by the same token, female stickmen and boxmen are still referred to as such; not for example, boxwoman or stickperson). It's also common to place a bet for the dealers. If the bet is one handled by the dealers, such as a Place bet or one of the proposition bets handled by the stick-man, the chip(s) should be placed, or thrown, and announced as a dealer bet, such as 'Dealer's hard eight', or 'Place the eight for the dealers'.

A 'two-way' bet is one that is part for the player and part for the dealers (for example, tossing two chips and stating 'Two Way Hard Eight' will place a bet for the player and the same bet for the dealer). Usually, the dealers' bet is smaller than the player's bet, but it is appreciated. The part of the bet for the dealer is called a 'toke' bet; this is from the $1 slot machine coins or tokens that are sometimes used to place bets for the dealers in a casino.

Most casinos require the dealers to pick up their winning bets, including the original tip, rather than 'let it ride' as the player may choose to do. If the player wants the original dealer bet to remain in place, the phrase 'I control the bet' should be clearly stated by the tipper, and acknowledged by one of the crew, immediately upon announcing the dealer bet.

This indicates that any winnings for that bet will be picked up by the dealers, and the original amount will remain in play until cleared by a loss or retracted by the player after a win (such as a single-roll bet that would normally be returned to the player with their winnings). It should be noted that because the house has an advantage on all bets (and in the case of some bets, a considerable edge) the dealers will ultimately receive a smaller tip from placed bets than from a direct tip.

The $1 'yo' (eleven) bet, split with the dealers on come-out rolls by calling out 'two-way yo,' tends to be a favorite with many players as means of tipping the dealers without giving up too much per gambling trip. If eleven comes out on the come out roll, the pass line win bets and the more substantial 'yo' bet splits (see reference).

After the come-out roll, it is considered bad luck to say the word 'seven'. A common 'nickname' for this number is 'Big Red', or just 'Red'.

It is considered bad luck to change dice in the middle of a roll. If one or both dice leave the table during a roll, and the shooter does not want a new die (or dice) substituted into the game, the shooter should immediately and clearly call 'Same Dice!' The retrieved die (or dice) will then be returned to play after close inspection by the boxman. To speed play, most casinos will immediately begin the process of introducing new dice unless the shooter has requested otherwise, though some casinos will inspect and return the dice by default.

Proposition bets, the bets in the center of the table, are made by tossing chips to the center of the table and calling out the intended bet; the stickman will then place the chips correctly for the player. As mentioned above, care should be taken when tossing chips. Players furthest from the stickman can often elect to place a center bet with a dealer who will relay the bet to the center. Chips will be less likely to roll on edge if they are tossed with a gentle frisbee-like spin.

It is considered rude to 'late bet,' or make wagers while the dice are no longer in the middle of the table. While entirely permissible, excessive late betting will generally garner a warning as it slows play. At the discretion of the boxman or a 'pit boss', dealers can disallow a bet made after the dice have left the center.

Food, drinks, cigarettes, and other items should remain off the chip rail and should not be held over the table.

Players feel it is bad luck for the shooter to leave the table after a successful come-out roll. A shooter retains the right to roll and is expected to continue rolling until he or she sevens out. If the shooter leaves the game before a decision is reached on a point number, the dice will be passed to the next player to continue where the shooter left off. Once a decision is reached, the 'substitute' shooter can, at the discretion of the boxman, continue to roll the dice for a new 'come out' as would have been the case had the previous shooter completed their roll.

When the shooter is ready to roll, players should remove their hands from the table area in order to avoid interfering with the dice. The stickman will often say 'hands high, let 'em fly' or 'dice are out, hands high'. Many players will suggest that a die that hits another player's hand or a stack of chips will be more likely to seven out. This is likely a case of confirmation bias; however, for the sake of a harmonious table care should be taken to keep hands free of the play area.

When making bets in the field or on the Big 6 or Big 8, it is the player's responsibility to track his or her bet. Place bets and Come Line bets will be tracked by the dealer, who will pay the player directly. Hardway and other proposition bets are tracked by the stickman and will be paid after the regular bets by the dealer to the player directly based on instructions from the stickman.

The phrase “barber pole” is derisive jargon in craps, and refers to the commingling of “gaming cheques of different denominations.” Wagers that combine different denominations are “supposed to be stacked with the highest denomination at the bottom. “

When leaving a table it is generally considered bad form for the player to take a large stack of small denomination chips. The player should instead wait until a natural break in play (such as the shooter sevening out) and then place the stack of chips on the playing surface and asking the dealer to 'color up'. Small denomination chips will be exchanged for large denominations, a process which may be verified by the pit boss, and the large denominations are returned to the player.

Systems

Martingale system

No wagering system can consistently beat casino games of pure chance such as craps, but that does not stop hopeful gamblers believing in them. One of the best known systems is the Martingale System, in which the player starts by betting a given amount, for instance $1, and doubles his bet whenever he loses. Upon winning, he starts over at the initial amount. The idea is to realize a net win equal to the initial amount after every eventual win.

This system fails because the player will either run out of money after having to double his bet several times in a row after a streak of losing bets, or he will be unable to bet the amount dictated by the system because it would exceed the maximum bet allowed by the casino. The Martingale system also only yields a profit equal to the initial bet amount every time the player wins. If the initial amount is small, the payout from each Martingale sequence will be just as small.

Gambler's fallacy

Other systems depend on the gambler's fallacy, which in craps terms is the belief that past dice rolls influence the probabilities of future dice rolls. For example, the gambler's fallacy indicates that a craps player should bet on eleven if an eleven has not appeared or has appeared too often in the last 20 rolls. In practice this can be observed as players respond to a roll such as a Hard Six with an immediate wager on the Hard Six.

In reality, each roll of the dice is an independent event, so the probability of rolling eleven is exactly 1/18 on every roll, regardless of the number of times eleven has come up in the last x rolls. Even if the dice are actually biased toward particular results ('loaded'), each roll is still independent of all the previous ones. The common term to describe this is 'dice have no memory'.

Parity hedge system

The parity hedge system is a hoax promulgated by Quatloos. Despite the fact that no such system exists (indeed, it is a mathematical impossibility), several gambling-related web sites have retold the 'parity hedge' story without attribution.

Dice setting or dice control

Read main article: Dice control

Another approach is to 'set' the dice in a particular orientation, and then throw them in such a manner that they do not tumble randomly. The theory, based on probability mechanics, is that given exactly the same throw from exactly the same starting configuration, the dice will tumble in the same way and therefore show the same or similar values every time. Unlike other systems, this one is mathematically plausible, because if it were possible to alter the probabilities of each outcome, then winning systems could be devised.

Casinos do take steps to prevent this. The dice are usually required to hit the back wall of the table, which is normally faced with an angular texture such as pyramids, making controlled spins more difficult. Whether it is possible for human beings to consistently exercise the precise physical control necessitated by the theory is a source of controversy. A small but dedicated community of controlled shooters maintains records and claim proof of dice influencing in casino conditions. Frank Scoblete, Stanford Wong, and Jerry L. Patterson, authors of books that feature dice control techniques, believe that it is possible to alter the odds in the player's favor by dice control.

Chris Pawlicki, a mechanical engineer who (under the pseudonym 'Sharpshooter') wrote a book on dice setting called Get The Edge At Craps: How to Control the Dice as a part of the Frank Scoblete 'Get the Edge Guides,' defined the math and science behind dice control.

In addition, some people offer to teach dice-setting skills for a substantial fee. Currently there has been no independent conclusive evidence that such methods can be successfully applied in a real casino.

Variants of the game

Bank craps is a variation of the original craps game and is sometimes known as Las Vegas Craps. This variant is quite popular in Nevada gambling houses, and its availability online has now made it a globally played game. Bank craps uses a special table layout and all bets must be made against the house. In Bank Craps, the dice are thrown over a wire or a string that is normally stretched a few inches from the table’s surface. The lowest house edge (for the pass/don't pass) in this variation is around 1.4%. Generally, if the word 'craps' is used without any modifier, it can be inferred to mean this version of the game, to which most of this article refers.

Crapless Craps, also known as Bastard Craps is a simple version of the original craps game, and is normally played as an online private game. The biggest difference between crapless craps and original craps, is that the shooter (person throwing the dice) is at a far greater disadvantage and has a house edge of 5.38%. Another difference is that this is one of the craps games in which a player can bet on rolling a 2, 3, 11 or 12 before a 7 is thrown. In crapless craps, 2 and 12 have odds of 11:2 and have a house edge of 7.143% while 3 and 11 have odds of 11:4 with a house edge of 6.25%.

Die Rich Craps, also known as Fading Craps, Open Craps, or Money Craps is a more recent version of the craps game, and is played using a single die. These variants are usually considered to be games involving big money, and are most commonly played in private. Die Rich Craps involves specific bets made against the book. The book keeps a specific percentage of the total amount of money wagered (5%-7%) and this is called vigorish. In the online and offline gambling circuits, this variation of craps is considered an illegal game. The craps table in this variant will always consist of a Win Line, Lose Line, and box numbers of 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.

High Point Craps is another version of the original Craps game. The initial roll of a 2 or a 3 in High Point Craps is ignored. If a player rolls a 2 then the player will roll again. If a player rolls 11 or 12, the player wins. Any other total rolled, is considered as 1 point and the player rolls again. This time needing to roll a total that is higher than 11 or 12 to win. The house edge in this craps game variation is 2.35%.

New York Craps is one of the variations of craps played mostly in the Eastern coast of the USA, true to its name. History states that this game was actually found and played in casinos in Yugoslavia, the UK and the Bahamas. In this craps variant, the house edge is greater than Las Vegas Craps or Bank craps. The table layout is also different, and is called a double-end-dealer table. This variation is different from the original craps game in several ways, but the primary difference is that New York craps doesn’t allow Come or Don’t Come bets. New York Craps Players bet on box numbers like 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10. The overall house edge in New York craps is 5%.

Simplified Craps is a variation that can be won by rolling 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 or 12, but if a 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 is rolled, the player loses. Simplified Craps has an overall house edge of 2.8%.

Card-based variations

In order to get around California laws barring the payout of a game being directly related to the roll of dice, Indian reservations have adapted the game to substitute cards for dice.

Cards replacing dice

In one variation, there are no dice at all. Two shoes are used, each containing some number of regular card decks that have been stripped down to just the Aces and deuces through sixes. The boxman simply deals one card from each shoe and that is the roll on which bets are settled. Since a card-counting scheme is easily devised to make use of the information of cards that have already been dealt, a relatively small portion (less than 50%) of each shoe is usually dealt in order to protect the house.

In a similar variation, cards representing dice are dealt directly from a continuous shuffling machine (CSM). Typically, the CSM will hold approximately 264 cards, or 44 sets of 1 through 6 spot cards. Two cards are dealt from the CSM for each roll. The game is played exactly as regular craps, but the roll distribution of the remaining cards in the CSM is slightly skewed from the normal symmetric distribution of dice.

Even if the dealer were to shuffle each roll back into the CSM, the effect of buffering a number of cards in the chute of the CSM provides information about the skew of the next roll. Analysis shows this type of game is biased towards the don't pass and don't come bets. A player betting don't pass and don't come every roll and laying 10x odds receives a 2% profit on the initial don't pass / don't come bet each roll. Using a counting system allows the player to attain a similar return at lower variance.

To replicate the original dice odds exactly without dice or possibility of card-counting, another scheme uses two shuffle machines with just one deck of Ace through 6 each. Each machine selects one of the 6 cards at random and this is the roll. The selected cards are replaced and the decks are reshuffled for the next roll.

Cards mapping physical dice

In this game variation, one red deck and one blue deck of six cards each (A through 6), and a red die and a blue die are used. Each deck is shuffled separately, usually by machine. Each card is then dealt onto the layout, into the 6 red and 6 blue numbered boxes. The shooter then shoots the dice. The red card in the red-numbered box corresponding to the red die, and the blue card in the blue-numbered box corresponding to the blue die are then turned over to form the roll on which bets are settled.

Another variation uses a red and a blue deck of 36 custom playing cards each. Each card has a picture of a two-die roll on it - from 1-1 to 6-6. The shooter shoots what looks like a red and a blue die, called 'cubes'. They are numbered such that they can never throw a pair, and that the blue one will show a higher value than the red one exactly half the time. One such scheme could be 222555 on the red die and 333444 on the blue die.

One card is dealt from the red deck and one is dealt from the blue deck. The shooter throws the 'cubes' and the color of the cube that is higher selects the color of the card to be used to settle bets. On one such table, an additional one-roll prop bet was offered: If the card that was turned over for the 'roll' was either 1-1 or 6-6, the other card was also turned over. If the other card was the 'opposite' (6-6 or 1-1, respectively) of the first card, the bet paid 500:1 for this 647:1 proposition.

Rules of play against other players

Recreational or informal playing of craps outside of a casino is referred to as street craps or private craps. The most notable difference between playing street craps and bank craps is that there is no bank or house to cover bets in street craps. Players must bet against each other by covering or fading each other's bets for the game to be played. If money is used instead of chips and depending on the laws of where it is being played, street craps can be an illegal form of gambling.

There are many variations of street craps. The simplest way is to either agree on or roll a number as the point, then roll the point again before you roll a seven. Unlike more complex proposition bets offered by casinos, street craps has more simplified betting options. The shooter is required to make either a Pass or a Don't Pass bet if he wants to roll the dice. Another player must choose to cover the shooter to create a stake for the game to continue.

If there are several players, the rotation of the player who must cover the shooter may change with the shooter (comparable to a blind in poker). The person covering the shooter will always bet against the shooter. For example, if the shooter made a 'Pass' bet, the person covering the shooter would make a 'Don't Pass' bet to win. Once the shooter is covered, other players may make Pass/Don't Pass bets, or any other proposition bets, as long as there is another player willing to cover.

In popular culture

Due to the random nature of the game, in popular culture 'a crapshoot' is often used to describe an action with an unpredictable outcome.

The current record for length of a 'hand' (successive rounds won by the same shooter) is 154 rolls including 25 passes by Patricia DeMauro of New Jersey, lasting 4 hours and 18 minutes, at The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 23-24, 2009. She bested the record held for almost 20 years by over an hour - that of Stanley Fujitake of Hawaii at the California Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, who made 18 passes, holding the dice for 118 rolls, lasting 3 hours and 6 minutes on May 29, 1989.