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Craps odds and strategy
Every bet ranked by house edge, three strategy cards and a 70-second film.
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Learn crapsDice Modern · since c. 1800
Craps: learn it, play its ancestor, then take the table
Craps is two dice, one shooter and the widest spread of good and bad bets on any casino table: 1.41% on the Pass Line, zero on the odds behind it, 16.67% on Any Seven. It grew out of English Hazard in New Orleans around 1800. Start wherever you like.
1,000 practice chips · No cash value · Luck XP in the Arena
- 1.41%Pass Line house edge
- 0%Odds bet house edge
- 36outcomes of two dice
Craps/ Practice table
Free play · No cash value
4Point
5Point
9Point
10Point
Come-out rollPlace a Pass Line bet to begin
· · · Place your bets · · ·
Last rolls
- Pass Line1.41%
- Odds0%
- Field2.78%
- Place 61.52%
- Place 81.52%
Rules and payouts
Pass Line. On the come-out roll 7 or 11 wins and 2, 3 or 12 loses. Any other total becomes the point. Roll the point again before a 7 to win. Pays 1:1. The Pass Line stays locked while a point is on. Table minimum 5 chips.
Odds. After a point is set, add up to three times your Pass Line behind it. It pays true odds: 2:1 on 4 and 10, 3:2 on 5 and 9, 6:5 on 6 and 8. Use multiples of 2 on 5 and 9 and of 5 on 6 and 8.
Field. One roll. 2 pays 2:1, 12 pays 3:1, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 pay 1:1, everything else loses. This paytable carries a 2.78% house edge.
Place 6 and 8. Multiples of 6. Pays 7:6 and stays on the table until a 7. Off on every come-out roll, including the roll that sets a point.
House edge is a long-run average, not a forecast for your next roll. Practice chips have no cash value. A session runs 30 rolls from 1,000 chips; finish one ahead and it counts for Arena XP. New session cashes out between rounds. The dice of a session follow from its seed, so every result can be checked.
Three ways into craps
Learn
OriginalPlay the original
Hazard, 14th century
Call a main between 5 and 9, then throw. The rules Chaucer's gamblers knew.
Original · 4 min
How Hazard is played
- The caster calls a main: 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.
- The first throw wins outright if it equals the main (a nick). 2 and 3 always lose; 11 and 12 win or lose depending on the main.
- Any other number becomes the chance. The caster throws on until the chance comes again (win) or the main does (lose).
Play nowPlay modern
Craps at the table
Pass Line, Odds, Field and Place 6 and 8, with the house edge printed beside every bet.
Modern · 5 min · practice chips
How it works One round of craps
A round, from the come-out to the point.
The rules most players need, in five steps.
IThe come-out roll
A round starts when the shooter throws two dice with no point set. If you have a bet on the Pass Line, a 7 or 11 wins at once and pays even money. A 2, 3 or 12, called craps, loses at once. Any other total, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10, becomes the point, and the dealer moves a puck onto that number.
- 7wins
- 11wins
- 2loses
- 3loses
- 12loses
- 6becomes the point
IIRolling for the point
Now the shooter keeps throwing until either the point or a 7 comes up. The point wins the Pass Line, a 7 loses it, and every other total changes nothing for that bet. Because 7 is the most likely total, a point of 4 or 10 is hard to make and a point of 6 or 8 is the easiest.
OFF
No point yet. The next roll is a come-out.
ON
Sits on the point. Point wins, 7 loses.
IIITaking odds
Once the point is set you can place extra chips behind your Pass Line bet. This odds bet pays at the true chance of making the point: 2:1 on 4 and 10, 3:2 on 5 and 9, 6:5 on 6 and 8. It is the one bet in the casino with no house edge, which is why the guide spends a whole chapter on it.
Point 4 or 10
3 ways6 ways to 7Odds pay2:1
Point 5 or 9
4 ways6 ways to 7Odds pay3:2
Point 6 or 8
5 ways6 ways to 7Odds pay6:5
The fewer ways to make the point, the more the odds pay. The house keeps nothing.
IVThe rest of the layout
Come bets work like a second Pass Line bet started in the middle of a round. Don't Pass and Don't Come are the mirror bets that win when the shooter fails. Place bets let you back a single number without waiting, and the centre of the table holds one-roll bets with big payouts and the highest house edges in the game.
VWhy the history matters
Every one of these rules is Hazard with the choices taken away. In Hazard the caster picked the main and the winning numbers moved with it. Craps fixed the main at 7 for everyone, which is why the come-out roll has the same results every time and why the table can deal to a dozen players at once.
Lineage Where craps comes from
From Roman tali to the casino table.
- c. 100 CERoman taliRome
- c. 1300HazardEngland
- c. 1800CrabsNew Orleans
- 1907Bank crapsJohn H. Winn
- TodayCrapsevery casino
Bernard de Marigny is usually credited with bringing Hazard to New Orleans; the losing throw "crabs" became the name. John H. Winn's 1907 layout added the Don't Pass bet and let the house bank every wager, which is the game casinos still deal.
In between, craps was a street and riverboat game played on blankets and pavements with no house at all, players betting against each other. That is why the language of the table is still full of nicknames: snake eyes for a 2, boxcars for a 12, yo for 11.
FamilyAll dice games
AncestorHazard
CousinSic Bo
Where to play
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Questions and further reading
Craps questions
The answers new players ask for first.
What is the best bet in craps?
The odds bet behind a Pass or Come bet. It pays at true odds, so the house edge is zero. You can only make it after a point is set, and only alongside a Pass or Come bet, which carries 1.41%.
Is craps a game of skill?
No. Every throw is chance. Skill lies only in choosing bets with a low house edge and avoiding the centre-table bets, which run from 9% to 16.67%.
Where did craps come from?
From Hazard, an English dice game recorded in the 14th century. It reached New Orleans around 1800 and was simplified there into the game we know.
What happens on the come-out roll?
On the first throw of a round, 7 or 11 wins the Pass Line, 2, 3 or 12 loses it, and any other total becomes the point. The shooter then throws until the point or a 7 comes up.
Can I play craps online for free?
Yes, at the table on this page. It uses practice chips with no cash value.