Craps Odds, Betting & Payouts

Craps can be a confusing game for beginners, but once you start to understand the different betting options you will find it to be one of the most entertaining table games at the casino. After familiarising yourself with the basic rules of craps, here we move onto breaking down every craps betting option, along with the potential payout and house edge available. The latter is particularly important to bear in mind when it comes to deciding which bets to place, but we will take a more in-depth look at craps strategy in another chapter.

Read on to find out more about every possible crap bet you can make, whether playing online or at a bricks-and-mortar casino.

Craps Odds and Payouts

Now we will go through every bet type available at the craps table, and look at the house edge, odds of winning and potential payouts for each of these. To start with, here is a summary of craps odds for each of those bet types, which we look at in more detail below:

Multi-Roll Craps Bet Types

The first bet types we will examine are some of the most common bets available when playing craps. If you are new to the game then you will want to be familiar with these, and to understand exactly how much you can expect to win from each of them.

Pass Bet

The Pass Line bet is known as one of the safest bets in craps, as well as being easy for beginners to understand. Simply put, the player(s) bet that the shooter will roll a 7 or 11 before rolling a 2, 3 or12. If any other number is rolls then the bet stays live until either the shooter hits the number that was rolled (the ‘point’ number) or else loses by hitting a 7.

Don’t Pass Line Bet

The opposite of the Pass Line bet, if you choose this option you are hoping for the reverse of the outcome described above. Here players will win if the shooter throws a 2 or a 3 (a 12 is a tie, or ‘push’ and money is refunded) and lose if a 7 or 11 is rolled. Again, if another number is rolled the game continues, but here the player will win if a 7 shows up before the point number. Over multiple rolls the house edge falls from 1.40% to a slightly more player-friendly edge of 1.36%.

Come Bet

The Come bet can only be made after the ‘point’ number has been determined by the Pass Line bet. Place your chip on the Come section of the board; if a 7 or 11 is rolled you win, if 2, 3 or 12 is rolled you lose. If any other number is rolled then this number becomes a new point number. Now the player wins if this new point number is rolled before number 7.

Don’t Come Bet

Once again this is the opposite of the Come Bet and can only be placed after the Pass Line bet has been made. The chip is placed in the ‘Don’t Come Bar 12’ section of the board. The player wins if 2 or 3 is rolled and loses if 7 or 11 is rolled. If a 12 is thrown it is a tie, or push. If 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 11 is rolled before one of the other numbers then this becomes the a new point. Player wins if 7 is rolled before this new number.

Taking Odds/Free Odds Bet

This not only offers the best craps bet you can make, it is the best value bet in the casino, although note that it must be made together with a Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come bet. When the point number has been established, you can take the odds on this bet. So you can place a chip behind the line next to your Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come bet to take the odds. Normally there is a limit of x2 your initial bet for the Odds bet, and it is not always available in online casinos.

Otherwise it works exactly the same as the Come/Pass bets except you are able to place this wager without any house edge.

Payout: 2/1 for 4 or 10; 3/2 for 5 or 9; 6/5 for 6 or 8

House Edge: 0%

Laying Odds

The opposite of taking odds but with the same 0% house edge, again laying odds must be done along with a Pass/Don’t Pass or Come/Don’t Come bet. When the point number has been established, you can lay the odds on this bet, hoping that the 7 appears before the point number.

Payout: 1/2 for 4 or 10; 2/3 for 5 or 9; 5/6 for 6 or 8

House Edge: 0%

Field Bet

ThThis is a one-off bet that can be made at any time. Place your chip on the Field section of the board. The player wins if a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12 is thrown. Winnings are paid out at 1/1, except for when a 2 or 12 appears, in which case winnings are paid out at 2/1. The bet is lost if the dice rolled shows 5, 6, 7 or 8.

Payout: 2/1 for 2 or 12; 1/1 for all other numbers

House Edge: 5.56%

Big 6 or 8 Bet

The player lays their chip in the Big 6/8 section to place this bet. This is a multi-roll bet where the player wins if a 6 or 8 is rolled before a 7, and this bet can be placed at any time.

Payout: 1/1

House Edge: 9.09%

Place Bet

A Place bet is simply a bet that is placed on a particular number being rolled before a 7. This is a multi-roll bet which can be placed at any time. Both the potential payouts and house edge vary according to which numbers are selected.

Payout: 9/5 for 4 or 10; 7/5 for 5 or 9; 7/6 for 6 or 8

House Edge: 6.67% for 4 or 10; 4% for 5 or 9; 1.52% for 6 or 8.

Buy Bet

As an alternative to a Place bet on 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 players will have the option to Buy one of these numbers. The difference is that the payout will be better, meaning that the house edge is reduced in some cases, although a 5% commission is deducted by the casino which means that the house edge increases for some numbers. As with Place bets, payouts vary according to the numbers selected.

Payout: 2/1 for 4 or 10; 3/2 for 5 or 9; 6/5 for 6 or 8

House Edge: 4.76%

Hardway Bet

Hardway bets only pay out for numbers that are rolled showing the same number on both dice. So to roll a ‘hard’ 10 would require both dice to show 5. The player places a bet on the hardway number and hopes it is rolled before the shooter rolls a 7. The bet stays active until one or the other is rolled.

Payout: 9/1 for 6 or 8; 7/1 for 4 or 10

House Edge: 9.09% for 6 or 8; 11.11% for 4 or 10

Single Roll Bets

The above bets can take a number of rolls of the dice to resolve, and stay live until the bet is either won or lost. However, there are some craps bets which are resolved after just one roll of the dice, so next we will take a look at these ‘single roll’ bets:

Any 7 Bet

This bet is resolved after just one roll of the dice. If a 7 is revealed the player wins 4x their stake, but if any other number is rolled the player loses.

Payout: 4/1

House Edge: 16.67%

Any Craps Bet

Numbers 2, 3 and 12 are known as the ‘craps numbers’, and a player can place a bet at any time that the shooters next roll will reveal one of these.

Payout: 7/1

House Edge: 11.11%

2 or 12 Bets

One of the biggest payouts in craps is offered when players bet that the next roll will reveal either 2 or 12. For example the player can select 2 and if this is hit by the shooter in the next roll, the player wins 30x their stake. If any other number is revealed the player loses.

Payout: 30/1

House Edge: 13.89%

3 or 11 Bet

This is similar to the above bet, although both 3 and 11 are twice as likely to appear as 2 or 12, which is reflected the payouts on offer. The player bets that either 3 or 11 will be rolled next and wins 15x their bet if this is the case. If any other number is rolled the bet is lost.

Payout: 15/1 for 3 or 11

House Edge: 11.11%

Horn Bet

The Horn bet is available in some online and physical casinos, and is a one-time bet on numbers 2, 3, 11 and 12. A Horn bet of £/$40 would effectively be a bet of £/$10 on each of the four numbers individually. Where a Horn bet is available you may see ‘C&E’ options; the C stands for ‘Any Craps’ and pays out at 7.1, while the E bet stands for 11 and pays at 15/1.

Payout: 30/1 for 2 or 12; 15/1 for 3 or 11

House Edge: 13.89% for 2 or 12; 11.11% for 3 or 11

Craps Fire Bet

The Fire Bet in Craps is one which has gained in popularity in recent years, although generally it is only offered in physical casinos rather than when playing online. The Fire Bet is when you bet that the shooter will make at least 4 unique points after establishing a point and before crapping out. So basically you are betting that at least four and up to six of the points 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 are hit before the round is over. Although this is a popular side bet to make at the dice table, the huge house edge means that it should probably be avoided except as a fun and low stakes wager.

Payout: 25/1 for 4; 250/1 for 5; 1,000/1 for 6

House Edge: 20.76%

NOTE: Odds can vary between different casinos, although the house edge remains the same regardless of which casino you play at. Casinos will often also show higher odds on the table to reflect the fact that your money will be returned. For example, Craps can be shown with a payout of 8:1 rather than 7:1, but in our guide we give the ‘true’ odds as you would expect to see on other casino games.

Craps Probability Chart

As you can see from our craps probability chart below, the 7 is the number most rolled in Craps since it can appear in six different combinations. 2 and 12 are the least likely numbers to be rolled as there is only one possible combination of dice for each of these.

Check out our article on optimal Craps Strategy if you are looking for the best way to put your knowledge of craps betting into action.

Tips for Playing Craps

Craps can be one of the most exciting games that you ever play. There is a simplicity to it – just roll the dice and hope it comes up your way – but the kind of action that keeps everyone on their toes. Whether you have just gotten started playing or consider yourself a seasoned pro, a few tips can prove beneficial. Check out these simple tips and you can feel like an expert the next time you step up to the craps table.

The Odds Bet

How can you put yourself in a better position than narrowing the house edge down to zero? That’s right, the house edge is zero but there is a catch to be aware of.

The Odds bet is typically made when you either make a come bet, don’t come bet, pass bet, or don’t pass bet and it lands on a number. Add more to your betting without having to give any additional edge to the casino if you fall into one of the aforementioned situations.

Place the 6 and/or 8

Though you might be better off doing one of the aforementioned pass/don’t pass/come/don’t come wagers, this is still a solid wager to make. The house edge is a measly 1.52%, which is virtually negligible.

There is a bit of a myth surrounding this bet, however. Many players think that these bets are good because the player can call them off or take them down. But a bettor would have to do this more than 80% of the time and most craps players aren’t going to do that.

Keep Your Emotions in Check

When craps is really rolling and a lot of fun, it can be all too easy to get sucked into a bad bet. When everything is getting raucous and exciting, you can wind up losing quite a bit of money.

Keep a strategy in mind and make sure to check your emotions at the door. Even if everyone is having a blast on a losing roll, you can still enjoy your time and make some money in the process.

Come/Pass Line

The goal in craps is to limit the house edge in any way possible. When you play the Pass Line or the Come Bet, you limit the house edge to just about 1.41%.The best ways to make money when it comes to playing a game like craps is to put yourself in the best positions to win. It might not be the most exciting nor pay out the most, but these two betting options will give you the best chance.

Become a Pro

With some experience and our helpful guide, you can stroll up to the craps table with a little bit of swagger. Don’t leave everything to chance when you can put yourself in the best position to win each time that the dice is rolled.