Want to know how to improve your craps game? Craps is all about the betting, not the dice roll. Knowing when and how to bet will make you invincible when you play craps—whether you play craps online or in casinos. These 5 simple tips on how to win at craps will improve your odds of winning while playing craps.

There are 11 numbers possible with a pair of dice; some easier to roll than others.

Those unfamiliar with the game of craps are usually put off by the large betting fields and seemingly endless rules and betting combinations. But the secret to winning at craps is to have some sort of understanding of the house edge, so you know when, where, and why to bet on each roll of the dice. All casino games are based on probability, so a little understanding of the math behind the game goes a long way. Some bets are better than others—and often at different times during the game.

Follow the basic strategy outlined below; it’s easy to remember and to implement. Get ready to boost your bankroll and your craps skills with these 5 easy-to-master tips.

• Craps gives you one of the best chances to win in the casino if you know the right strategy. But it’s also one of the worst games in terms of house edge when you place the wrong bets. In order to win consistently, this makes the goal to place the best bets and avoid the worst ones.
• Your stop-loss limit is $100, so, if your bankroll drops to $150, you must quit the craps session and go do something else. Your win goal is $250, so once your bankroll gets up to $500, you must quit the game and go do something else. This kind of strategy might increase your chances of walking away from the game a winner.

1. Don’t Pass and Don’t Come With Odds

The rule of thumb is as follows: Put the smallest amount on the Don’t Pass or the Don’t Come lines and wager the largest amount behind them. The house edge is on the Don’t Pass/Don’t Come bets, which only pay out 1:1 if you win. But the player has the advantage on the Free Odds bets (those behind the don’t pass/don’t come line), which pay out at the actual mathematical odds. This means if you play it right, the house has no advantage at all.

You can get decent winnings by using one or two basic bets or make things interesting by utilizing a Craps system. In essence, these strategies are a series of stakes that you make throughout a round.

Free Odds bets are the only bets in the casino where the house has no advantage. It’s important to bet in the right increments, because most casinos won’t pay out in fractional dollars. For example: Free Odds payouts on 6 and 8 are at a 6:5 ratio (i.e. bet $5 get paid $6), so bet in increments of $5. Free Odds payouts on 5 and 9 are at a 3:2 ratio, so bet in increments of $2. Free Odds payouts on 4 and 10 are 2:1, so bet in whatever increments you like.

2. Place the 6 or 8 Bet to Win

Instead of waiting for the shooter to establish a point, pick your own numbers: 6 or 8. When you’re playing in multiples of $6.00 (or the currency of your choice), place the 6 or 8 place-to-win bet. The 1.52% house edge makes this bet a popular choice. The winning bets are paid at 7:6 odds, which means that you’ll be paid out $7 when you bet $6 and the number hits.

The 6 and 8 are the most frequently rolled numbers other than 7. Stay away from other place bets because the house edge is higher: 4% on 5 or 9 and 6.67% on 4 or 10.

3. Place the 6 or 8 Bet to Lose

This tip is the opposite of the previous tip. You’re betting on the shooter to lose, which might make you ‘unpopular’ at a table cheering on the shooter. But you’re not gambling for them; you’re playing the odds. Place a $5 bet on the table and announce “6 (or 8) to lose.” If the 7 shows (which is a very high frequency number) then you win $4.00 as the house edge is only 1.82%. Remember, there are 11 numbers that can be rolled with a pair of dice and some numbers are much easier to roll (come up more frequently) than others. Check out the list below of numbers and the ways to roll them:

2 – one way – 1-1

3 – two ways – 1-2, 2-1

4 – three ways – 1-3, 2-2, 3-1

5 – four ways – 1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1

6 – five ways – 1-5, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2, 5-1

7 – six ways – 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1

8 – five ways – 2-6, 3-5, 4-4, 5-3, 6-2

9 – four ways – 3-6, 4-5, 5-4, 6-3

10 – three ways – 4-6, 5-5, 6-4

11 – two ways – 5-6, 6-5

2 – one way – 6-6

4. Lay against the 4 or 10

This tip is similar to the place the 6 or 8 to lose but the payouts are much higher as, while there are six ways to roll a 7, there are only three ways to roll a 4 or a 10 as opposed to five ways to roll a 6 or 8. In this case you take the more “optimistic” approach and place $20 on the table and say “Lay against the 4 (or 10).” If you win, you get back $40!

You must pay the house a 5% commission to make lay bets, but they pay out at true odds. Also, you’re betting against the shooter, so try not to gloat if you win large amounts betting against them. And if you’re playing craps online, you’re not offending anyone.

5. Place the 5 or 9 to Lose

In this bet, you put down $8.00 (remember you have to bet in increments of $2 as the odds are 3:2, meaning for every $2 you bet you get $3 if you win) and bet that the numbers above will lose. Why? The house edge on this type of bet is low – only 2.5% so when the 7 shows (again, that happens often), you’ll win $5.00.

In addition to these tips, always remember that craps is a negative expectation game, so the longer you play, the higher the chances you have of losing. But this is how casinos stay in business, and how the house edges make or break bettors who don’t make smart bets—or know when to walk away.

These are 5 of the most effective bets to make on craps to win. By reducing the house odds you are increasing your own chances of winning big when the table is hot. Try this for yourself at Slots of Vegas Craps Table today and walk away a winner!

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See also: “Fall in love with the game of craps”

On the surface, Craps may look like a game where people are simply throwing a pair of dice across the table. However, there are odds, probabilities and house edges involved that dictate your chances of winning any given bet and therefore what strategies can be applied to the game. Here is a runthrough of Craps odds and strategy that you should bear in mind when playing.

Craps odds and probabilities

The best place to start in determining the odds involved in Craps is assessing the probability of getting any given number from a dice roll featuring two six-sided dice:

Craps probability

As you can see, the most likely dice roll is a seven, which will occur on six of the 36 possible combinations from the two dice. The next two most likely are six and eight followed by five and nine and so on, reducing in probability as you move further away from seven lower and higher respectively.

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This means that on the come-out roll, a player has a 22.22% chance of rolling a natural (seven or 11), an 11.12% chance of crapping out (rolling two, three and 12) and a 66.66% chance of rolling a point number.

You will notice that the probability of rolling any individual point number is lower than that of rolling a seven. Here is the probability of the point numbers being rolled before a seven:

Craps point number probability

Naturally, these percentages translate to the respective chances of winning Pass odds and Don’t pass odds bets. On a Pass odds bet, the odds will always be against you and on a Don’t pass odds bet, they will always be in your favour.

A combination of the two tables above can be used to calculate the overall approximate chances of winning any common Craps bets, as well as the house edge involved:

Craps pass line bet odds

This means that for every €100 bet on Pass line and Come bets, your expected approximate return is €98.59 and for Don’t pass and Don’t come bets, it is €98.64.

The probabilities of winning and associated house edges for several other Craps bets are as follows:

Multi-roll Craps bets probabilities and house edges

Single roll Craps bets probabilities and house edges

Craps strategy

Many Craps strategies thoroughly recommend predominantly focusing your bets on the common Craps bets that are often made in every round – Pass line, Come, Don’t pass, and Don’t come bets. These possess house edges (and therefore expected returns) which can only be bettered by Odds bets in the entire game.

Of these, Don’t pass and Don’t come bets are narrowly more favourable by virtue of possessing a house edge of 1.36% (whereas for Pass line and Come bets it is 1.41%), as well as a 50.71% approximate probability of winning or pushing your bet compared to 49.29% for Pass line and Come bets.

Should the round enter the point stage, it is always advisable to back up any one of these bets with Odds bets. Although the win probabilities may seem off-putting, as they pay at true odds they actually help to reduce the house edge, hence why at many casinos Odds bets have restrictive maximum limits. Odds bets reduce the house edge as follows:

Winning Craps Strategy Youtube

Craps bets house edge

Aside from the four main bets and Odds bets, the only other bet players should consistently look to make are Place bets on six or eight. While those seeking big wins may be unmoved by the 7:6 payout, these can prove useful if the point is any other number as they offer only a 1.52% house edge.

On top of this, Place bets on six or eight should always be made of instead of the comparable Big 6 or Big 8 bet, which offers a weaker payout for the same outcome and therefore has a considerably worse house edge of 9.09%.

Remember that for any individual dice throw, the chances of getting any specified number doesn’t change.

A common misconception is that a Field bet also presents greater value than any Place bet, as it covers more possible outcomes. However, a Field bet actually has a slightly worse win probability than a Place bet on six or eight of 44.45% and more importantly a higher house edge of 5.56%.

Indeed, virtually no single roll bets present any justifiable value and therefore they should merely be considered a bit of fun. The vast majority offer minimal win probabilities against large house edges of at least 10%. While they can provide substantial payouts on minimal bets, the law of probabilities dictates that they do not entail a secure method of boosting your winnings and will deplete your funds over a long period of time.

This illustrates the point that any Craps bet should be made with a comprehensive understanding of the house edges involved.

For instance, one popular Craps betting strategy is The Iron Cross, whereby a player places a Field bet and Place bets on five, six and eight to cover every possible outcome apart from a seven. Initially this seems an attractive prospect, particularly as it has an 83.34% win probability for any given roll.

However, by virtue of the fact that it loses everything on a seven (the most likely individual outcome) and it is combining various different bets, it still has a house edge of 3.87% and will therefore diminish your expected returns by a greater extent than various other bets with lesser win probabilities.

Finally, under all circumstances avoid falling into the trap of reading into patterns that are not there. It is a common sight to see Craps players becoming excited by a shooter throwing a ‘hot streak’ of winning rolls and allowing this to influence their bets, such as deciding that because the shooter has not thrown a seven for 10 rolls, they are less likely to on their next roll.

Remember that for any individual dice throw the chances of getting any specified number doesn’t change. Irrespective of whether the shooter has thrown 10 straight sevens or none in their last 10 rolls, the probability of rolling a seven on the next throw is always 16.66%.

For this reason you should be wary of Craps betting strategies such as the Three Point Molly which are cited as capable of taking advantage of ‘hot streaks’. The odds and probabilities always operate independently of the shooter’s previous rolls, meaning ascribing too much significance to them can be a gateway to losing a large amount of money in a short space of time.

Learn more about Craps

If you’re looking for general advice on how to play Craps, then read our ultimate guide to Craps. If you want to learn more about Craps beyond how to play the game, you can read about the history of Craps.

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