Craps may seem complicated in the beginning, but if you focus on the smart bets, and stick with a strategy, you can skip learning curve and have a great chance of beating the house. That is because craps does the unthinkable and offers a bet where the house has no edge! However, if you want to become proficient with craps, we suggest reading this several times and practicing with small bets.

The Pass Line

The pass line is the most fundamental bet in craps and almost every  player at the table bets on it. The house edge on the pass line  is only 1.41%, which is low in comparison to some other bets one could make and other games.

The pass line is an even money bet. The player starts by placing their bet on the pass line area of the table on a 'come out roll.' If the come out roll is a 7 or 11 you win. If the come out roll is a 2, 3, or 12 you lose.  If the come out roll is anything else then what was rolled then that number is called the point. A white disk will be placed on the table to show what the point is. Then the dice will be rolled over and over until either a 7 or the point is rolled. If the point is rolled first, the player wins, if a 7 is rolled first you lose.

Never place a pass line bet after the come out roll. Only a sucker would do this because the odds of winning on the come out roll are much greater than those of losing. The player may wonder if the next point is the come out roll when they step up to the table. If there is a white disk on the table then there is an active point. Wait until either the point is thrown or a 7.  After this time wait for the dealer to either collect bets or pay people off.  Then you can place your bet.

Buying the Odds

Have you ever wanted to make a bet where the house has no edge? Craps offers exactly that, but you must bet on the pass line first. Once a point has been thrown you may bet up to some multiple, usually 2 times, your pass line bet on the 'odds.' The odds are simply an additional wager that the point will be rolled before a 7.  Because the probability of the point being rolled first is less than 50%, you win more than you bet if it happens. Specifically, if the point is a 6 or 8 the odds pay 6:5, if the point is a 5 or 9 the odds pay 3:2, and if the point is a 4 or 10 the odds  pay 2:1.

The multiple you may bet on  the odds is usually twice the pass line bet for points of 4,5,9,  and 10, and two and a half times the pass line bet on the 6 and  8. The reason you may bet more on a point of 6 or 8 is so that you can place a $5 odds bet on top of a $2 pass line bet. A $4 odds bet on a 6 or 8 would win $4.80 and nobody likes to deal with small change at the craps table. A $5 odds bet on the 6 or 8 wins an even $6.

The table below shows the house edge when you combine the pass line and odds:

Don't Pass

The don't pass is almost the opposite of the pass line bet. If the come out roll is a 2 or 3 then you win, a 7 or 11 you lose. A 12 is a push. Otherwise the dice are rolled over and over until either the point or a 7 is rolled. If the 7 comes before the point you win.

A person betting on the don't pass is called a "wrong" bettor and is usually winning when everyone else is losing, and vise versa. You definitely want to keep a low profile if you take this bet, as nobody is going to want to see you boasting about winning if everyone else just lost.

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