Craps is my favorite game in the casino, and if you learn how to play, it will be one of your favorites, too. I've written multiple posts explaining how to play.
Aug 13, 2020 The best bets at the craps table are the pass line bet and the don't pass bet. The come and don't come bets are also great wagers. I always advise casino gamblers to try to limit their gambling to games where the house edge is lower than 2% — preferably 1.5% or lower. A craps game starts with a come out roll. The player making this roll must make a bet that meets the table minimum on either the pass line or don't pass. The stickman pushes the dice to this player and there is a roll. The dice must hit the back wall to count.
In this post, I want to do something a little different.
I want to offer you the best tips for playing craps WELL.
If you want to do well at the craps table, these are the only 11 tips you'll ever need.
1 – Stick With the Pass, Come, and Free Odds Bets
The pass line bet is the basic bet when playing craps for real money. It's a bet that the shooter will roll a 7 or an 11 on his come-out roll, or that the shooter will roll a point number and subsequently hit that point number again before rolling a 7. The pass line bet loses if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 on the come-out roll.
The come bet is just like the pass bet, but it treats a roll after the come-out roll as if it were a new come-out roll.
And the free odds bet is only available if you've made a pass or come bet, and the shooter has set a point. The odds bet pays off at the true odds of rolling the point again before rolling a 7.
If you stick with those bets, you'll be playing the most exciting game in the casino and facing terrific odds. These bets make craps almost as attractive a game as blackjack.
2 – Most of the Bets at the Craps Table Offer Lousy Odds
One of the great things about craps is that it's easy to learn how to make the best bets and avoid the lousy ones. That's because the only good bets at the table are these:
- Pass
- Don't pass
- Come
- Don't come
- Free odds
- Place 6
- Place 8
You literally have dozens of bets to choose from at the craps table, but the house edge on the bets listed above are all less than 1.5%.
3 – Here's What You Should Do If You're a Beginner
If you're a beginner craps player, stick with the pass line bet. Don't start making a lot of come bets until you're comfortable with what's happening with the pass line bet.
It might be a good idea to take one of the free casino game classes where they'll teach you how to play.
Once you're comfortable with the pass line bet, expand your repertoire by making occasional come bets, too.
Try not to have more than two or three numbers working at one time. Any more than that, and you might be devastated by a big loss you're not expecting.
4 – Understand the House Edge in Craps
The house edge represents the difference between the odds of winning and the payout odds for the game. Craps, like every other casino game, pays out less than the odds of winning. The difference is where the casino makes its profit.
The house edge is expressed as a percentage, and it's an estimate of how much you should expect to lose in the long run on a game.
In the case of craps, the house edge for the pass and come bets is the same – 1.41%.
The house edge for the don't pass and don't come bets is 1.36%.
The great thing is the house edge for the free odds bet. It's called 'free' odds because it carries no house edge. The payout for this bet is the same as the odds of winning it.
By taking or laying odds on top of your pass, don't pass, come, or don't come bets, you're effectively reducing the house edge for the game even further.
5 – Pick Your Wins Up From the Table
It's your responsibility to pick up any money you win from the table. If you just leave those chips on the table, they're considered new bets, and they stay in action.
If you're on a winning streak, that's cool. You'll just win that much more money. In fact, win three or four times in a row by letting your winnings ride can net you a lot of cash fast.
But if you're a more conservative player, pick the chips you've won up off the table after you win.
6 – Ignore Dealers at the Craps Table That Recommend a Bet
One of the dealers at the craps table is comparable to the ringmaster in a circus. He's the stickman, and part of his job is to sell you on the idea of making bets in the middle of the table.
The house edge on those bets is terrible, and when I say terrible, I mean over 9%.
Would you rather lose an average of 9% on each bet or an average of 1.5% on each bet?
It's the difference between losing $15/hour and losing $90/hour.
7 – Don't Use Betting Systems at the Craps Table
Any game with bets that offer even money payouts is ripe for betting system players. Craps is no exception. In fact, you'll have no trouble finding a Martingale or Paroli system player at the craps table.
Craps Come Bet Odds
These two systems work in precisely the opposite way, but both systems also don't do anything to help you win the game. A negative expectation bet is a negative expectation, no matter what.
The Martingale System and the Paroli System are examples of positive and negative progression systems. You raise and lower the size of your bets based on whether you won or lose previous bets.
Here's an example of the Martingale in action at the craps table:
You bet $5 on the pass line, and you lose when the shooter 7s out. Now you bet $10 on the pass line, and if you win, you've won back your $5 loss along with a $5 profit.
But if you lose, you have to bet $20 on your next bet, and so on.
Eventually, you'll run into a losing streak that's so long that it will be impossible to place the next bet in your progression.
By taking or laying odds on top of your pass, don't pass, come, or don't come bets, you're effectively reducing the house edge for the game even further.
5 – Pick Your Wins Up From the Table
It's your responsibility to pick up any money you win from the table. If you just leave those chips on the table, they're considered new bets, and they stay in action.
If you're on a winning streak, that's cool. You'll just win that much more money. In fact, win three or four times in a row by letting your winnings ride can net you a lot of cash fast.
But if you're a more conservative player, pick the chips you've won up off the table after you win.
6 – Ignore Dealers at the Craps Table That Recommend a Bet
One of the dealers at the craps table is comparable to the ringmaster in a circus. He's the stickman, and part of his job is to sell you on the idea of making bets in the middle of the table.
The house edge on those bets is terrible, and when I say terrible, I mean over 9%.
Would you rather lose an average of 9% on each bet or an average of 1.5% on each bet?
It's the difference between losing $15/hour and losing $90/hour.
7 – Don't Use Betting Systems at the Craps Table
Any game with bets that offer even money payouts is ripe for betting system players. Craps is no exception. In fact, you'll have no trouble finding a Martingale or Paroli system player at the craps table.
Craps Come Bet Odds
These two systems work in precisely the opposite way, but both systems also don't do anything to help you win the game. A negative expectation bet is a negative expectation, no matter what.
The Martingale System and the Paroli System are examples of positive and negative progression systems. You raise and lower the size of your bets based on whether you won or lose previous bets.
Here's an example of the Martingale in action at the craps table:
You bet $5 on the pass line, and you lose when the shooter 7s out. Now you bet $10 on the pass line, and if you win, you've won back your $5 loss along with a $5 profit.
But if you lose, you have to bet $20 on your next bet, and so on.
Eventually, you'll run into a losing streak that's so long that it will be impossible to place the next bet in your progression.
With the Paroli System, you'll let your winnings ride until you've had a specific, arbitrary number of wins in a row.
For example, you might set a goal of winning 3 times in a row. You bet $5 on pass, win, and bet $10 on the 2nd round, and win again. Now you bet $20. If you win all 3 bets, you've won $35 over 3 rounds of the game.
But this approach doesn't work, either, in the long run.
8 – Don't Try to Become a Craps Professional
Contrary to what you might read and what some people might tell you, it's not possible to get an edge at craps in the long run. Without being able to get a mathematical edge, you can't possibly play craps for a living.
Even the odds bets, which have no house edge, can only be made when you've made an initial bet with a negative expectation.
On top of the negative expectation, you have a highly volatile game. Just because the house edge on the odds bets is 0% doesn't mean those bets pay off often. They still lose most of the time.
It's just that, theoretically, in the long run, you'll win as much money as you lose on such bets.
Pass Bet Craps App
If you want to be a professional gambler, learn to count cards in blackjack, or handicap sports with a high degree of accuracy, or play poker at a pro-level.
But stay away from craps if you want to gamble professionally. Best lotto games.
9 – Skip Don't Pass and Don't Come Bets If You're New
You might think that don't pass and don't come are the best bets at the craps table. And since the house edge for these bets is 1.36% instead of 1.41%, that's true.
But that doesn't mean you should place these bets.
In fact, if you're new, I suggest avoiding them.
Here's why:
Most of the other players are betting with the shooter. It's fun to root for a shooter to win, and it's fun to have a sense of teamwork and camaraderie at the craps table. Raise fold poker.
If you're betting against everyone at the table, you'll probably have less fun.
Unless you just have one of those personalities.
10 – Take as Big an Odds Bet as Possible While Still Being Comfortable
Let's say you're at a craps table where the minimum bet is $5 and the maximum bet is $500. And the maximum amount of odds this casino will let you take is 2X your bet.
Don't bet $15 on the pass line and ignore the odds bet.
And don't bet $15 on the pass line and then put $30 on the odds bet.
In one case, you're letting the house have a more significant edge than you need to.
In the other case, you're putting more money into action on a single roll of the dice than you're comfortable with.
Neither of these situations is good.
11 – Free Casino Classes Are Great – Except for the Strategy Advice
Craps, more than most casino games, is a good one to learn via the free casino classes that most gambling halls offer during their slow periods. You can get an excellent feel for how the game plays and how the betting works. Most real money online casinos will also allow you to play for free and practice before you're ready for the real thing.
Just ignore any strategy advice that live casino dealers offer. Sometimes the dealers don't know anything about the math behind the game and give what they think is good advice. Other times, the dealers are just rooting for you to lose.
Conclusion
With a basic understanding of how to play craps, you can have more fun in the casino than most. And you'll stand a good chance of having some big winning sessions.
It's just as important to play smart at the craps table as it is at any other casino game.
Thinking about these 11 craps tips will keep you on the side of the gambling angels.
I'm writing a series of blog posts about casino games and the good and bad strategies for playing those games.
Craps is one of my favorite casino games, so I've been looking forward to writing this one.
And the beautiful thing about craps is that it's a game of pure chance. The best strategy is just to choose the bets with the lowest edge for the house and have fun.
But I'll have some things to say about some of the strategies and systems that other writers promote, too.
They're mostly bad craps strategies.
Here's the Only Craps Strategy You Need
When you're dealing with an entirely random game – like craps – the only strategy that matters is choosing the bets with the lowest house edge and having fun.
I'll have something to say about shooters and whether they have control over the outcomes later in this post, but for now, let's just agree that games like craps are purely chance.
In other games that are entirely random, like slot machines, you don't even really need to decide which bet to place. It's chosen for you before you sit down.
When playing craps for real money, you have a handful of good bets you can make, but most of the bets on the table are bad. Just skip the bad bets, and you're all set.
The Bests Bets at the Craps Table
The best bets at the craps table are the pass line bet and the don't pass bet.
The come and don't come bets are also great wagers.
I always advise casino gamblers to try to limit their gambling to games where the house edge is lower than 2% — preferably 1.5% or lower.
The house edge for the pass and come bets is the same, 1.41%, which means they qualify.
The house edge for the don't pass and don't come bets is even lower, 1.36%, but the 0.05% isn't worth worrying about. Most people prefer to root for the shooter to succeed.
The other bet to think about at the craps table is the odds bet. This is a bet you can only place after making one of the 4 bets I already mentioned and when the shooter has set a point.
This is one of the only bets in the casino that has no house edge. It's a break-even bet, but it can be expensive.
It can also drive the effective house edge on the money you have in action down to almost nothing.
Here's how that works.
How the Odds Bet Changes the House Edge for the Better
If you're betting on the pass line and the shooter sets a point, you can expect to lose $1.41 for every $100 you bet. That's on average and in the long run.
If you're playing at a casino that only allows you to place an odds bet at 1X the size of your pass line bet, you can put another $100 into action.
Your expected loss remains $1.41, though, which effectively cuts the house edge in half, from 1.41% to 0.71%.
If you're able to bet 2X your original bet on the odds bet, you can lower that even further to 0.36%. (You have $300 in action, but your expected loss is still only $1.41.)
The more you're able to bet on the odds bet, the lower the house edge for all the money you have in action becomes.
It's clear why betting on the pass line and taking the most odds that you can is an effective strategy. With the odds bet, you can get the house edge in craps lower than 0.5% at least some of the time at the table, making it an even better game than blackjack.
And what's more, you don't have to memorize basic strategy to get the low house edge at craps.
You just need a big enough casino bankroll to make the right bets, and you need enough sense to avoid the bad bets at the table – of which there are many.
Any Strategy that Involves Placing ANY Other Bets at the Craps Table Is a BAD Craps Strategy
There's a reason gambling experts measure bets according to their house edge. That's because it's the single best indicator of how good or bad a bet is.
The house edge is a statistical estimate of how much money you'll lose as a percentage of your original bet over the long run.
If the house edge is 1.41%, the casino expects to win an average of $1.41 every time you bet $100.
If the house edge is 16.66%, the casino expects to win an average of $16.66 every time you bet $100.
Which bet looks like the better bet for the casino?
And which one looks like the better bet for the gambler?
It shouldn't be hard to make the distinction.
Even the best of the bad bets on the craps table are inferior to the 1.41% or 1.36% you can get from the pass, don't pass, come, and don't come bets.
And trust me on this:
You can have PLENTY of fun sticking with the basic bets at the craps table.
Betting Systems Where You Raise and Lower the Size of Your Bets Are Bad Strategies
The classic example of this kind of betting system is the Martingale System, where you double the size of your bets after each loss. When you do this repeatedly, you eventually win back the money you've lost along with a profit of one unit.
The problem with a system like the Martingale is that you'll eventually run into a big enough losing streak that it will wipe out all those small profits and then some.
Most people underestimate how quickly a bet's size gets when doubling after every loss.
They also overestimate how likely they are to avoid long losing streaks.
If you double a $5 bet once, that's $10.
But if you run into a losing streak of 8 bets in a row, you're looking at having to bet $640 to make up for your losses.
Also, every roll of the dice is an independent event. The odds don't change based on how many times you've won or lost in a row.
You might think the probability of losing that 8th bet is lower than the likelihood of losing the first one, but the truth is that the dice have no memory. They have the same 6 sides, no matter how many times you've lost in a row.
Each bet in craps is an independent event, and any betting system will assume that the odds are changing based on how many times in a row you've won or lost.
Money Management Strategies Don't Hurt Anything, but They Won't Improve Your Odds of Winning, Either
Money management strategies involve having strict gambling discipline about how much of your bankroll you're willing to risk before quitting the game. They also require you to stop when you've won an arbitrary amount of money.
Money management techniques are often used in conjunction with betting systems.
Here's an example of a money management strategy in craps:
You decide your bankroll for the session is $250, and you're playing for $5 per roll of the dice.
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.
But that's only because a lot of gamblers will just keep playing until they've lost their entire stake. They just don't generally have a lot of sense about that sort of thing.
The Jury's Out on Dice Setting or Dice Control
I've seen multiple reputable gambling writers express interest and some belief that some craps shooters can influence the probability of specific outcomes. I'm skeptical – in the extreme – but I'll give it an appropriate amount of credence.
The idea is that you hold the dice a specific way – 'setting' the dice – then throw with a minimum amount of force – just enough to hit the back wall and eliminate most of the rolling action.
A controlled shooting expert doesn't have to be perfect. Instead, they're trying to be like someone who's playing darts. They improve the probability enough to change the negative expectation on a bet to a positive expectation.
You can buy books and videos explaining how to get an edge at craps this way, but I can't imagine the amount of practice and record-keeping required to have any confidence in your ability to change the odds.
Imagine if you spent 1000 hours trying to learn how to control the dice and coming up short. Maybe you just don't have the knack for it.
That doesn't sound like a good deal to me.
I'd rather learn to count cards in blackjack.
Conclusion
Those are the best and the worst of the strategies I know of for playing craps in the casino. I know plenty of people who would disagree with every recommendation I've made, but the math behind the game doesn't lie.
The best strategy is to stick with the bets with the lowest house edge and have as much fun as you can.
