1- Start Your Craps Career by Sticking with the Most Easily Understood Bets on the Table. The basic bets in craps are the pass and don’t pass bets. These are bets on whether the shooter “succeeds” or not. These are also the best bets on the table. The house edge for each of those bets is, respectively, 1.41% and 1.36%. Craps Basic Gameplay: Game play in craps is based primarily around what’s known as the pass line bet, and every other bet in the game is secondary to this one. In fact, most people who play craps only play the pass line bet because of its low house advantage and simple, but entertaining, way of resolving itself as an even money wager. Craps Rules and Field Bets Whenever a point is set, the player is allowed to then make a number of bets. Some of these bets continue to work until the player wins or craps out. Others are one-roll bets. Placing Craps Bets. Bets can be placed in craps before the come-out roll or after the point is set. Besides the basic wagers below, gamblers will find an abundance of possible wagers, including one-roll bets and a variety of side bets. Learning how to make these bets are tantamount to learning the rules of craps. The fundamental bet in craps is the pass line bet, which is a bet for the shooter to win. This bet must be at least the table minimum and at most the table maximum. If the come-out roll is 7 or 11, the bet wins. If the come-out roll is 2, 3 or 12, the bet loses (known as 'crapping out'). If the roll is any other value, it establishes a point.
Table Of Contents
- Craps rolls are one of the most interesting events that happen on the Casino floor.
- This Craps strategy guide for beginners helps you understand the ins and outs of the pass or come bet.
- Read it before your round begins to understand your chances to win playing online Craps.
Craps is one of the most exciting gambling games since the Middle Age. If you don’t know how to play Craps and you haven’t played online yet, now it's your chance.
What you see here is the only craps for dummies guide you'll ever need to learn the game.
This is an all-in-one Craps for beginners resource where you find the best Craps strategies, the best Craps Casinos to play online, and all the proposition bets you should avoid.
Also, I added the basics of Craps etiquette because placing one or two winning bets doesn't authorize you to do everything you want or behave like Will Ferrel, Amy Poehler, and Jason Mantzoukas in The House.
Although it's one of the most popular and played games at land-based casinos, the game of craps not one of the top favorites of online players.
Some believe craps is a complicated game with rules and bets that do not fit the speed of online gambling. They get confused by concepts like odds bets, betting on the pass line, comeout roll, snake eyes, and lay odds- and that’s why they often skip this table game.
Place And Buy Bets Craps
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How to Play Craps for Dummies
How to Play Craps for Beginners?
Beginners are often so intimidated by the numbers, the terms, and all the different bets available in a game of craps. Also, complicated tables like the ones you find on Wizard of Odds might push you away from the craps tables and not play the game.
Playing craps is easy. You don’t need anything more than a guide for Dummies like this one to move from beginner to expert.
If you don’t know how to play craps, make sure you read the part that follows carefully enough to pay attention to all the different elements that compose a game of craps.
When you are done with my Craps for Dummies guide, you are ready to play the game.
Once you pass the learning part, the game is simple. So, let’s not beat around the bush and get to the good part – craps rules for dummies, that is.
Learning Craps Rules for Dummies in 3 Minutes or Less
Why three minutes? Because there are three main rules to learn to know how to play craps. This is a guide for dummies - meaning we like to keep things short and simple.
That’s why three minutes is more than enough to learn how to play craps.
Craps betting round starts with a come-out roll.
That’s the first term beginners need to learn and add to their vocabulary.
The come-out roll is the first roll of the dice or the first one after the previous betting round has finished.
The player who throws the dice is called the 'shooter'.
A game of craps plays as follows: you, 'shooter', take two dice and throw them on the craps table - or press 'roll' button if we are talking about online craps.
Once the number rolled is on your screen, there are three possible outcomes:
1. Natural
Here’s when things get really good. A 'Natural' means that the result of your roll is a 7 or an 11. When this happens, you win and get to roll the dice again.
Basic Craps Betting Strategy
2. Craps
You roll a 2 (also known as the Snake Eyes), 3, or 12. Here’s when you lose.
BUT the round is not over, and you get to roll again.
3. Point
You roll a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10.
In a live casino, a dealer would mark your Point (the rolled number) on the table.
In online craps games, there is a small button that appears once the Point is established. It’s white and says 'On'.
What you need to do now is to roll the dice once more and hope you’ll hit the same number again. It doesn’t have to be the same combination of dice as you had before. As long as it’s the same sum – you win.
Do you know why the sequence above misses a seven?
The number 7 is not a very lucky one in this case since if you roll a 7, you 'seven out' – you lose and end the betting round.
Once you learn this part by heart, you can move on to the betting options.
That’s the fun part. Because that’s the one that can make you win a lot.
Playing Craps for Dummies: Betting Rules
If you take a look at the craps table, both online and offline, you can see that it’s not only dice and numbers.
Now that you know how to shoot craps and how to evaluate the result of your roll let’s have a look at how to bet in a game of craps.
Remember: this is a craps guide for dummies, so I am going to analyze everything looking at a game of craps as a beginner would do.
The layout has a handful of areas for different betting options.
Pass or Don’t Pass Bets
First, you can bet either on the 'Pass Line' or the 'Don't Pass Line'.
The Pass Line bet means you bet that the shooter will pass (win) by rolling out a natural or by winning the point before seven-ing out.
The Don’t Pass Line corresponds to the opposite bet. In this case, you bet that the shooter will not pass (lose). It can happen if the player shoots to get a 2 or 3, or fails to roll the point again before a 7 shows up its ugly head.
And then there is a 12. If it’s rolled now, your bet is a Push – meaning nothing happens. You don’t win, but you don’t lose either.
Best Craps Bets
You can make these bets only before the point has been established on the table. Once the point has been rolled out and the shooter needs to roll the sum again, you can make a come or don’t come bet.
Come or Don’t Come Bets
These bets can only be made after the point has been determined.
The Come Bet wins if a natural is rolled out and loses if the craps are.
If the point is rolled out, it becomes the Come-Bet point.
It works just like the Pass line one: if the come-bet point rolls out again before 7 does, you win. If not, it’s not your lucky round, pal.
Don’t come bet is just like the Don’t pass one. You’re in luck if the shooter rolls a 2 or 3, not so much if it's a 7 or 11. A 12 here is a push again.
Once the point is made, you should hope for 7 before the shooter rolls out the point again.
Neither Pass nor Come bets can be turned off. You bet and wait until it plays itself out. But you can make additional bets on the come-bet point, too. And those you can withhold or increase at any time.
Proposition Bets in Craps
These are one-roll bets (with one exception, as you can see in the table below) that you can place on any roll.
| Bet | Wins if |
|---|---|
| Any Seven | The shooter rolls a 7 |
| Any Craps | The shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 |
| Ace Deuce | The shooter rolls a 3 |
| Aces | The shooter rolls a 2 |
| Boxcars | The shooter rolls a 12 |
| Horn | The shooter rolls a 2, 3, 11, or 12 |
The exception I mentioned earlier is called Hard ways. In this case, you win if you roll a 4, 6, 8, or 10 (depends on which one you bet) with the pair of same numbers (2 and 2, 3 and 3, and so on) before any other combination that makes that sum or a 7
Other Possible Bets in a Game of Craps
Place Bets:Once you know the point, you can bet on any number on the table. You win if it’s rolled out before a 7, you lose if it isn’t.
Field Bets: This type of bet is only active for one dice roll. You win if a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 is rolled. A 5, 6, 7, or 8 makes you lose.
Big 6 and Big 8 bets: If you want to bet that 6 or 8 will be rolled before 7, These are the two bets for you.
These bets only pay 1:1.
Practice Craps Online: Where Beginners Should Play Craps
The best way to learn craps online is to practice craps online.
Now that you know about the different bets and outcomes of a roll, you should be ready to move from asking how to shoot craps to playing craps online.
And if you don’t want to risk your cash on real money games until you are 100 per cent sure that you know how to win at craps - that’s not a problem.
The best online craps sites for beginners five you the chance to play and practice craps online for free for as long as you need.
You can also use the Casino bonuses you receive on most sites when you sign up but, given the house edge of this game, you should start for free.
The best site to play craps online for free and get a hang of the game is this one.
I suggest you open a free account on this page to find the best Craps tables online and play the game. That’s the best way to learn craps if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar casino next door to go to.
That’s what I did when I first played Craps.
It all will look a lot easier once you practice craps online.
And once you feel that online, free practice has made it perfect, you can move to real money craps games.
The game of craps has really good odds with the house edge of only 1,41%.
That beats roulette and even blackjack when it's played with the basic strategy. There’re many betting rules to remember at first but they come naturally later on. And they actually make the game even more exciting.
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The craps payout chart below shows various payout statistics such as what kind of craps bets, true odds, payout odds and the total house edge after everything has been calculated through. Note that these payout odds in the chart listed below are not the same in every casino or on all craps tables. Some casinos may have different odds which perhaps may be better or worse than the odds shown in the payout chart. For more detailed information about each specific bet, please visit our page on how to play craps and browse through the craps bets menu.
Lay Bets Craps
This craps payout chart is also a great tool if you are just starting to learn the craps strategy. That way you can see all of the odds displayed in one table and you'll be able to decide which bets are better than others. You can see why the free odds bet is such a great one and why some of the proposition bets are terrible. My advice is to study this information or at least glance at it to find good strategies.
Normal Craps Bets and Payout Odds
Basic Craps Bets
| Craps Bet | True Odds | Payout Odds | House Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass Line | 251 to 244 | 1 to 1 | 1.41% |
| Come | 251 to 244 | 1 to 1 | 1.41% |
| Don't Pass | 1031 to 949 | 1 to 1 | 1.36% |
| Don't Come (Bar 12) | 1031 to 949 | 1 to 1 | 1.36% |
| Pass / Come Free Odds | 2 to 1 on 4 or 10 3 to 2 on 5 or 9 6 to 5 on 6 or 8 | 2 to 1 on 4 or 10 3 to 2 on 5 or 9 6 to 5 on 6 or 8 | 0% |
| Don't Pass / Don't Come Free Odds | 1 to 2 on 4 or 10 2 to 3 on 5 or 9 5 to 6 on 6 or 8 | 1 to 2 on 4 or 10 2 to 3 on 5 or 9 5 to 6 on 6 or 8 | 0% |
| 7 Out | 5 to 1 | 4 to 1 | 16.67% |
| Yo 11 | 17 to 1 | 15 to 1 | 11.11% |
| 3 | 17 to 1 | 15 to 1 | 11.11% |
| 2 Snake Eyes | 35 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 13.89% |
| 12 Box Cars | 35 to 1 | 30 to 1 | 13.89% |
| Hi-Lo | 17 to 1 | 15 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Craps | 8 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| C and E | 5 to 1 | 3 to 1 with craps 7 to 1 with 11 | 11.11% |
| Field | 5 to 4 | 1 to 1 with 3, 4, 9, 10 or 11 2 to 1 on 2 or 12 | 5.56% |
| Field (alternate) | 5 to 4 | 1 to 1 with 3, 4, 9, 10 or 11 2 to 1 on 2 3 to 1 on 12 | 2.78% |
| Horn | 5 to 1 | 27 to 4 with 2 or 12 3 to 1 with 3 or 11 | 12.50% |
| Whirl / World | 2 to 1 | 26 to 5 with 2 or 12 11 to 5 with 3 or 11 0 to 1 on 7 (push) | 13.33% |
| Hard Way 4 or 10 | 8 to 1 | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Hard Way 6 or 8 | 10 to 1 | 9 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Big 6 or 8 | 6 to 5 | 1 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 2 to 1 | 9 to 5 | 6.67% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 3 to 2 | 7 to 5 | 4.00% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 6 to 5 | 7 to 6 | 1.52% |
| Buy 4 or 10 | 2 to 1 | 2 to 1 plus commission (5%) | 4.76% |
| Buy 5 or 9 | 3 to 2 | 3 to 2 plus commission (5%) | 4.76% |
| Buy 6 or 8 | 6 to 5 | 6 to 5 plus commission (5%) | 4.76% |
| Lay 4 or 10 | 1 to 2 | 1 to 2 plus commission (5%) | 2.44% |
| Lay 5 or 9 | 2 to 3 | 2 to 3 plus commission (5%) | 3.23% |
| Lay 6 or 8 | 5 to 6 | 5 to 6 plus commission (5%) | 4.00% |
As you can see from the payout table, there are many bets that sound exotic and arcane but they really aren't that good, even though they may sound like the 'secret' bets that no one knows about. Really the only good ones are the pass line or don't pass in conjunction with the free odds bets. There are a few other decent ones as well. The trick to know is that when the house edge is a very low percentage, then the bet is a good one.
Also remember the fact that the number 7 is rolled more often than any other number. The 2 and 12 (snake eyes and box cars) are rolled the least and have low probabilities of coming out. You can read about this in our odds and probabilities page if you would like to understand the concept behind this. For additional odds information, please view our craps probability odds page for information about true odds of rolling the dice and also visit our Vegas free odds page for information about odds payouts and house edge.