A Guide to the Different Wagers You Can Find On the Craps Table
Craps games can offer some of the best and worst bets in the casino. It can be easy to spread yourself too thin on the table so it is important to understand what you are actually wagering on. You can enjoy Craps and keep the casino’s advantage to a minimum just by sticking with the best bets.
In this guide to the different bets on the Craps table you can first find the best bets grouped together, with a brief explanation next to each. After that the less attractive bets are covered, showing you the attractive payoffs are not as good as they look.
The Best Bets On The Craps Table
Pass Line Bet
Betting the Pass Line is one of the first bets you should be doing and is one the best bets on the Craps table, only giving up a house edge of 1.41%.
This is placed prior to the ‘Come Out’ roll and wins even money on a 7 or 11. Rolling Craps which is 2, 3 or 12 results in a loss and other numbers establish the point used in the ‘Point Round’.
Come Bet
This acts in exactly the same way as the Pass Line bet once the Points Round has been entered and can win, lose or establish additional points that can be won on.
If the original Point is rolled before a 7 then existing points created as a result of come bets remain in play.
Betting The Odds
These are additional wagers which can be made on points established by either pass line or come bets. Odds bets are the only bets on the table which give the house no additional edge and while you receive even money off the initial pass line or come bet, these pay out true odds of:
6/5 for 6 or 8
3/2 on 5 or 9
2/1 on 4 or 10
The amount you can add to your bet differs from casino to casino and is normally displayed on the table. 3x your pass line bet is the norm online, although you can find varying amount and live casinos have been known to allow you to bet 10x or even 100x odds. You can also find a 3-4-5x structure which allows bets of:
3x on 4 or 10
4x on 5 or 9
5x on 6 or 8
With this being a pure odds bet, one of the best in the casino, it pays to shop around for the best deal if you can.
Place Bets and Buy Bets
Before any roll you can make a Place bet, where you bet that one of the numbers used create a point will be rolled before a 7. These do not pay out at the true odds and instead give the house an edge, which does vary depending on which number you choose:
4 & 10 Payoff = 9:5 House Edge = 6.67%
5 & 9 Payoff = 7:5 House Edge = 4%
6 & 8 Payoff = 7:6 House Edge = 1.67%
Buy bets work in a similar way and pay true odds (shown in Betting the Odds), although the house does charge a 5% commission. This makes Buy bets a worse proposition unless you want to bet on 4 or 10 which will give the house a reduced edge of 4.76%.
Betting ‘The Darkside’
For all the bets listed above you can take the opposite side and bet Don’t Pass, Don’t Come and lay the Point. The house edge on Pass and Come bets is 1.41% and by taking the Don’t Pass or Don’t Come you can reduce this to 1.36%.
While it makes mathematical sense to take this extra advantage, the vast majority of players in live casinos bet on the positive side. This may result in ill-feeling at the table and less enjoyment for you. Of course online this is not a factor, and while it may take a little experience to understand how the bets work this way around, you can benefit slightly by placing these wagers.
The Worst Bets On The Craps Table
Field Bets
This is a one off bet you can place on the chances of 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, or 12 being rolled. These pay even money and 2:1 on 2’s or 12’s, with some paying 3:1 on 12. This gives up a house edge of 5.6%, which is reduced to 2.7% with the higher payout on 12.
Hard Ways
These are bets you can place on the chance of double 2s, 3s, 4s or 5s being rolled before a 7. These give up a house edge of up to 11.1%.
Proposition Bets
These are found near the Hard Way bets and can be made on any roll of the dice. You are betting on Any Craps or any 7, 11, Ace-Deuce, Aces or Sixes. While payoffs are attractive the house edge varies between 11.1% and 16.67%.
Big 6/Big 8
This is exactly the same as making place bet a 6 or 8 with one difference – lower payouts. These should be avoided.