First of all, if you are new to Craps, you may want to read our Craps Rules article. Not only do we discuss all the basics of Craps, but we cover in detail the two most basic and standard ways to bet on craps, which are Pass Line and Don’t Pass, and Come and Don’t Come.

First of all, we will briefly cover the two most basic forms of Craps betting:

Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line: Pass

Lines are one of the two most common craps bets. You are betting on the shooter’s roll of the dice, and whether or not he gets his point. If you bet on the pass line and the shooter rolls 7 or 11 you win. If the shooter rolls 2, 3, or 12 you lose. If you bet on the don’t pass line, then you win on a 2 or 3, tie on a 12, and lose on a 7.

Come or Don’t Come Bets:

A come bet is exactly the same as a pass line bet. The only difference is that the come bet can only be placed when the shooter has to roll the dice again. You can then place a come or don’t come bet. On the next roll, if you put in a come bet and a seven or eleven comes up, you win, you lose with two, three, or twelve. If any other number comes up, your bet moves to a numbered box; you would already be betting on the dice landing on that number before a seven lands.

A don’t come bet is the complete opposite. You win your craps bet if the shooter rolls a two or a three, and it’s a tie if it’s a twelve. If the shooter rolls a seven or an eleven you lose, and any other number will get your bet moved to the same numbered box, except you are betting that a seven will land before the number in the numbered box.

Now let’s get the simple bets out of the way and look at Craps Odds and Bets and all the other aspects of Craps betting that make it a fun and exciting game.

Craps Odds Bets: Odds

bets are the most popular bets in craps for a reason — the house has no edge. As you hear it, Craps is a casino game where the house has no edge, so when the bettor plays an odds bet, they get real odds.

Odds bets can only be made after a pass, come, don’t pass or don’t come line bet has been placed, and a point has been established on any of the bets. You can put up to double your original bet, or put the odds on your arrival bet.

The most common probability bet, and the one with the most chances of winning, is of course betting that the dice will roll a seven. Why seven? Because a seven can be thrown in six different ways, for example 6 and 1, 4 and 3.

Craps Odds Bets (Odds Bets) — Don’t Come or Don’t Pass:

While you can also bet on the probability of a number coming up, you can also test the odds that a number won’t come up. When you bet on don’t pass or don’t come, you are looking for a seven to land before the point. By betting on this odds, you also receive a real odds payout, however, you will have to bet more money as the odds are in your favour, as it is clearly possible for a seven to land before the point.

So for example — if the point is 4, and you put $100 on the don’t pass bet and $200 on the odds bet, and the shooter rolls a 7, you win 100 on the don’t pass bet and $100 on the odds bet . All players who bet otherwise can put in the amount of money they would win at full odds.

Place Bets: Place

bets are very similar to arrival bets. The only difference is that you don’t have to place a bet on the pass or come bar first, like you do with odds bets. You can place a bet on a specific number, such as 4, and just wait for the shooter to roll a 4 before a 7 to win. Place bets are only available on numbers that can be a point, such as 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. Normally bets on 4, 5, 9, or 10 must be placed in increments of $5, and any bet on the 6 or 8 in $ increments. This is due to the odds of these numbers coming up.

Buy Bets:

Buy bets are very similar to position bets, however you have to pay a 5% commission to get the real odds. You can buy any of the point numbers, however, you should only buy the 4 or 10. If you make a buy bet on the 5, 6, 8, or 9, you are improving the house edge. So unless you have psychic abilities, focus only on the 4 or 10 when placing a bought bet.

Lay Bet:

Okay, we’re almost done. We continue with — Lay Bets in Craps. This is what I bet on a bought bet, and it is also different from playing for odds. When you make a Lay bet, you are basically expecting a seven to come up BEFORE the number you bet on.

Unlike the buy bet, it is okay to lay bet on a five, six, eight, or nine. However, just like the buy bet, you will have to pay a commission on each lay bet, and you will usually see an increase depending on the number. For example, most casinos state that you must put a minimum of $3 on a 5 or 9, while the minimum for a 4 or 10 will be $40.

Bets Big 6 or Big 8

If you look at a Craps table, you will see a section in one corner with a 6 and a 8 in red. This section is called the Big 6 or Big 8. This is the same as betting on a 6 or an 8. The only difference is that you receive an equal payout, instead of odds of 7 to 6. These bets should be avoided at all costs, as the house edge on these is almost 10%.

Field Bet:

A field bet is betting that one of the following numbers will come up on the next roll of the dice: 2,3,4,9,10,11 and 12. You will lose with 5, 6, 7 or 8.

When you make a field bet, if you win you will receive the same money back. The house edge on a field bet is 5.5%.

Cool. We have covered many bets. We haven’t covered proposition bets yet, but they deserve a section of their own.