Craps can seem intimidating but it really isn’t that hard to play. In fact, you only need to understand a few bets to get great odds and play like a pro.
The most important bet to understand is the “pass line” bet. This bet is made by putting your chips on the pass line before the “come out roll”. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, this bet pays even money. If the shooter “craps out” by rolling a 2, 3 or 12 you lose. But if the shooter rolls any other number, that number becomes the “box point” and you win your bet if that same number is rolled again before the shooter “sevens out”. The house edge on a pass line bet is only 1.41%. The “don’t pass” bet is the opposite bet and has an even smaller house edge. But stay away from this bet unless you want to make enemies at the table. Unless of course you are playing online.
Once the point has been established you can “take odds”. This is an additional bet that the box point will be rolled before a 7. This is the single best bet on the casino floor because it pays true odds – meaning the house has no edge. Because of this casinos will limit how much you can wager here. Many casinos allow what is called 3-4-5x odds. Which means you can bet three times as much as your pass line bet on a 4 or 10, four times your pass line bet on a 5 or 9 and five times on a 6 or 8. If you play craps by always making a pass line bet and maxing out the odds, the house edge is only 0.374%. There is no place on the table for this bet. You make this bet by placing your chips behind your pass line bet after the point is established.
Once you have mastered this strategy you can extend it to include “come” bets. This is exactly like a pass line bet except that you can make this bet before any roll other than the come out roll. And the next roll becomes the come out roll for your come bet. To make a come bet you will place your chips on the come line before the roll. You can take odds on the come bet just as you can on the pass line bet and the math is exactly the same. After the point is established, toss your chips to the dealer and say “odds on the 6” or whatever the point is. The dealer will move your chips to the point.
You can ignore the rest of the table. These bets are fun but the house has a higher edge.
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