Craps strategy

Craps looks chaotic, but the math underneath is simple. The best bets on the table cost you less than 1.5%, and one bet, the free odds, has no house edge at all. Sitting beside them are center bets that cost 11% to 17%. Your skill is choosing which bets to make and making sure you’re paid correctly. Edges are per bet resolved unless noted, per Wizard of Odds analysis, and reproduced exactly in Casino Coach’s craps code.

How to play

1. The come-out roll. The puck is OFF. Bet the pass line (with the shooter) or don’t pass (against). A 7 or 11 wins for pass. A 2, 3 or 12 (“craps”) loses for pass. Don’t pass wins on 2 or 3, pushes on 12 (“bar 12”) and loses on 7 or 11.
2. A point is set. Any 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 becomes the point. The dealer flips the puck to ON and sets it on that number.
3. Take or lay odds. Now you can put free odds behind your line bet. More on this below; it’s the most important bet you’ll make.
4. The point rolls. The shooter keeps rolling. If the point repeats before a 7, pass wins and a new come-out begins. If a 7 comes first, that’s a seven-out: pass and come bets lose, don’t bets win, and the dice move to the next shooter.
5. Come and don’t come. While a point is on, you can bet come or don’t come. These work exactly like a personal pass or don’t pass line. The next roll is that bet’s come-out, and if it sets a number, the dealer moves your chips into that number’s box.
6. Other bets. Place, buy, lay, field, hardways and props can be made at almost any time.

A few procedure rules matter. Pass and come bets become contract bets once a point is set: you can’t take them down. The bet already had its best roll (the come-out, where 7 and 11 win), and now that it’s an underdog against the 7, the casino won’t let you pull it back. Don’t bets, odds, place, buy and lay bets can come down. By default, place, buy and hardway bets are OFF on the come-out roll unless you call them working, and odds on come points are off on the come-out too.

Payouts

The line bets and odds

Place, buy and lay

Field, hardways and props

Strategy

1. Start with pass or don’t pass

Both cost about 1.4%. Don’t pass is a hair cheaper, and once a point is set the don’t side is the favourite. That’s why you should never take a don’t bet down after the point: you’d be giving up the good part of the bet.

2. Take full odds

Odds pay at true odds, so the house has no edge on them. True odds come straight from the dice. There are 6 ways to roll a 7, 3 ways to roll a 4, 4 ways to roll a 5 and 5 ways to roll a 6. So a 4 is 2:1 against, a 5 is 3:2 and a 6 is 6:5. Those are exactly the odds payouts.

A $10 pass bet with $50 odds on the 6 has 1.41% on $10 and 0% on $50: about 0.24% on the $60 total. Averaged over every point, full 3-4-5× odds bring the pass line to about 0.37%, one of the best bets in any casino.

3-4-5× odds, explained

Most Las Vegas tables allow 3-4-5× odds:

The point of the 3-4-5 structure is that the odds always win 6× the flat bet. On the don’t side you lay odds, and the cap is set so the lay can win up to that same 6× on every point. Some tables offer 10×, 20× or even 100× odds, for a lower combined edge and bigger swings.

3. Want more action? Come bets or place the 6 and 8

Come and don’t come bets with odds give you the same low edge as the line. If you prefer place bets, the 6 and 8 at 1.52% are the only ones close to the line bets. Place 5 and 9 cost 4.00% and place 4 and 10 cost 6.67%.

4. Buy the 4 and 10 instead of placing them

A buy bet pays true odds minus a 5% commission (the vig). Where the vig is charged only when the bet wins, buy 4 or 10 drops from 6.67% to 1.67%. Example: a $20 buy on the 10 wins $40 at 2:1, less a $1 vig, so you net $39. A $20 place bet would win $36. If the casino takes the vig up front, every buy is 4.76%: still better than placing the 4 or 10, but worse than placing the 5, 9, 6 or 8.

5. Bet in proper units so you’re paid in full

Dealers round odd payouts down to the dollar. Place the 6 for $10 and it pays $11, not $11.67. So:

• Place 6 and 8 in $6 units ($6 wins $7, $12 wins $14).
• Place 5, 9, 4 and 10 in $5 units ($5 on the 5 wins $7; $5 on the 4 wins $9).
• Odds on 5 or 9 in even amounts ($10 at 3:2 wins $15).
• Odds on 6 or 8 in $5 units ($25 at 6:5 wins $30).

How dealers pay

Place 6 for $30 pays $35. Place 8 for $18 pays $21. Odds of $20 on the 4 pay $40. Odds of $30 on the 9 pay $45. Hard 8 for $5 pays $45. Yo for $5 pays $75. On a come bet with odds, the dealer pays the flat at even money and the odds at true odds, then returns both to you.

Common mistakes

• Betting any 7. Pays 4:1 on a 5:1 shot. It costs about $15.25 more per $100 wagered than the pass line.
• Big 6 or Big 8 instead of placing. Same win condition, but even money instead of 7:6. That’s about $7.58 more per $100.
• Horn bets and other center props. The horn costs about $11.09 more per $100 than the pass line. Every center prop is 11% or worse.
• Placing the 4 or 10 when buy is available. With vig on the win, that costs $5.00 per $100 for nothing.
• Field bets where 12 pays only 2:1. That doubles the field’s edge from 2.78% to 5.56%, about $4.14 more per $100 than the pass line.
• Skipping the odds. Leaving them off keeps all your action at 1.41%.

House edge explained

On pass, the edge comes from the come-out, where craps loses. On don’t pass, the house bars the 12, turning a win into a push. Every other bet’s edge is simply the gap between what it pays and its true odds. Place 6 pays 7:6 against true odds of 6:5, a small gap, so 1.52%. Any 7 pays 4:1 against 5:1, a huge gap, so 16.67%.

The best bets are the odds (0%), the line bets (about 1.4%), place 6 and 8 (1.52%) and buy or lay with vig on wins (1.67% to 2.27%). The worst are the props, hardways and Big 6/8, at 9% to 17%. Look for tables with:

• Higher odds: 3-4-5× is the standard, and more is better.
• Buy vig charged on wins only, not up front.
• Field 12 paying 3:1, not 2:1.

Practice in Casino Coach

The craps trainer gives you a full layout with pass, don’t pass, come, odds, place, buy, lay, field, hardways and props, with real payouts and dealer rounding. In trainer mode it grades every bet when the dice go out. It flags high-edge bets with their cost, place 6/8 bets not in $6 units, and missing odds after a point. You can switch on a dealer payout check that makes you pay each winning bet before it’s paid. You can also change the odds limit, the field 12 payout and the vig rule. Five drills cover the rest: Dealer Payouts, Which Bet Is Better?, House Edge Quiz, Dice Combinations, and Rules & Procedure. Analytics track your bet mix and actual versus expected results. Chips are free and have no cash value. Train craps free and learn the layout before you play a real table.

Updated October 24, 2026