A casino dice game of American origin, adapted from the game hazard by Bernard de Mandeville in New Orleans in 1813. Using two dice, a player loses throwing on the first roll 2, 3, or 12 (craps), but wins with 7 or 11. If the player's first throw makes 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, this number is called the point; the player then continues to throw until the same number is rolled again (making the point), thus giving a win, or throws a 7 and thus loses (craps out).
In such situations side bets are more frequent, with one or several participants covering or "fading" bets against the dice.The basic game
Players take turns rolling two dice, and they all bet on the same roll, regardless of who is rolling.
Craps features a plethora of bets, but the most fundamental is the "pass line" wager, which nearly all players make.
The opposite of a pass line bet is the "don't pass" bet, which wins on a come-out roll of 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11, ties on 12, and goes to the point round when any other number is rolled. In the point round the don't pass bet wins if a 7 is rolled and loses if the point is rolled. People who bet on the don't pass are called wrong bettors, while those who bet on the pass are called right bettors, only because most craps players make the pass line bet instead of the don't pass bet.
A new shooter, who must bet the table minimum on either the pass line or the don't pass line to play, is presented five dice by the stickman and picks two.
Names of Rolls in Craps| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snake Eyes | Loose Deuce | Easy Four | Fever Five | Easy Six | Natural or Seven Out |
| 2 | Loose Deuce | Hard Four | Fever Five | Easy Six | Natural or Seven Out | Easy Eight |
| 3 | Easy Four | Fever Five | Hard Six | Natural or Seven Out | Easy Eight | Nina |
| 4 | Fever Five | Easy Six | Natural or Seven Out | Hard Eight | Nina | Easy Ten |
| 5 | Easy Six | Natural or Seven Out | Easy Eight | Nina | Hard Ten | Yo |
| 6 | Natural or Seven Out | Easy Eight | Nina | Easy Ten | Yo | Boxcars |
Types of craps bets
Before the shooter begins, some casinos will allow a bet known as a fire bet to be placed. A fire bet is a bet for between 1-5 dollars in the hopes that the next shooter will have a hot streak. The first three points will not pay out on the fire bet, but the fourth, fifth and sixth will pay out at increasing odds.
The fundamental bet in craps is the pass line bet, in which one bets that the dice will pass (that is, roll the point number before rolling a 7). A pass line bet is also won if the come-out roll is a 7 or 11.
If a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 is thrown on the come-out roll (i.e., if a point is set), most casinos allow pass line bettors to take odds by placing from one to five times (and at some casinos, up to 100 times) the pass line bet behind the line. This additional bet wins if the point is rolled again before a 7 is rolled (the point is made) and pays at the true odds, 2-to-1 if 4 or 10 is the point, 3-to-2 if 5 or 9 is the point, and 6-to-5 if 6 or 8 is the point. While the house has a small (1.4%) advantage on pass line bets, the house has no advantage at all on odds bets.
Odds bets in craps are one of the few bets offered at a casino that are completely free of any house advantage. (Another such bet is the "double-up" option offered to the player in some forms of video poker after winning a hand.)
The following is an explanation of the true odds paid when a player takes "odds". There are 36 possible permutations (ways to roll a pair of 6-sided dice):
1-1 = 1 way to make a 2 1-2 2-1 = 2 ways to make a 3 1-3 2-2 3-1 = 3 ways to make a 4, true odds pays 2-1 1-4 2-3 3-2 4-1 = 4 ways to make a 5, true odds pays 3-2 1-5 2-4 3-3 4-2 5-1 = 5 ways to make a 6, true odds pays 6-5 1-6 2-5 3-4 4-3 5-2 6-1 = 6 ways to make a 7 2-6 3-5 4-4 5-3 6-2 = 5 ways to make an 8, true odds pays 6-5 3-6 4-5 5-4 6-3 = 4 ways to make a 9, true odds pays 3-2 4-6 5-5 6-4 = 3 ways to make a 10, true odds pays 2-1 5-6 6-5 = 2 ways to make an 11 6-6 = 1 way to make a 12There are a total of 36 possible combinations; In general, due to proximity with even odds, the pass line and odds bets are two of the best wagers one can make in casino gambling.
Because of the come bet, if the shooter makes their point, a player can find themselves in the situation where they have a come bet with odds on it, and yet be rooting for the shooter to roll a 7 on their next come-out roll. That means that if the shooter rolls a 7 on the come-out roll, any players with active come bets lose their initial wager but will have their odds money returned to them, unless they tell the dealer that they want their odds working. Conversely, if the shooter rolls a number that matches an active come bet, the original bet is paid off at even money and the odds money is returned to the player (unless they told the dealer that they wanted their odds working, in which case they are paid at the true odds).
There is also a don't come box in which one can place bets that the dice will not pass on the next sequence starting with the immediate roll as a virtual come-out roll; Don't pass and don't come bets are basically the opposite of pass and come bets; the player is betting that a 7 will be rolled before the point.
When betting against the shooter, the bettor must put up the long side of the bet. Thus a don't pass bettor who bets $10 when the point is a 4 could place an odds bet of $20 behind the line. If the shooter rolls a 7 before achieving their point, the bettor would receive $10 for the don't pass bet plus $10 for their odds bet. Even though the house advantage on the don't pass and don't come bets are almost identical to the pass line and come bets, for most players the disadvantage of putting up the long side of the bet makes the don't pass line less desirable.
Proposition bets
Proposition bets are generally located in the center of a craps table, and often pay off at high odds but with a significantly higher house advantage.
One roll bets that the shooter will make an 11, or "yo" (pays 15-1, actual odds 17-1); the stickman places this bet on the line dividing the 2 and 12 bets.
The Horn is a bet that involves betting on 1 unit each for 2, 3, 11 and 12 at the same time for the next roll. The bet is actually four separate bets, and pays off depending on which number is actually rolled, minus three units for the other three losing bets. Most players do a "Horn High" bet which involves betting an additional $1 on one of the 4 choices, with the most frequent being a $5 "horn high yo" bet (which means $2 on the 11, $1 each on 2, 3 &
A hop bet is a bet on any combination of the dice on the next roll. "Easy" combinations may also be bet, such as a 3-5 or 2-6, paying off at 15-1 odds (actual odds 17-1).
Craps is a bet that the shooter will roll 2, 3 or 12 on the next roll.
Any Seven is a bet that the shooter will roll a seven on the next roll. This bet is also nicknamed "Big Red," since the "7" on its betting space on the layout is usually large and red.
A whirl or world bet is a five-unit bet that is a combination of a horn and any-seven bet. The bet is effectively a push if a 7 rolls, since the 4-1 payoff on the any-seven bet is offset by the other four losing bets.
The field bet is a wager that one of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 will appear on the next roll of the dice. Unlike the other proposition bets which are handled by the dealers or stickman, the field bet is placed directly by the player.
The Big 6 and Big 8 wagers are considered by craps players as sucker bets because they pay even money while a player can bet on the same proposition (a 6 will be rolled before a 7) by placing the 6 or the 8, which pays 7-6 (true odds are 6-5).
Most of these bets are very costly and disadvantageous to the player, because the house percentage on these bets can be 11.1% and up. More aggressive players can also bet on the Come/Don't Come with full odds which is statistically identical to the pass/don't pass bet.
Place, buy and lay bets
Players can place or buy individual numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) by placing their wager in the come area and telling the dealer, "place the 6" or "buy the 8". Place bets are paid at odds slightly worse than true odds for the 6 or 8, but significantly worse for the 4, 5, 9 or 10. Traditionally, the buy bet commission is paid no matter what, but in recent years a number of casinos have changed their policy to charge the commission only when the buy bet wins. this reduces the house advantage to 1.67%, making the buy-4 or buy-10 one of the game's better bets.
The commission is paid at the rate of a $1 chip for every $20 wagered, but casinos usually charge only $1 for a $25 green-chip bet, or $2 for $50 (two green chips), reducing the house advantage a bit more.
A lay bet is the opposite of a buy bet, where a player bets on a 7 to roll before the number that is "laid." color:red">
| Number | Place Payoff | Buy Payoff | Lay Payoff |
| 6 or 8 | 7-6 | 6-5 | 5-6 |
| 5 or 9 | 7-5 | 3-2 | 2-3 |
| 4 or 10 | 9-5 | 2-1 | 1-2 |
Examples of basic play
Example 1:Let's say you put $10 on the pass line. On your next roll you get a 6, which is now the point you need to hit in order to win your $10 come bet. Your next roll is a 9, which is the point you needed to hit to win your pass line bet, meaning you just won another $10. You bet $10 on the pass line again, and your new come-out roll is a 7. You win $10 for your pass line bet, but lost the $10 you had previously bet on the come line. You bet $10 on the don't come line, and your next roll is a 7. You lose your don't come bet, and win your don't pass bet, so you just broke even. This means a player is not allowed to call out a bet without having at least the bet amount of chips on the table. If the chips exceed the bet, for example a $100 chip is placed and bets called out of "$25 on five and nine", the dealer will say "it's a bet" and return $50 change to the player. The dealer doesn't have to actually place the bet in the proper place on the table to constitute a valid bet. The NO CALL BET rule may exist to prevent confusion on the amount bet, possibly going back to the days of 25 cent tables. Another method is to place a bet next to your bet and call out "dealers." Usually, the dealers' bet is smaller than the player's bet, but it is appreciated. The part of the bet for the dealer is called a "toke" bet; Center bets are made by tossing chips to the center of the table and calling out the intended bet;
Odds
The rules vary slightly from one casino to another, but the expected value of several bets is only slightly negative (the most favorable bets with the most favorable rules offer a house advantage of as little as 0.18%). All bets have a negative expectation except for the "free odds" bet that the player is allowed to make after a point is established on a flat (line) bet (this bet has a long-term expected value of 0). However, the "free odds" bet cannot be made independently, so the expected value of the entire bet, including odds, is still negative. To counter this, experienced players take full advantage of "free odds" -- bets on which there is zero house advantage. Maximizing the size of your odds bet in relation to your line bet will minimize but never eliminate the house edge. Many casinos have limitation on how large the odds bet can be in relation to the flat bet, with single, double, and five times odds common. Some casinos offer 3-4-5 odds, referring to the maximum multiple of the line bet a player can place in odds for the points of 4 and 10, 5 and 9, and 6 and 8, respectively.
Casinos in other jurisdictions tend to be tighter or looser in the odds bet multiple allowed, largely in response to competition. (These casinos often offer other rules favoring the player, such as charging commission on buy bets only when the bet is won, a practice seldom found in Vegas.) On the other hand, casinos in places where competition is not nearby, such as many riverboat casinos in the Midwest, may offer odds as low as 2x.
Optimal betting
One subtlety of craps is the variety in the house advantage on the many bets available on the craps layout. Of course the house always has an advantage on every bet, the house can win the player's money many, many times faster if a player makes certain bets. For example:
A player betting the pass line or come line at $10 per bet, 50 bets per hour, will lose on average $141 over 20 hours of gambling on a gaming trip. A player betting the "any seven" bet at the same rate will lose on average $1,667 over the same period. Note that the total bet amount also drives expected loss, so betting the table minimum will give the slowest rate of average loss. While odds bets lower the house percentage, they do so by increasing the total amount bet. Thus, given a fixed minimum pass line bet, the decision whether to make the odds bet or not does not affect the average dollar loss per game.The table below gives house advantage of various bets, as well as expected loss over a typical gaming trip (e.g. 50 bets per hour for 5 hours per day over 4 days = 1000 bets)
| Type of bet | House advantage | Expected loss per 1000 bets of $10 |
|---|---|---|
| Pass line, no odds | 1.41% | $141.00 |
| Come line, no odds | 1.41% | $141.00 |
| Don't pass | 1.36% | $136.00 |
| Don't come | 1.36% | $136.00 |
| Place 6 or 8 | 1.52% | $152.00 |
| Buy 4 or 10, commission paid on wins only | 1.67% | $167.00 |
| Field Bet with 3-1 odds paid on either 2 or 12 | 2.78% | $278.00 |
| Place 5 or 9 | 4.00% | $400.00 |
| Place 4 or 10 | 6.67% | $667.00 |
| Buy/Lay 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 | 5.00% | $500.00 |
| Field Bet | 5.56% | $556.00 |
| Big 6 or Big 8 | 9.09% | $909.00 |
| Hard 6 or 8 | 9.09% | $909.00 |
| Hard 4 or 10 | 11.11% | $1111.00 |
| Any craps | 11.11% | $1111.00 |
| Eleven (Yo) | 11.11% | $1111.00 |
| Any Seven | 16.67% | $1667.00 |
In summary, the pass/don't line, come/don't line, place 6, place 8, buy 4 and buy 10 (only when commission is charged only on wins) are the "good" bets, and all other "bad" bets will lose money between 3 and 12 times faster, on average. The Any Seven bet, at 16.7% house advantage, may have the dubious honor of being the worst bet in the entire casino. While buying the 4 or 10 is better than placing it, either way is a bad bet, except in casinos with unusual rules where commission is paid on wins only.
An important alternative metric is house advantage per roll (rather than per bet), which may be expressed in loss per hour see reference. shown in the table below:
$10 Pass line bets .42% per roll,$4.28 per hour, $86 per trip
$10 Place 6,8 bets 1.46% per roll,$14.89 per hour, $298 per trip
$10 Place 5,9 bets 1.32% per roll,$13.46 per hour, $269 per trip
$10 Place 4,10 bets 1.19% per roll,$12.14 per hour, $243 per trip
$1 Single Hardways 2.78% per roll,$2.84 per hour, $56.71 per trip
$1 All hardways 2.78% per roll,$11.34 per hour, $227 per trip
$5 All hardways 2.78% per roll, $56.71 per hour, $1134 per trip
$1 Craps only on come out 3.29% per roll,$3.35 per hour, $67.09 per trip
$1 Eleven only on come out 3.29% per roll,$3.35 per hour, $67.09 per trip
This runs counter to the notion that hardways and C/E on come-out roll are necessarily bad bets, since, although their house percentages are poor, they have lower minimum bets and happen less frequently.
Systems
Martingale System
No betting system can consistently beat casino games of pure chance such as craps, but that does not stop hopeful gamblers believing in them. One of the best known systems is the Martingale in which the player starts by betting $1 and doubles his bet whenever he loses. This system fails because the player will either run out of money after having to double his bet several times in a row after a streak of losing bets, or he will be unable to bet the amount dictated by the system because it would exceed the maximum bet allowed by the casino. For example, the gambler's fallacy indicates that a craps player should bet on 11 if an 11 has not appeared or has appeared too often in the last 20 rolls. In reality, each roll of the dice is an independent event, so the probability of rolling an 11 is exactly 1/18 on every roll, even if 11 has not come up in the last 100 rolls or if 11 has come up 5 times in the last 5 rolls.
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