Craps Rules

Craps is a dice game. The "Shooter" (in the case of online Craps, this will be the software program itself), rolls the dice. Players bet on the outcome of these rolls of the dice. Simple so far, yes?

There are many many ways to bet at a Craps table - so many, it could appear overwhelming to the novice. Possibly the first thing you should know about the game, therefore, is that you do not need to know all the ways to bet before you head to a Craps table and take your best shot at winning. It's an incredibly fun game with generously high odds and, at its most basic levels, is quite easy to learn. As you play more, you will invariably become more comfortable experimenting with more advanced styles of betting. But again, you do not need to know all the various methods in order to get your game on.

That said, here are the most common Craps bets:

On the Shooter's 1st roll, there are 3 possible outcomes:

1) a 7 or an 11 (1/6, 2/5, 3/4, or 5/6). This is called "a Natural".

2) a 2, 3, or 12 (1/1, 1/2, or 6/6). This is called "Craps".

3) any other combination, namely 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 (1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 2/2, 2/3, 2/4, 2/6, 3/3, 3/5, 3/6, 4/4, 4/5, 4/6, or 5/5). This is called "Point".

For your starting bet, you have 3 basic options:

1) The PASS LINE - Place your bet in the area on the table marked "PASS LINE" before the Shooter's 1st roll.

If the Shooter rolls a Natural - you win

If the Shooter rolls Craps - you lose

If the Shooter rolls a Point - your bet remains on the table while the Shooter rolls again. In this instance, that number becomes "the Point". If on subsequent rolls…

…the Shooter rolls the Point again before rolling a 7, you win
…the Shooter rolls a 7 before rolling Point again, you lose

Still with us? Good. I told you it was relatively simple.

2) The DON'T PASS LINE - Place your bet in the area on the table marked "DON'T PASS LINE" before the Shooter's 1st roll. This is the opposite of the aforementioned bet, with one exception. Read on:

If the Shooter rolls a Natural - you lose

If the Shooter rolls Craps - you win, except if it's a 12

If the Shooter rolls a 12 on the 1st roll - your bet is "pushed"

If the Shooter rolls a Point - your bet remains on the table, that number becomes "the Point", and the Shooter rolls again. In this instance, if on subsequent rolls…

…the Shooter rolls the Point again before rolling a 7, you lose
…the Shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the Point again, you win

A little more complicated, admittedly. But not much, right?

3) The COME LINE - You would place bets here (on the area of the table marked as such) only after the Shooter's 1st roll, and only if the result of that 1st roll is a Point. From here on, the win/lose structure is pretty much the same as with a PASS LINE bet:

If the Shooter then rolls a 2, 3, or 12, you win
If the Shooter then rolls a 7 or 11, you lose
If the Shooter then rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, a COME POINT is established
For you to win now, the Shooter must roll the COME POINT again before
rolling a 7.

4) The DON'T COME LINE - The rules here are the same as the rules for a DON'T PASS LINE bet, except that the bet is placed after a Point is established. In this case:

If the Shooter rolls a 2 or 3 after the DON'T COME bet is placed, you win
If the Shooter rolls a 7 or 11 after the bet is placed, you lose
If the Shooter rolls a 12, it's considered a tie and play continues
If the Shooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, a COME POINT is established
For you to win now, the Shooter must roll a 7 before rolling the
COME POINT again

With COME POINT and DON'T COME POINT bets, once the COME POINT is established, bets cannot be changed or removed.

The house advantage on all the aforementioned options is 1.4%.
The payout ratio on all the aforementioned options is 1 to 1

Piece of cake, don't you think?

Now, just to sate your curiosity (and at the risk of confusing you), here are some of the more advanced betting options available to you at the Craps table:

Odds

"Taking the Odds"

If you have a PASS LINE bet, and a Point is thrown: you may then opt to increase your bet by 2X (sometimes more) on "the odds". What this means is that, just like with a PASS LINE bet, if a 7 is rolled before the Point is rolled again, you lose, But if the Point is rolled again before a 7, you win according to the following structure:

2 to 1 for a Point of 10 or 4
3 to 2 for a Point of 9 or 5
6 to 5 for a Point of 8 or 6

"Laying the Odds"

Just as a DON'T PASS LINE bet is the opposite of a PASS LINE bet, Laying the Odds is the opposite of Taking the Odds. If you have a DON'T PASS LINE bet, and a Point is rolled, you can increase your bet by 2X (sometimes more). If the Point is rolled again before a 7, you lose. But if a 7 is rolled before the Point is rolled again, you win according to the same structure as for a bet of "taking the odds":

2 to 1 for a Point of 10 or 4
3 to 2 for a Point of 9 or 5
6 to 5 for a Point of 8 or 6

The house advantage on Odds bets (whether Taking… or Laying…) are extremely low - generally between 0.5% and 1% depending on the bet.

BIG 6 or 8

In this instance, you are betting that a 6 or an 8 will be rolled before a 7. Payout on Big 6 or 8 is 1 to 1. House advantage on a bet of this sort is high (9.1%) and therefore this is not a type of bet we recommend.

Place Bets

Place Numbers, in Craps, are 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 (look familiar?). In this type of bet, you are betting that a specific number - you must select which one of the Place numbers you're betting on - will be rolled before the Shooter rolls a 7. The Place Bets with the best odds are 6 or 8, and therefore the only ones with which we recommend you concern yourself. When making a Place Bet, you do not need to place any other sort of bet (like a Pass Line or Don't Pass Line, etc.)

The house advantage on Place Bets are as follows:

On 6 or 8 - 1.5%
On 5 or 9 - 4.0%
On 4 or 10 - 6.7%

Place Bets to Lose

In this instance, by placing your bets on the LOSE field above the Place number of your choice, you are betting that the Shooter will roll a 7 before that Place number is rolled.

Proposition Bets (also called One Roll Bets)

These are simple in concept but difficult to win, because the house advantages with Proposition Bets are so high. Of course, because of this, the payouts are so much higher too, making Proposition Bets seem appealing to those (naïve) gamblers with dollar signs in theirs eyes. Still, we highly recommend you stay away from these kinds of bets.

In a Proposition Bet, you are simply betting on the outcome of the very next roll of the dice.
Betting on a 2 or a 12 pays 30 to 1 and the house advantage is 13.9%
Betting on a 3 or an 11 pays 15 to 1 and the house advantage is 11.1%
Betting on a 7 pays 4 to 1 and the house advantage is 16/7%
Betting on Craps (2, 3, or 12) pays 7 to 1 and the house advantage is 11.1%
Betting on the Field (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12) has a house advantage of 5.5%
Field bets pay 1 to 1 if a 3, 4, 9, 10, or 11 is rolled
Field bets pay 2 to 1 if a 2 or a 12 is rolled

To reiterate our earlier point, start out by placing PASS LINE, DON'T PASS LINE, COME, or DON'T COME bets for the optimal (and longest lasting) Craps experience.