How to play craps

One player — the shooter — rolls two dice. Everyone at the table bets on what those dice will total. That's it. You're never playing against a dealer or against the other players; you're all betting on the same dice, and most of the table is usually betting the same direction.

Because two dice can only total 2 through 12, and because some totals are far more likely than others, every bet on the layout has a fixed, published payout. Nothing is hidden. Learning craps is mostly learning which of those bets are priced fairly and which are not.

The free craps table is a practice table — the chips aren't real and there's no money involved. It's for learning the loop and testing a betting plan.

Every round has two phases. The first roll of a round is the come-out roll, and the status bar on the craps table shows OFF (come-out) when you're in it.

On the come-out roll, a Pass Line bet resolves immediately if it can:

• 7 or 11 — Pass Line wins right away, even money.
• 2, 3, or 12 — called craps. Pass Line loses right away.
• 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — nothing wins or loses. That number becomes the point, and the round moves into its second phase.

Once a point is set, the goal flips. Now the shooter is trying to roll that number again before rolling a 7. Roll the point first and the Pass Line wins. Roll a 7 first — a seven out — and the Pass Line loses and the round ends. Any other total in between simply doesn't matter to the Pass Line; the shooter keeps rolling.

Two dice have 36 possible combinations, and they are not spread evenly. There are six different ways to roll a 7 (⚀⚅, ⚁⚄, ⚂⚃, and each of those reversed) but only one way to roll a 2 and one way to roll a 12.

This single fact drives the whole game. A 7 is the most likely total, which is why it wins instantly on the come-out — and why, once a point is set, it becomes the thing you're racing against. It also explains the payouts: a 6 or 8 is much easier to hit than a 4 or 10, so it pays less when it does.

It also explains why Any Seven is the worst bet on the layout. Yes, 7 is the most common roll — but it pays only 4:1 when the true odds are 5:1, and that gap is where the house edge lives.

A real craps layout is symmetrical — the same bets are printed on both ends so two crowds can play at once. Learn one half and you've learned the whole table. Here's that half, and where each area sits:

The outer band (Pass Line and Don't Pass) is where a round begins. The number boxes along the top are bets you can make at any time. The centre box — hardways and one-roll props — is the loudest part of a real table and the most expensive place to play.

Every bet below exists on the free craps table. They're ordered by how much the house keeps — the top of this list is where a thought-out session lives.

Start here

• Pass Line — the default bet. Even money. Place it on the come-out roll, before a point is set.
• Odds — once a point is on, you can back your Pass Line bet with an extra wager that pays true odds: 2:1 on a point of 4 or 10, 3:2 on 5 or 9, 6:5 on 6 or 8. This is the only bet on the table with no house edge at all. The craps table uses the standard 3-4-5x caps, so you can back a point of 6 or 8 with up to 5 times your Pass Line bet. Use the + Odds button in the bet sheet.
• Come / Don't Come — the same bet as Pass/Don't Pass, but made after a point is already on. It gets its own personal point and travels to that number. A way to have action on more than one number at once.
• Place 6 and Place 8 — bet a number directly and win if it repeats before a 7. Pays 7:6, so bet these in multiples of 6. Quietly one of the better bets on the layout, and unlike the Pass Line you can make it whenever you like.

Situational

• Don't Pass — the mirror image: you win when the Pass Line loses. Wins on 2 or 3 on the come-out, loses on 7 or 11, and pushes on 12 (your bet comes back). Slightly better odds than the Pass Line, and slightly lonely at a real table.
• Place 5 and 9 — pays 7:5. Reasonable, not great.
• Buy 4 or 10 — pays the true 2:1 instead of Place's 9:5, but charges a 5% commission up front. On 4 and 10 that trade is worth it; on any other number it isn't.

Paying for excitement

• Field — one roll only. Wins on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12; 2 pays 2:1 and 12 pays 3:1, the rest even money. Looks like it covers most of the board, but 5, 6, 7 and 8 are the most common totals and none of them are in it.
• Hardways — betting a number comes up as a double: hard 6 is ⚂⚂, not ⚁⚃. Hard 4 and 10 pay 7:1, hard 6 and 8 pay 9:1. Loses if a 7 shows or if the number rolls the easy way first.
• Any Craps — one roll, wins on 2, 3 or 12, pays 7:1.
• Any Seven — one roll, wins on 7, pays 4:1. The worst bet available.

For the exact house edge on each of these, see the full ranking.

Here's one complete round with real numbers, the way it would read in the roll log on the free craps table. Starting bankroll: $300.

1. Bet $10 on the Pass Line. Bankroll $290. The status bar reads OFF (come-out).
2. Come-out roll: ⚂⚄ = 8. Not a 7, 11, or craps — so 8 becomes the point. The Pass Line bet stays up and now needs an 8 before a 7.
3. Back it with $50 in Odds. The point is 8, so the cap is 5× your $10 line bet. Bankroll $240. This part of your bet has zero house edge.
4. Roll: ⚄⚀ = 6. Nothing happens — 6 is neither the point nor a 7. The shooter keeps the dice.
5. Place the 6 for $12. Bankroll $228. Place 6 pays 7:6, which is why $12 is a sensible size — it divides cleanly.
6. Roll: ⚂⚂ = 6. Your Place 6 wins $14 (12 × 7 ÷ 6). Bankroll $242, and the $12 bet stays up.
7. Roll: ⚃⚃ = 8. The point repeats. The Pass Line pays even money — $10 — and your $50 in Odds pays 6:5 on a point of 8, which is $60. Both original bets come back too.

Round result: +$84 in winnings, and the round ends. The next roll is a fresh come-out, the point resets to OFF, and your Place 6 stays on the table for the new round unless you take it down.

Notice where the money came from: $60 of that $84 was the Odds bet — the one with no house edge. That's the whole argument for keeping your flat bet modest and putting your money behind the line instead.

Once the loop makes sense, these go deeper:

• The Pass Line and why Odds bets matter — how stacking Odds pulls your effective house edge from 1.41% down to about 0.37%.
• Bankroll management for craps — sizing bets and setting limits so a cold streak doesn't end the session.
• Craps house edge by bet, ranked — every bet on the layout with its actual cost, best to worst.

The fastest way to make any of this stick is to set a bankroll and play a few dozen rolls betting only the Pass Line with full Odds. It's a boring strategy. It's also the best one on the table.