When you ask a crowd of non-gambler types to list the first casino game that comes to mind, I’m willing to wager that craps gets top billing. Thanks to the classic dice game’s size and scope—an elongated table and up to a dozen players—even folks who don’t play like to stand on the sidelines and watch craps action unfold.
And because that action can be so turbulent, with everything riding on a single roll, Hollywood has long made craps its centerpiece in iconic flicks like "Hard Eight" (1996).
The allure of a crowded craps table will always attract new players looking to "throw them bones" for the first time. If that’s you, be sure to test your knowledge of the game using this seven-question quiz before braving the wilds of Sin City’s craps scene.
1 – Why Do Most Players Bet on the Pass Line When the Don’t Pass Line Offers a Lower House Edge? DiceBefore you can roll the dice at a craps table, you’ll be asked to make a basic binary decision—pass or don’t pass?
These foundational wagers in craps are essentially ante bets, as you must make one or the other in order to act as the shooter. If you bet on the widely popular pass line, you’ll win even money on the wager when you roll a 7 or 11, but a 2, 3, or 12 "craps out" and turns pass line bets into losers.
On the other hand, you can also bet on the don’t pass line to reverse that scenario. Don’t pass bettors want to see a 2, 3, or 12 on the come out roll to win even money, but they lose on a 7 or 11.
Any other number rolled establishes the "point," and the game proceeds from there with the shooter attempting to hit the point number again before rolling a seven.
Stand at any craps table in the world and you’ll find the overwhelming majority of players backing the pass line by default. In fact, you can play several sessions without ever seeing a single player bet on the don’t pass line.
Which is rather odd when you run through the house edge rates attached to each bet. When betting the pass, players face a house edge of 1.41%, while don’t pass players face a slightly more forgiving disadvantage of 1.36%.
Typically, informed gamblers will always hunt for the bets which offer the lowest house edge. After all, doing so represents optimal strategy from a mathematical perspective.
So, why are craps players so reluctant to take the don’t pass line and its more attractive odds? Well, like many elements of craps, it’s all about camaraderie…
When betting on don’t pass, you’re essentially hoping to see the shooter (who is ostensibly betting to pass) lose on a 2, 3, or 12. And with a packed table full of people also betting on the pass, the rare don’t pass player enjoys their wins while everyone else around is losing money.
For สล็อตpg this reason, don’t pass players are said be dancing with the "dark side," earning the derisive nickname "wrong way" bettors. You’ll still see a few dark side specialists on occasion, but these folks generally stay quiet and refrain from celebrating their winners.
The main reason to explain why players pick the pass Line over the don’t pass Line can be found by comparing those house edge rates. With a miniscule difference of only 0.05% between the two, most craps enthusiasts are happy to follow the herd and enjoy the game as a group knowing they’re only sacrificing a tiny amount of equity back to the house.
2 – How Can Casinos Offer the Odds Bet When It Doesn’t Hold Any House Edge at All? Once a point number has been set on the come out roll, the fun really begins thanks to the optional odds bet.
Pass line players can "take the odds" by adding a second bet directly behind the first, and don’t pass players can also "lay the odds" in the same fashion.
In any case, most Las Vegas casinos use the 3x-4x-5x odds structure depending on what the point number happens to be. When the point is a 4 or 10, you can take the odds for up to 3x the size of your pass line bet. Points of 5 or 9 climb to 4x on the odds, while a point of 6 or 8 lets you bet up to 5x more.
The beauty of the odds bet is that it’s the only one on the casino floor which is paid out based on the true odds. Casinos make their money by offering payout odds slightly lower (or much lower for "sucker" bets) than the true odds, therein deriving their house edge.
But with the odds bet, players receive their full payout based on true odds.
Here’s How It Works… Let’s say the point has been set at 4 after you make a $10 pass line bet. You then take the maximum of 3x odds by adding a $30 bet. At this point, you have three possible dice combinations (1-3, 2-2, and 3-1) to land a 4, as opposed to six combos (1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1) of losing on a rolled 7.
With three ways to win and six ways to lose, this bet offers 2 to 1 true odds. And sure enough, if you get lucky and see a 4 rolled before a 7, that $30 odds bet is paid out at 2 to 1 for a sweet $60 in profit.
The odds change to 3 to 2 on points of 5 or 9, and 6 to 5 on points of 6 or 8.
If you’re curious as to why casinos can offer a bet which doesn’t offer the house its precious edge, the answer lies in that previous pass or don’t pass bet. You have to make one of those bets before the odds bet becomes available, so you’ve already incurred a statistical disadvantage of either 1.41% or 1.36%.
Taking the odds certainly lowers that rate in sum, but the house can rest easy knowing it still holds the edge over players. They can rest even easier knowing a 7 will show up 16.67% of the time on any given role, thereby ending the odds bettors’ hopes in a flash.
3 – Where Can I Find Craps With the Highest Available Odds in Las Vegas? Vegas-at-Sunrise-DiceBack in Sin City’s glory days, casino operators prided themselves on letting bold gamblers bet the odds for as much money as they could stomach. In that era, many millionaires were minted thanks to 100x on odds, a hot shooter hitting their point number like clockwork, and a bettor willing to keep on pressing their action.
Corporate consolidation within the casino industry put an end to that party over the last three decades, but you can still find a few high-limit odds craps tables running.
The Cromwell casino on the Strip famously spreads the lone remaining 100x odds game in all of Las Vegas. You’ll find four tables offering 100x odds at the Cromwell, each of which requires a $25 minimum pass or don’t pass bet to get in on the fun.
Thus, a well-heeled player could start with $25 on pass, see the point hit at 10, fire the full $2,500 on odds, and collect $5,000 in profit just minutes later if the shooter rolls a 10 before "sevening" out.
Main Street Station and Sam’s Town both run 20x Odds games, using more affordable $5 and $3 minimums, respectively.
And while the bulk of Off-Strip "locals’ joints" offer 10x Odds, almost every casino along Las Vegas Boulevard sticks with the standard 3x-4x-5x system.
4 – What Represents the Optimal Betting Strategy in Terms of House Edge Reduction? Technically speaking, craps’ optimal betting approach is based on making the don’t pass bet for the table minimum, then taking the maximum allowable odds going forward.
But because most players don’t want be tagged with the dreaded "wrong way" label, they’ll exchange a few fractions of a percentage in equity to blend in with the crowd.
Assuming you prefer betting on pass, you should wager the minimum there before taking the maximum odds. If you can get 5x odds, your combined house edge on subsequent rolls plummets from 1.41% down to just 0.3%—much lower than master strategists enjoy at the blackjack table.
And with 100x odds at the Cromwell, you’ll face a house edge of 0.02% which might as well be invisible.
Craps experts also advise adding "come" bets to further reduce your house edge, but that’s long been a matter of intense debate.
Finally, when it comes to all of those other bets (Hardways, Field, Any Craps, etc.) on the table, proper strategy says to avoid them like the plague. These "exotic" craps wagers are all huge winners for the house, with most carrying massive double-digit house edge rates.
5 – Where in Vegas Will I Find the Lowest Minimum Bets on Craps? Do Craps Pros ExistTreasure Island, Club Fortune, and Treasure Island all offer a single table using a $1 minimum.
These are usually lively affairs, with tourists and low-rollers having a great time in a less stressful environment than higher minimum games.
6 – How Many Rolls Should I Expect to Make Before Sevening Out as the Shooter? According to the esteemed "Wizard of Odds" gambling info database, the average shooting session lasts successful 7.53 rolls before a 7 hits the felt.
7 – What’s the World Record for Most Consecutive Rolls as the Shooter? Back in 2009, a complete craps beginner named Patricia Demauro decided to mix up her usual slot play by joining a pal at the table.
After a few uninteresting rounds as the shooter, Demauro then put on a show for the ages by rolling 154 consecutive times before finally sevening out. All told, Demauro rolled for four hours and 18 minutes, a feat which statisticians have calculated as a 1 in 1.56 trillion lightning strike from the gambling gods.
Conclusion Craps appeals to every type of gambler, hopeful beginners and grizzled regulars, tourists and pros, and everyone in between. The game perfectly blends random chance with a touch of player decision making to create a deceptively simple, yet quite complex, table game experience.
If you’re thinking about branching out and giving craps a try, nobody can blame you for being drawn to the dice. Before you start rolling, however, put this quiz into practice by adhering to the lessons you’ve just learned.
7 Quiz Questions Every Craps Beginner Should Ace Before Playing At The Casino
