Craps Bets

The best craps bets you can place are Pass line and Don’t Pass bets, along with Come and Don’t Come, because all of these give the house an edge of less than 1.5%. Proposition bets, which try to lure players in with high payoffs, are generally worth avoiding, as they give the house a much higher edge than most people think.

How high is that house edge? It depends on the proposition bet you’re thinking of making. Here’s a quick rundown of the most popular proposition bets and the damage they can do to your bankroll...

Any Seven – The actual odds of an Any Seven wager are 5 to 1, but the bet payoff is 4 to 1. The house edge on this one roll bet is 16.67%, making it the absolute worst bet you can make in a game of craps.

Snake Eyes (2) and Boxcars (12) – There is only one way to make a 2 or 12, and the odds against either are 35 to 1. The house will pay you odds of 30 to 1. That gives the house an edge of 13.89%.

Any Craps – Craps are the numbers 2, 3, and 12. The 2 and 12 can be made just one way. The 3 can be made in two ways. The odds against any craps happening are 36 to 4, which simplifies to 9 to 1. The correct payoff should be 8 to 1, but the casino is only willing to offer you odds of 7 to 1. This gives the house an edge of 11.1%.

Ace-Deuce (1, 2) or the Yo Eleven (11) – There are two ways that the three and eleven can be made out of the 36 possible number combinations. The odds of making either are therefore 36 to 2, which simplifies to 18 to 1. The correct payoff for this bet is 17 to 1 but the house payoff is 14 to 1. The house edge on this one roll bet is 11.1%.

Hardways – Hardway bets allow the player to bet that the numbers 4, 6, 8 and 10 will show on the dice as matched pairs (2 and 2, 3 and 3, 4 and 4, 5 and 5) before the 7 occurs, or an easy way 4, 6, 8, and 10 (easy way meaning any other combination of dice totalling that number). For the hard 6 and 8, the correct odds are 10 to 1, with the actual payoff being 9 to 1, giving the house an edge of 9.1%. For the hard 4 and 10, the correct odds on these numbers is 8 to 1, but the payoff is only 7 to 1 giving the casino an 11.1% edge.

Although players will win with proposition bets from time to time, over the long term the house edge will eat away at their chips. That being the case, it makes sense to focus on low house edge bets such as a Pass line bet or placing the 6 or 8. Those are among the best craps bets available, so make the most of them.

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