Craps Numbers Odds
- In doing so, it creates a wager which has huge real odds. This is the wager which excites players at the table who do not have a stake riding on this bet. The payoff for the All Bet is 174 to 1. For this wager to win, then the shooter must roll all the following numbers before rolling a seven: 2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11, and 12.
- Understanding Craps Odds For instance, odds can be related either as 2-1 or 2 to 1, where a 1 credit bet returns 2 credits. In other words, 2 to 1 odds returns the original 1 credit bet and a 1 credit profit.
- The craps payout chart below shows various payout statistics such as what kind of craps bets, true odds, payout odds and the total house edge after everything has been calculated through. Note that these payout odds in the chart listed below are not the same in every casino or on all craps tables.
Chart on the possibility of each number being rolled.
When playing online Craps, it is important to understand the probability of each dice combination being rolled. Once you know what the probability is, you can work out what the house edge is on particular bets. The odds paid to you, the probability of your bet being successful and the house edge are all important factors in how lucrative Craps will be for you.
Why Use a Craps Probability Chart?
The more information that you have at our disposal, the better decisions you can make. A more informed and smarter Craps player has a much better chance of winning on a regular basis. Whether you are a seasoned online craps professional or a casual players, a craps probability chart is crucial to understanding the probability of each dice roll result. With this knowledge, you can make smarter bets at the craps table.
In crapless craps, 2 and 12 have odds of 11:2 and have a house edge of 7.143% while 3 and 11 have odds of 11:4 with a house edge of 6.25%. 20 New York Craps is one of the variations of craps played mostly in the Eastern coast of the US, true to its name.
For example, you can see on our craps probability chart that the most common number to come up after a dice roll is a seven. This is the reason that most craps professionals will recommend the pass line as the smartest bet you can make when formulating a solid craps strategy. On the other hand, you can easily see that, according to our craps probability chart, the most uncommon dice roll results are two (or snake eyes in many circles) and 12. Taking this into account, making a bet on two or 12 would likely not be the best bet that you could make.
How to Use a Craps Probability Chart
Obviously, there is nothing to stop you from printing out our craps probability chart and posting it by your computer any time that you are playing craps online. However, by reading our extensive section on the rules and etiquette of craps in offline casinos, you will also find that there are no rules preventing you from printing out the craps probability chart (or copying it on paper with a pencil) and bringing it with you to your favorite offline craps casino.
Every time you are considering a bet, you can consult the craps probability chart to see if the odds match up to the amount of your bet. However, a craps probability chart is simply a tool and cannot alone formulate your entire craps strategy. Some situations require a great deal more information than a craps probability chart before determining whether or not the bet is wise. For more information, you can consult our craps strategy section if you are unsure how to discover the total odds of a bet being successful. For now, memorizing the craps probability chart is your first step towards becoming a craps professional.
The game of craps is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy an energetic casino experience. The high enthusiasm for the game is mixed with the lure of “tempting fate” with the chance of betting on dice rolls. Players and onlookers rejoice together when the shooter hits the point and satisfies several bets, or lament together when the “dice” are against them.
In addition to this, part of what craps offers interested gamblers is a simple way to work the odds of the casino to a player’s favor. Winning at craps is entirely about learning the true probabilities of certain dice rolls occurring and making sure a player has money on the rolls with the best probability. The surest way to win in craps is to maximize bets with good odds and avoid bets with very poor odds.
Dice Probability
The essential starting ground for craps odds and probabilities is with the dice roll itself. Since bets are made based on the potential outcome of the dice, knowing how often, or how infrequently a number combination will occur is the foundation for betting odds in craps.
A pair of standard six-sided dice offers thirty-six possible number combinations that can occur with each roll. First, players need to understand that craps, and dice probabilities are literally roll by roll. Mathematically, what makes craps a game of chance is that every time the shooter picks up the dice, the exact same overall odds apply. There are not cumulative effects roll by roll, so the gambler’s fallacy of “what hasn’t occurred in a while is more likely to occur soon” cannot apply to craps, though many players bet like it will.
In reality, the dice odds stack in a pyramid that symmetrically pairs combinations of numbers, which have the same odds of occurring. The most frequently rolled number is a seven, which a player can mathematically expect to see once in every six rolls. This high probability is due to the fact that seven has the highest possible number of dice combinations to form it between the two dice.
The craps dice odds and probabilities list as follows:
- 2 and 12 have only one way they can be formed on two dice, thus carrying odds of 35 to 1 (a one in thirty-six chance of being rolled).
- 3 and 11 have two possible formations, so the odds of these appearing are 17 to 1.
- 4 and 10 each have three potential combinations, improving the odds of showing either of these to 11 to 1.
- 5 and 9 have four possible formations each, thus holding odds of 8 to 1.
- 6 and 8 are the second most frequently rolled combinations, with five possible ways to see a six or eight on the dice. The odds of either are 6.2 to 1.
- 7 has six possible formations, the most possible and gives it 5 to 1 odds of showing.
These odds are calculated by taking the number of possible formations out of thirty-six, reducing it to it’s lowest denominator and placing it in odds terms. For example, the four has three ways of being formed on the dice, thus a 3 in 36 chance of occurring or, reduced a one in twelve chance of being rolled. In odds terms one in twelve becomes 11 to 1. Understanding and remembering the dice odds is the basis for effective betting in craps.
The chance factor comes in with the fact that even though these odds are mathematically true over dozens and hundreds of rolls, and can be trusted to show in these ratios over a larger sample, they won’t “perfectly” occur with human shooters. Thus a shooter who gains six rolls can sometimes roll all six without showing a seven. This is what brings the element of risk and excitement to craps betting.
Making Good Odds Bets
There are three groupings of bets that have the best odds and the lowest house edge that a craps player can come by. These are the bread and butter of a craps player’s existence, and the wisest and winningest craps players use these bets like clockwork to maximize their odds of taking home cash, not just laying it down on the table. These are the most commonly used bets, as well.
On the right bettor side are the pass bet and the come bet. Pass bets are made during the come out roll; come bets are made after the shooter has established the point. Both of these are sweeping bets that the shooter will roll seven or eleven or a point number before rolling craps, 2, 3 and 12, the low frequency numbers. Pass bets and come bets parallel each other. Both of these bets have true odds of 251 to 244. The house edge, or casino advantage on these bets is one of the lowest at 1.41 %, which means bettors placing pass or come bets have a very good chance of winning this bet.
The wrong bettor partners to the pass and come bets are the don’t pass and don’t come bets. These bets go against the shooter (and thus are sometimes disliked by players), betting that the shooter will hit craps before hitting his point or seven. The house edge on these wrong bets actually drops further to 1.36%, and the odds of these bets showing are 976 to 949.
Free Odds Bets
The free odds bets that go with these are even better from an odds standpoint. The best bets to make in craps, free odds bets multiply a pass or come bet (or a don’t pass or don’t come bet). The advantage of these is the house edge gets lowered to almost zero, meaning players have a good chance of winning these bets at their actual mathematical odds. The odds bets have to be made in conjunction with the main pass/come and don’t pass/don’t come bets. On the right bettor side for pass and come odds bets, making this bet is called “taking the odds.” On the wrong bettor side, odds bets with don’t pass and don’t come bets are called “laying the odds.”
The pass odds and come odds bets have actual odds 2 to 1 on four and ten, 3 to 2 on five and nine, and 6 to 5 on six or eight. The payout ratios for these odds bets match the odds ratios for each number. On the don’t pass/don’t come odds side, the true odds are 1 to 2 against four and ten, 2 to 3 against five and nine, and 5 to 6 against six and eight. Again, the payout ratio when one of these bets wins is the same as the odds of occurrence.
Place Bet Odds
The third category of bets that use the dice probabilities to a great advantage are the place bets on the box numbers at the top of the craps table. Essentially, a place bet makes the same assertion as the free odds bet, that the shooter will roll one of these numbers before a seven or craps. The advantage to place bets is they can be made independently and don’t require a pass line bet first. However, the disadvantage is they payout at poorer odds than the free odds bets.
Four of the six possible place bets have a low house edge, making them still some of the better bets to make as far as player advantage. Place bets on six and eight have the third lowest house edge at 1.52%, making them very profitable bets. The odds of winning on place six and place eight bets are 6 to 5 or 45.45%. Payouts are at 7 to 6 odds. For even dollar payouts, player should bet in increments of $6 on these place bets, preventing rounding down by the casino on paying winnings.
Place bets on five and nine are also still lower house edges than most bets on the table at 4%. Players have a 40% chance of winning or 3 to 2 odds, and they payout at 7 to 5 odds. Place these bets in multiples of $5 for even dollar payouts without rounding.
Place bets on four and ten are still decent bets, but the house edge starts to climb–it’s 6.67%. The odds of winning a place four/place ten bet are 33.33% but if it does win, the payout rate is 9 to 5. These bets should also be made in $5 increments for even payout amounts.
Another advantage to place bets is that when a place bet wins, the dealer pays the player’s winnings but leaves the original bet on the table effectively starting another place bet. The player doesn’t have to add money to the bet to continue it. Players can ask the dealer to “turn off” the standing place bet or remove it if they wish.
A few online casinos offer the wrong side version of place bets called place bets to lose. Live casino Star City in Sydney, Australia also allows place bets to lose. These bets flip the bet to lose when the shooter hits the number first, but win if the shooter rolls a seven before the number. The odds of winning these place bets go from 54.55% to 66.67%, rather than under 50% for their right side counterparts. Place to lose on six and eight pay out at 4 to 5; on five and nine they pay out at 5 to 8; and on four and ten they pay out at 5 to 11.
Betting the Field Odds
The field box bets are right in front of the players and can be enticing bets. Their major disadvantage stands in that they are single roll bets, only valid for the next immediate dice roll. The house edge at 5.56% is smaller than many other craps bets, but still starting to be larger than is wise for a player to use often. The payout odd for field bets on three, four, nine, ten and eleven are 1 to 1, even money. For the more rarely rolled two and twelve, the payout odds are 2 to 1. The true odds of betting on the field are 5 to 4.
Odds on Proposition Bets
The proposition bets located in the center of the craps table actually hold the poorest odds for a player, and with high house edges hold great odds for the casino winning. Craps experts consistently advise staying away from these various “sucker bets” that catch novices or people who have not bothered to learn a few key points about playing craps.
Proposition bets are mostly single, next roll bets on specific numbers. The rates of the occurrence for the dice roll is the first basis for the enticingly high payouts, but the house edge factors in on the lesser likelihood that the single next roll will produce that number or combination of numbers.
The list of odds for the main proposition bets is as follows:
- Craps 2 or 12 has true odds of 35 to 1, that single dice combination. The payout odds are 30 to 1, with a huge house edge of 13.89%.
- Single number bets on 3 or Yo (11) carry true odds of 17 to 1, but the casino pays 15 to 1 odds on a winning bet. The house edge is 11.11%
- A Hi-Lo bet matches the odds of 3/11 bets with true odds of 17 to 1 and payout odds of 15 to 1. The house edge is also 11.11%.
- Any Craps bets (looking for 2, 3, or 12) have true odds of 8 to 1, payouts of 7 to 1 and that ever-large 11.11% house edge.
- C-E or Craps-Eleven bets have true odds of 5 to 1. The payouts vary at 3 to 1 for craps (2, 3, 12) and 7 to 1 on eleven. This also carries an 11.11% house edge.
- Any 7 bets have true odds of 5 to 1 with payout odds at 4 to 1. Any 7 has the largest house edge on the table at 16.67%.
- Horn bets carry a higher house edge of 12.5%. The true odds are 5 to 1. Payout odds are 27 to 4 on two or twelve and 3 to 1 on three or eleven.
World or whirl bets are a variation of the horn bet on 2, 3, 7, 11 and 12. The true odds are 2 to 1. The payout odds on two or twelve are 26 to 5 and on three or eleven are 11 to 5. The house edge is 13.33%.
Big 6 and Big 8
The corner proposition bets of Big 6 and Big 8 have been banned from Atlantic City casino craps tables because the odds make them such poor bets. With a large house edge of 9.09%, bets on Big 6 and Big 8 only payout even money, though the true odds of rolling a six or eight before a seven, like in Place 6/Place 8 bets is 6 to 5.
Hardways Bets
Hardways proposition bets can be ongoing bets, but these are also costly bets to make. The hard four and hard ten bets have an 11.11% house edge and pay 7 to 1 if they win, but only carry an 11.11% chance of winning. Hard six and hard eight bets payout at 9 to 1, but only have a 9.09% chance of winning. The house edge for those two bets is 9.09%. It doesn’t seem like a bet bodes well for a player when the odds of winning equal the odds of the house advantage over the player.
Buy Bets and Lay Bets
For players who like to use place bets but who don’t like the odds, the option exists to buy the points for a 5% house commission that reduces the house advantage to “fair odds.” Some casinos require that commission up front; others take the commission on winnings. Most players will advise staying away from Buy and Lay bets. Paying extra to level the odds is simply not worth it. However, some players do like to use these bets.
Buy bets have a standard 4.76% house edge on all three pairs of bets. The odds are:
- Buy four and Buy ten have 2 to 1 odds.
- Buy five and Buy nine have 3 to 2 odds.
- Buy six and Buy eight have 6 to 5 odds.
Lay Bets are the “Place to Lose” or wrong side lay odds commission bets. The lay bet odds are slightly different than the buy bet odds.
- Lay four and Lay ten have 1 to 2 odds with a house edge of 2.44%.
- Lay five and Lay nine carry odds of 2 to 3 and a house edge of 3.23%.
- Lay six and Lay eight have 5 to 6 odds and a 4% house edge.
Overall Craps Odds
Some players ask about their overall chances of winning or losing at craps. Honestly, with most games of chance players will do well to expect to lose more than what they win. Statistically, in a particular session the mathematical odds reinforce the odds of losing are slightly greater than the odds of winning.
The odds of breaking even are about 0.67%.
For a truly big picture perspective on the odds of playing craps, probabilities calculated from simulating 1,000,000 sessions of 100 come out rolls each leave a players odds of winning and losing overall at the following percentages:
- Winning $1 to $25: probability 28.64%
Losing $1 to $25: probability 30.06% - Winning $26 to $50: probability 14.43%
Losing $26 to $50: probability 16.36% - Winning $51 to $75: probability 3.91%
Losing $51 to $75: probability 4.64% - Winning $76 to $100: probability 0.564%
Losing $76 to $100: probability 0.65% - Winning over $100: probability 0.0418%
Losing over $100: probability 0.0422%
With so many calculations for craps odds and probabilities, the best way for a player to utilize this information is to remember the dice probabilities and the most beneficial bets to use. Craps tables list the payout odds for the higher bets as part of inviting players to spend money on bets that the house is more likely to win than the player. Seeing a 30 to 1 payout option makes some folks eager to bet there for the big return, but the savvy player will remember that the odds of that single two or twelve showing up on the next roll are 35 to 1. There are many more useful places to invest those bets. Strong players will use these odds and probabilities on craps to make guided decisions about where best to bet their hard earned money.
Craps offers some of the best odds in the casino. It also offers some of the worst. The best bet on the table doesn’t even appear on the layout, while the worst ones are some of the easiest to make. Every wager one the table is presented in such a way as to make it seem like the player could win big at any time. But unless you can influence the dice, the odds are always stacked against you in craps.
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The Pass Line bet is the most common wager on the table. When you bet a Pass Line, the natural house edge is around 1.42%. If the Pass Line bet wins, it is paid even-money – a ten dollar bet wins ten dollars. The Free Odds bet is paid at true odds. For example, a winning $10 Free Odds bet on the point of four will be paid 2 to 1, or $20. The Free Odds bet has no house edge, but you cannot place it unless you have already made a bet that does have a house edge – either the Pass and Come, or the Don’t Pass and Don’t Come. When you back one of these bets with free odds, the overall effect is to reduce the house edge. The greater the proportion of your bet that is on free odds, the lower the edge will get. However, the casino always has an advantage over the player with this bet – albeit a small one.
A placard posted on the table will clearly state what proportion of your bet may be placed as a free odds bet. If the placard states that it is a $10 – 10X odds game, it means the minimum wager is $10, and you can take up to ten times your wager in Free Odds. Allowable odds may range from single to unlimited, up to the table’s maximum bet.
If you are playing a single odds game, you can place a free odds bet equal to your Pass Line wager. When playing the Don’ts, you can lay odds sufficient to win an amount equivalent to your Don’t Pass bet. The single odds game is commonly found on cruise ships and isolated vacation destinations like the Caribbean islands. They can get away with offering an inferior game because you are a captive player. It’s the only game available.
Most land based casinos offer double odds or higher. In Las Vegas, the 3, 4, 5X odds game is the most common. This game allows you to take 3X odds on the four and ten, 4X odds on the five and nine, and 5X odds on the six and eight. For example, in a $5 game with 3, 4, 5X odds game, the maximum free odds you could take on the four or ten would be $15 – three times your $5 flat bet. You could wager $20 on the five and nine, and $25 on the six and eight. Casinos do this as much for their own convenience as for the players. In a $5 game with 3, 4, 5X odds, the correct payoff on every wager with full odds is $35.
Some casinos offer 5X, 10X, 20X, or even 100X odds. Some of the most sought after games are low limit tables with 100X odds. With those odds, the house’s edge over the players is miniscule. But as mentioned earlier, regardless of how large of a free odds bet they allow, the casino always has the edge. Remember, casinos rake in vast profits on margins as little as .07 %. That is not seven percent. It is seven-one-hundredths of a percent.
The pay offs on the Free Odds bets are calculated based on the relationship between the number of ways a particular bet can win versus the number of ways it can lose. The best way to understand this is to look at this chart, which demonstrates how many combinations of the various numbers there are on a pair of fair dice.
As you can see from the chart at the top of this page, the seven is the most common number on the dice. Six of thirty-six possible combinations of the dice add up to seven. There are more ways to make a seven with two dice than any other number. That means that on any given roll, there is a better chance a seven will come up before any other number.
Take a look at the odds of rolling a four. There are three ways to roll a four, compared to six ways to roll a seven. Reduce those 6 – 3 odds to their lowest common denominator and you come up with true odds of 2 – 1. A winning $10 Pass Line or Come bet established on the four with 3X or $30 in free odds would be paid a total of $70. The player would receive $10 for his winning Pass Line bet, which is paid at even money, and $60 for his winning $30 free odds bet, which is paid at 2 – 1.
Craps Odds Chart
Free Odds on the five and nine are always paid at 3-2. This can lead to some confusion for the novice player. For example, if you played a $5 Pass Line bet and then took single odds for $5, the casino could not give you a proper payout. The free odds bet has to be an even number – divisible by two – in order for them to pay true odds of 3-2. In this example, in addition to paying the $5 flat bet on the line, the casino would pay 3-2 on $4 of the free odds wager, plus even money on the extra $1 for a total of $7 on the free odds bet. Since the casinos do not generally pay fractions of dollars, they short you on your payout. The correct single odds wager on a $5 Pass Line bet on the five or nine is $6. In addition to the $5 Pass Line payout, the correct $6 free odds wager is paid $9.
The simplest way to remember the correct free odds wager is to memorize the old axiom: “Odd numbers get even odds.” The five and nine are the only “odd” box numbers on the layout, and in order to receive a correct payout you must bet an even amount of money on those numbers.
Last of all, remember that the Come Bet performs exactly like the Pass Line Bet and the same odds apply to both bets. Likewise, the Don’t Come bet performs exactly like the Don’t Pass bet and the same odds apply to both bets. On Pass Line, Come Bets, Don’t Pass or Don’t Come, the house’s ultimate edge comes from the even money payoff on the winning flat bet – not the Free Odds bet. For that reason, most players prefer to risk the minimum amount possible on the Pass or Don’t Pass, and risk more of their bankroll on the free odds wagers.
There are many more bets available to the player on the traditional banker’s craps layout. In every case, the house gets its edge by paying the player less than true odds. To get a better understanding of this, let’s look at place betting first. Many players prefer to place bet numbers for many reasons. It gives them immediate action in the game. They get to choose what numbers they play as opposed to letting the Come Bet decide which numbers they wager on. Their number only has to roll once for them to get paid. In exchange for these privileges, these players are willing to give up an additional edge to the house.
The most popular numbers to Place Bet are the six and eight. One look at the odds chart and it is easy to see why. There are five ways each to roll the six and eight compared to six ways to roll the seven. As we mentioned earlier, the true odds on the six or eight are 6 – 5. But if you want to Place Bet those numbers the house requires a wager in six-dollar increments. In a $5 game the correct Place Bet wager on the six or eight is a minimum of $6. In a $10 game it is a minimum of $12. And instead of being paid at true 6 – 5 odds, the Place Bet is paid 7 – 6. This “reduced” pay off is where the house gets its edge – in this case, 1.51% on the 6 and 8.
The five and nine are Place Bet in increments of five dollars, and are paid at 7 – 5. That gives the house an edge of 4% over the player. The story on the four and ten is even worse. These numbers are paid at 9 – 5, which yields a house edge of a whopping 6.67%.
Prominently located in the center of the layout are the Proposition or Prop Bets. These are the bets the stickman hawks like a carnival barker with his endless chatter, “Get your hops, props, hardways, high-lows, yos, horn bets, worlds.” These are all high-vigorish bets that generally should be avoided. Let’s take a look at them.
The Any Seven bet, sometimes called the Big Red bet, is usually located at the top of the prop box. This is a one-roll wager that the seven will be the next number to roll. The winning bet pays 4 to 1, compared to correct odds of 5 to 1. That one unit difference gives the house a 16.67% edge.
Beneath the Any Seven bet are the Hardway Bets. These are individual wagers that the hard four (2-2), hard six (3-3), hard eight (4-4), or hard ten (5-5) will roll “hard” before they roll easy or before the seven rolls. The payoff is 9 – 1 on the 6 or 8 and 7 – 1 on the 4 or 10. The house edge is 9.09% and 11.11%, respectively.
The next section in the Prop Box consists of specific non-box numbers known as the horn numbers. They are the two, three, eleven and twelve. These numbers can be bet on individually, in pairs, or all at the same time. Each bet has it’s own moniker.
The Ace-Deuce bet is a one-roll wager on the three-craps. The payoff is 15 – 1, but the true odds are 17 – 1. The house edge is a whopping 11.1%.
The Eleven or “Yo” is a one-roll wager on the eleven. When bet alone, the wager is placed in the “E” circle adjacent to the prop box. For more details on that see the discussion of “C and E” bets, below. The payoff on the eleven is exactly the same as the Ace-Deuce, 15 – 1, and it carries the same 11.1% house edge.
The “Aces” bet is a one-roll wager on the two-craps. The payoff is 30 – 1, while the true odds are 35 – 1. The house edge on this wager is also 16.67%.
Last of all is the twelve-craps, sometimes called “midnight.” Like the Aces bet, the twelve-craps pays 30 – 1 and carries a house edge of 16.7%.
When all four of these numbers are wagered at the same time it is called a Horn bet. A player makes a horn bet by tossing his chips to the stickman and calling out his bet. For example, “$4 horn.” This gives him $1 on each of the aces, ace-deuce, eleven and twelve.
The final variation of the Horn bet is the World bet. The World bet is simply a Horn plus an Any Seven bet. A $5 world bet gives the player $1 each on the aces, ace-deuce, eleven, twelve, and any seven. The World simply takes a bad bet, the Horn, and makes it worse by adding another dollar to a high vigorish wager.
On either side of the prop box you will see the C and E bets mentioned earlier. There are several of these betting circles on each side of the table, and each corresponds to a different player position at the table.
The “C” is an Any Craps bet. The Any Craps bet is a wager that the 2, 3, or 12 will roll on the next toss. If any other number rolls the Any Craps wager immediately loses. The winning wager pays 7 – 1, and is exposed to a house edge of 11.1%.
The “E” is the eleven or “Yo” bet. As mentioned earlier, it could be set up in the horn section of the prop box. However, most stickmen are trained to set the bet up in the appropriate “E” circle, which makes it easier to determine which player the bet belongs to in a crowded game. The odds are the same, no matter where the bet is set up. The house has an 11.1% advantage over the player.
The Field Bet is one of the most prominent on the table. It is a one-roll bet that the next number to roll will be a Field number. The Field numbers are 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 12. At first appearance it looks like a good bet. You have seven out of eleven possible numbers working for you. However, the numbers that are not covered, the 5, 6, 7, and 8, give the house more ways to win than the player. There are 20 combinations of the dice that win for the house, versus 16 combinations that win for the player. Depending on whether the house pays “double” or “triple” on the twelve, the house edge varies from 5.56% to 2.28%.
Craps Numbers Odds Lottery
Some layouts include a Big 6 and Big 8 wager in one corner. These are self-service bets a player can make on the six and eight. However, instead of being paid 6 – 5 true odds, or 7 – 6 place odds, the player is paid even money on this wager. That yields a house edge of 9.09%.
From time to time you will see a player make a Buy Bet. Buy Bets pay off at true odds instead of place odds. In order to get this privilege, the player pays the house a 5% commission. A quick look at the odds chart reveals that in most instances, the four and ten are the only numbers that are worth buying.
A $20 Buy Bet carries a $1 vigorish. Buying the 4 or 10 for $20 reduces the house edge from 6.67% to 4.76%. Green chip bettors are usually permitted to Buy the 4 or 10 for $25 and still pay just a $1 commission. That reduces the house edge to just 4%. Some casinos only collect the vigorish on a winning bet, which serves to reduce the edge even more. Finally, a few casinos will allow the player to Buy the 4 and 10 for $30 or more before charging the extra $1 commission. This practice, combined with collecting the vigorish only on winning bets, can reduce the house’s edge on these numbers to as little as 1.11%, making it one of the best bets on the table.
Odds On Craps Bets
Lay Bets or exactly the opposite of Buy Bets. A Lay bettor is wagering that the seven will roll before the number he is laying against rolls. Lay bets are typically made in amounts to win $20 increments. Correctly sized Lay Bets are $41 No 4 or No 10, $31 No 5 or No 9, and $25 No 6 or No 8. One dollar of each of these wagers is the commission paid to the casino for the right to lay against the numbers. The house edge in Lay Bets against the 4 and 10 is 2.44%. The edge against the 5 and 9 is 3.23%. The edge against the 6 and 8 is 4%.
In summary, the theoretical best bets when playing the “right” side of the game are Pass Line with odds, Come Bet with odds, and Place Bet the 6 and 8. The best bets when playing the “wrong” side of the game are Don’t Pass with odds, Don’t Come with odds, and Laying against the 4 and/or 10.