Optimal Craps Betting Strategy
I also follow how often the 4 and 10 are being thrown at the tables. If a lot of 4’s are coming up, I’ll favor the 10. This bet can be hedged with a bet on the hard 4 or 10. The downside to this bet is that you are risking twice as much money as you’ll win. A 4 or 10 coming up before a 7 is a bankroll killer. The basis of the Three point molly craps strategy is using both the pass line and the come bet as part of your betting. At the start of the game you place a bet on the pass line and wait for the shooter to throw the point.
To become a good Craps player all you have to know is which bets to avoid. Most bets on a Craps table are sucker bets and should never be played. Knowing the difference between good and bad Craps bets is what constitutes basic- It is common for craps players to not bet, bet small, or bet the don’t pass on new shooters, as a way to qualify him. Once a shooter has made a point, or thrown lots of point numbers, the other players will gain confidence in him, and start betting with him. So, this kind of strategy seems natural.
- It’s no surprise that multitudes of strategies have been developed around place betting the (6) & (8) as these numbers give the craps player one of the be best advantages of beating the casinos. First of all, both the (6) and the (8) are the numbers likely to roll most often, next to the (7).
- In the best case scenario, a good betting strategy will enable craps players to steadily, though gradually, increase the size of their bankrolls while enjoying themselves at the craps table. Of course, as is usually the case with sticking to any pattern, betting strategically involves a good amount of persistence and discipline.
Tip: The best Craps bets are offered by Playtech casinos, because they offer triple odds instead of the usual double odds found elsewhere.
Craps strategy
The following table gives an overview of the best Craps bets. For Taking or Giving Odds we've listed the number for double odds, as this is the most common. If a casino offers more than double odds, the house edge reduces further, approaching true odds when 100 x odds is offered. Each of these bets is explained in our Craps Rules section, except for the Place 6 or 8 bet. If you place a bet on a 6 or 8 you're betting that number will be rolled before the Shooter sevens out. All other bets have higher house edges, sometimes more than 16%. We have not listed the house edge for these other bets, as they aren't worth playing anyway. The best Craps bets are offered by Playtech casinos, because they offer triple odds instead of the usual double odds found elsewhere.| Bet | House edge |
| Pass Line bet | 1.41% |
| Don't Pass Line bet | 1.36% |
| Come bet | 1.41% |
| Don't Come bet | 1.36% |
| Pass Line bet with double odds | 0.61% |
| Don't Pass Line bet with double odds | 0.46% |
| Come bet with double odds | 0.61% |
| Don't Come bet with double odds | 0.46% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 1.52% |
Your basic Craps strategy can be derived from this table, and would consist of the following rules:
| Only play the Pass Line, Don't Pass Line, Come or Don't Come bet. |
| Always combine your Pass Line and Come bets with Taking odds. |
| Always combine your Don't Pass Line and Don't Come bets with Giving odds. |
| Find the Craps table that offers as much odds as possible. Double odds is standard. |
| Other than the Pass Line, Don't Pass Line, Come or Don't Come bet, the Place bet on 6 or 8 is the only bet with a reasonable house edge, though already slightly higher than the house edge on a Pass Line bet *without* Taking odds. |
Other useful Craps Tips are:
| The house edge on a Pass Line bet is 1.41%, but *only* if you place this bet *before* the come-out roll. You are allowed to place a Pass Line bet *after* the come-out roll, but the house edge would then be much higher. So don't do this! By the same token *never* increase your Pass Line bet *after* the come-out roll (btw, it's not allowed to decrease or remove a Pass Line bet after a point has been established). |
| It is allowed to remove a Don't Pass Line bet *after* a point has been established. Don't do this because once your Don't Pass Line bet survives the come-out roll, your chances of winning have increased. By the same token *never* decrease a Don't Pass Line bet *after* the come-out roll (btw, it's not allowed to increase or place a Don't Pass Line bet after a point has been established). |
| Don't overbet your bankroll. You are advised to play at a Craps table that offers the highest odds available, with double odds being standard. But only if your bankroll can take it! Taking or Giving 100 x odds would reduce the house edge to almost zero, but you would be risking a *lot* of money per bet in order to achieve this. |
Optimal Craps Betting Strategy Odds
| Related topics Craps Craps rules Craps strategy |
Kicking around casinos is cool and fun, but there is always a big chance of losing your money. Every casino game in the world has a house edge, because they need to make profit. But the fact is, for the casino to make profit, someone has to lose…
In games such as Craps, where you’re always playing against the house, in the long run you will not win money (mathematically speaking anyway). Most of the bets have a house edge, for example betting on “any 7” has a 17% house edge. This means you should expect to lose money in craps, as the game has negative expected value in total. Now, of course you can prevent the amount of money you lose, and even make profit on occasions, by learning craps strategy. But even if you play optimally, the chances are you will still lose money. This is why a concept known as Bankroll Management is important.
What Is Bankroll Management?
Bankroll Management is a term used for limiting how much you take to the casino, and place in bets to prevent going broke too soon. When playing online craps or at the casino, you should limit each bet to 1% of your bankroll. This is the so-called “optimum” bet size because it maximises the amount you can win, whilst also hedging yourself against variance. There is no way you could possibly lose 100 Pass Line bets in a row for instance.
Unfortunately, if you are using a betting system such as the famous Martingale betting system, whereby you utilise a “double or nothing” approach, you can go broke quite quickly. This is because the risks involved are very high – even if it seems like a reasonable strategy from the outset. All it takes is around 5 50/50 losses in a row before you lose all your money using this method. That is why I recommend sticking to the 1% rule. You can enjoy your hot streaks at the casino, leave up on profit, and still escape without losing a high amount of your roll. Of course you won’t win as much using this approach, not like the Texan plutocrat next to you blowing $1k rolls on Blackjack, but you’ll also lose much less.
In terms of how much you should take to the craps table, that figure is entirely up to you. All I will say here is that you should only take as much as you are prepared to lose. For example, if you can stand to lose $100 without wanting to kill yourself, then that is ok. But, don’t take $5k with you expecting to double it up without understanding the risks involved. I would estimate over 90% of people in casinos lose their money. I know that in online poker, 95% of players lose their money. It is only the top 5% of players, who use optimal poker strategy, that successful make money.
Finally, if you feel yourself losing it on the casino floor or playing online craps, it is always best to be open about your gambling addiction and find help as soon as possible. Please visit this page for more information and help – HelpGuide.org Gambling Addiction Page.
Optimal Craps Betting Strategy Betting
Good Craps Bets vs Bad Craps Bets
This section is a brief lesson on which bets you should make and which ones you should not make. Following this tips in your game you will have better chances of winning on each bet.
The only good bets in craps are the pass line bet, the don’t pass bet, the come bet, the don’t come bet, free odds (on the pass line and occasional other spots), and placing the 6 and 8, so before you start to play for real money make sure that you understand them and you don’t have no doubt when you place them.
The best choice when comes about betting is to choose the pass line bet and the come bet, or the free odds with one of those two. The pass line bet has a house edge of 1.41% and the come bet has a house edge of 1.36%, which is good and if you take free odds on one of them you can reduce more the house edge.
Ensure you ‘take down’ any bets that wouldn’t normally be removed from the betting layout on their own. Many proposition bets are left on the board even if you win, and so can be swept away rather quickly. Stay on your toes. The proposition bets from the center of the table have a high house edge. You should not play proposition bets with any consistency.
If you are a novice in craps you should better first practice the game with free craps lessons online. Also, you could take advantage of the free craps instructions, which many casinos offer. This way you will can get comfortable tossing the dice and placing your bets.
You should try to avoid to make bets against the dice because many players are superstitious and so you won’t be an agreeable presence for the fellow players and you could even get nasty look and bad remarks from them.
Use as much as you can from your bankroll in bets with odds. If you’ve got money down on the table, a good portion of it should be on free odds bets, as these are the only ones which are fair and impartial.
Pay attention to your bankroll, and try to play with your winnings as much as possible. Craps is a negative expectation game so walking away up, however little, is definitely a win.
Never play with any systems, because in craps there are no such systems. Only bet what you’re comfortable losing, and make sure that a good portion of that bet is on the odds.
To get familiar with the game and learn the rules and process of play, along with each of the bets and which ones are smart, start with our rules of craps page, and move on to our craps strategy pages.