Craps Rules Explained: The Bets With the Lowest House Edge
Craps looks like the loudest, most confusing table on the floor — a crowd of players, a stickman calling numbers, a felt covered in bets you've never heard of. Strip away the noise and the core is simple: players bet on dice outcomes, and a few of those bets carry some of the best odds in the casino. The trick is knowing which ones.
The basic shape of a round
A round starts with the "come-out roll." Roll a 7 or 11 and pass line bets win immediately; roll a 2, 3, or 12 ("craps") and they lose. Any other number — 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 — becomes the "point," and the shooter keeps rolling until it repeats (pass line wins) or a 7 shows first (pass line loses).
The pass line bet
Pass line is the default bet almost everyone makes, with a house edge of about 1.41% — close to blackjack territory. It's locked in once a point is set; you ride it out until the shooter makes the point or sevens out.
Come bets and odds bets
A come bet works like a pass line bet made mid-round: the next roll is your own come-out, tracking a separate point from the shooter's. Once a point is set, either bet can be backed with an "odds" bet — an add-on that pays true mathematical odds at 0% house edge, the only wager on the floor with no edge at all. It only exists layered on top of a pass or come bet, and casinos cap it at 2x, 3x, or higher.
Field bets and proposition bets
The middle of the table is covered in one-roll side bets — field, hardways, horn bets — and nearly all carry a steep edge, often 5% to 16%. A hard 6 or hard 8 runs north of 9%, several times worse than the pass line. Fine for occasional fun money, not for a bankroll meant to last.
House edge by bet type
Roughly best to worst: odds bets (0%), pass/come with full odds (well under 1%), pass line alone (1.41%), place on 6 or 8 (1.52%), place on 5 or 9 (4.0%), place on 4 or 10 (6.67%), field bets (~5.5%), proposition bets (9%+). Bets built around 6 and 8 stay closest to fair; big single-roll payouts are where the casino earns its keep.
Reading the table before you play
Watch a few rounds first if the game is new — the pace is faster than blackjack. Stick to pass line, come bets, and odds, keep your bankroll separate from your bet size, and skip the proposition bets no matter how good the payout looks.
Odds bets lower the house edge on a wager you've already made — they don't create a player edge or guarantee any outcome. See our responsible gambling page if it stops being fun.
New to table games generally? Start with our first casino visit guide, or compare craps against every other game in our house edge breakdown.
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