The Rules of Craps

Object and Basics of the Game

The object of craps is to predict what will show on the dice after they have been thrown by the shooter. The shooter is the player who is chosen by the stickman to throw the dice for that round.

The shooter must first “come out” by rolling any number but two, three or twelve. These numbers are craps and if the shooter rolls them on the come out roll, he is said to have crapped out. If the come out roll is a seven or eleven, the shooter has rolled a natural and won. Any other roll has “set a point” and the player has come out.

The shooter must now roll the point or any other number but a seven, which immediately loses the round. If the shooter “makes” the point by re-rolling the number set when he came out, he may proceed to come out again and set a new point or else crap out.

Ideally, the shooter will set and make every point of four, five, six, eight, nine and ten before crapping out on the come or rolling a seven out on the point. However, this almost never happens and the maximum payout in most casinos occurs if the player can manage to make even five out of the six possible points.

There are many types of bets that can be made in a craps game, as shown below.

Categories of bets

Line Bets

Pass, don’t pass, and come, don’t come bets depend on the nature of the roll more than a specific number. The pass and come bets win when a player rolls a natural to come out or makes a point, and lose when the shooter craps out on the come or sevens out on the point. The don’t pass and don’t come bets win in the opposite circumstance, although with slightly different odds.

For example, a pass line bet on a natural seven or eleven would pay out 1:1 (even odds), although the actual odds are 251:244, which gives a house edge of 1.41%.

Free Odds Bet

This bet is added to the pass, don’t pass, come and don’t come wagers. It is added to the initial bet, and can be changed at any time during the game after the point has been established.

The payout of free odds bets are paid with no house edge. They are paid at their true odds as seen below.

Numbers 4 or 10, the odds are 2:1.
Numbers 5 or 9, the odds are 3:2.
Numbers 6 or 8, the odds are 6:5.

Proposition Bets

Proposition or single-roll bets are placed on the probability of specific numbers appearing or not appearing rather than on the outcome of the roll. The proposition is for a single roll (single roll bets), by contrast with multi-roll bets, where the wager is on the appearance of numbers over the entire round.

Apart from the “field” bets which have a lower house edge of either 2.78% or 5.56%,, all the proposition bets have a house edge of between 11.11% and 16.67%.

For example, a two or twelve have actual odds of 35:1, the payout is only 30:1, and the house edge is 13.89%.

Multi-roll Bets

The outcome of these bets can be determined over a number of throws, and need not be determined on the first roll of the dice.

As with proposition bets, there are a number of multi-roll bets. One example is the “hard way” bet. In this bet, the shooter needs to throw either a 4, 6, 8 or 10 by throwing doubles before he next throws a seven. That is, a four would need to be thrown by rolling two 2’s, not a 1 and a 3. “Hard way” 4 and 10 have actual odds of 8:1 and a payout of 7:1, with the house edge being 11.11%.

There is also an “easy way” bet, which is similar to the “hard way” bet, the difference being that, for example, a 3 and a 1 can also make up a 4.