A Guide to Craps Bets for Online Casino Players

Betting on Craps Overview 

There are two main categories for betting in craps: pass line bets and proposition bets (also known as props). While there are other types, these two are the most common bet types offered by craps online casinos.

The first step to learning how to bet on craps is understanding pass lines and props. We’ll get into more details in a moment before going into other crucial aspects of craps, such as craps odds, strategies, and payouts.

Popular Craps Bets Explained: Low Risk with Steady Returns

Low-risk bets in craps make it easy for beginners to win more games, even if their payouts aren’t as high as other bets. The most popular low-risk bets for beginners are pass lines.

Pass Line Bets

Pass Line bets are the most common bet in craps. Before the come-out (or first) roll, players bet whether a 7 or 11 will hit before a 2, 3, or 12. If that happens, you win; if not, you lose.

If any other number is rolled, it becomes a Point number. Players continue rolling. If a Point number hits before a 7, they win. If 7 hits before the Point number, they lose.

Pass Lines have 1:1 payout odds and a favorable 1.41% house edge, giving you a higher chance to win than many other bets. 

Don’t Pass Bets

A Don’t Pass bet is when the player bets that a 2 or 3 will land before a 7 or 11 does. Rolling a 12 is a push, returning the player’s wager to them. When a Point number is rolled, a Don’t Pass bet wins if 7 hits before the Point number rolls again. If the Point Number rolls before a 7, the Don’t Pass loses. The Don’t Pass bet has 1:1 payout odds and a lower house edge of 1.36%.

Come Bets

Come Bets are like Pass Lines, except you can only place the wager after a Point number is established by the come-out roll. Come Bets are multi-roll bets with 1:1 payout odds and a 1.41% house edge, just like Pass Bets.

Don’t Come Bets

A Don’t Come Bet is like a Don’t Pass bet, except it occurs after the come-out roll establishes the Point Number. You win if a seven is rolled before another Point number. If another Point number is rolled before a 7, you lose. Like Don’t Pass bets, Don’t Come bets have 1:1 payout odds and a 1.36% house edge.

Proposition Bets: Higher Risk for Bigger Rewards

Proposition bets in craps only give you a single roll to win. That makes them much harder to hit than low-risk bets like pass lines that give the player multiple rolls to win. The benefit of props having lower win probabilities is that they offer even bigger rewards when they do hit.

Any 7 Bet

An Any 7 bet in craps is simple: the player bets on whether the next roll will be a 7 or not. If the next roll is a 7, you win. If not, you lose. Any 7 bets have 4:1 payout odds and a 16.67% house edge.

Hardway Bet

Hardways involve betting whether the shooter will roll two 2s, two 3s, two 4s, or two 5s before a 7 hits. Even though the rolled totals equal 4, 6, 8, or 10, they must contain two of the same number to win. So a 6 rolled by two 3s would win, whereas a 6 rolled by a two and a four would lose.

Put another way, the roll loses if a 7 is rolled before any of the above pairs. Hardways have different payout odds and house advantages depending on the bet selected. 

Hardway Bet Payout Table

Yo (11) Bet

A Yo bet in craps involves betting that the shooter will roll an 11. Any other rolled number, and the bet loses. Yo bets are among the riskiest single-roll bets in craps, since 11 is the second-most infrequently rolled number. They also have 15:1 payout odds and a house edge of 11.11%.

Any Craps (2, 3, or 12) Bet

An Any Craps bet is when players wager that the next rolled number will be a 2, 3, or 12. And if the following rolled number is not any of those three numbers, the bet loses. Any Craps bets are single-roll bets with 7:1 payout odds and an 11.11% house edge.

Practice Craps Bets at Online Casinos

Advanced Craps Bets for Experienced Players 

Experienced craps players can place specialized wagers for even bigger winnings at a greater risk. You may want to familiarize yourself with some common craps terms and phrases before diving in. Doing so can help you better understand what’s going on around you at in-person craps tables.

Place Bets

Place bets (also called Buy bets) involve betting whether a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will hit before the round is over. While you can place these bets anytime, most players wait until after the Point number is established.

Place bets continue until a 7 is rolled, meaning you can potentially hit multiple bets for some big wins. These multi-roll wagers also have different payout odds and house advantages, depending on the number you choose:

Lay Bets

A Lay bet is the opposite of a Place bet, with players wagering whether a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will be rolled after 7. If you roll any of these numbers after a 7, you win.

Lay bets are unique in that they feature true odds, which are an event’s actual odds rather than those generated by predictive models and other data. As such, the payout structure of Lay bets differs from most other bets.

True odds for Lay bets:

• 4 — 1:2 
• 5 — 2:3
• 6 — 5:6
• 8 — 5:6 
• 9 — 2:3 
• 10 — 1:2 

Field Bets

Field bets are where players bet whether the next roll of the dice will yield a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12. The bet loses if the shooter rolls 5, 6, 7, or 8. Field bets are single-roll bets with a house edge of 5.5% and varying payout odds:

• 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11 — 1:1
• 2 — 2:1
• 12 — 3:1

Craps Bet Strategies 

Craps betting strategies add a new level of tactical excitement beyond simply betting on rolled numbers. Keep in mind that every craps strategy requires bigger buy-ins and longer playing times. Remember to take your budget and betting limits into account and gamble responsibly.

Three-Point Molly

The Three-Point Molly involves placing Pass Line and Come bets until you have three numbers to play against 7s.

Here’s how it works:

1. First, place a Pass Line bet. If the shooter does not roll a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12, your bet neither wins nor loses. Instead, a Point number is established, and you can proceed to Step 2.
2. With the Point number established, place a Come bet for the next roll. For this round, you win if the shooter rolls the Point number before rolling another 7. If they hit a 7 first, you lose, and the game ends. If they roll any other number, a chip is placed on that number’s square on the table’s Come/Don’t Come section.
3. Repeat Step 2 until you have three chips on the table: the Pass Line bet and two Come bets. You now have three numbers actively working for you (hence the phrase Three-Point Molly).
4. The game will continue as long as the shooter doesn’t hit 7 before hitting any of these numbers. If any of your bets hit, place another one to replace it without placing any additional wagers.
5. Repeat Step 4 until the shooter rolls a 7, and the game ends. 

Three-Point Molly helps to reduce risk and maximize winnings during hot streaks. Pass Line bets and Come Bets have a low 1.41% house edge. The Three-Point Molly uses both to keep the house edge extra low while still giving the player a chance to win big. 

You can also back up your Pass and Come bets by placing Odds bets on them. Since Odds bets take advantage of true odds, they can further reduce the house edge. Placing Odds on top of your Pass Line and Come bets makes for riskier bets but bigger wins if they hit.

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross bet comes after the Come-Out roll and is a combination of four separate bets:

• Field Bet
• Place Bets on 5, 6, and 8 

Rather than providing big money wins over the course of many games, the Iron Cross provides players with small wins over a few games. As long as the shooter doesn’t roll a 7, the bet wins something.

The Iron Cross can be tricky, though. Place bets have different payout odds than Field bets, with two separate odds. The Field Bet predicts that the shooter will roll a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 on the next roll. Rolling a two pays double (2:1), a 12 pays triple (3:1), and all remaining numbers pay even (1:1).

Place bets on 5 have 7:5 payout odds, while Place bets on 6 and 8 come with 7:6. 

The total bet in this example would be $44: $10 each on the Field and 5 Place bets and $12 each on the 6 and 8 Place bets.

The 6 and 8 Place bets have a 7:6 payout ratio, meaning you’d win $7 for every successful $6 wager. Keep things simple by placing wagers in increments of $12 on 6 and 8 ($6, $12, $18, etc.).

So, for the Iron Cross bet, let’s say you make Place bets of $12 on both 6 and 8. You would then place the same amount on the 5 Place Bet and Field Bet—usually equal to, or slightly less than, the 6 and 8 Place bets. In the above example, we bet $10 on the 5 and $10 on the Field.

One aspect of Iron Cross betting is that the Field bet loses when Place Bets win. In our example, each Place Bet would Win $14, but the Field Bet would lose $10. So, at $14 minus $10, the net win would be $4. 

6 and 8 Place Betting

6 and 8 Place betting is a low-risk/low-reward strategy that takes advantage of the fact that, after 7, 6s and 8s are the most rolled numbers in Craps. This is because 6, 7, and 8 have the most possible roll combinations.

• 7 — Six Combinations: 1+6, 2+5, 3+4, 4+3, 5+2, 6+1
• 6 — Five Combinations: 1+5, 2+4, 3+3, 4+2, 5+1
• 8 — Five Combinations: 2+6, 3+5, 4+4, 5+3, 6+2 

If you want to implement a 6 and 8 Place betting strategy, all you need to do is make Place bets on 6 and 8. You won’t have to worry about Pass/Don’t Pass Lines and Come/Don’t Come bets since you’re only playing 6 and 8 against 7.

6 and 8 Place bets have 7:6 payout odds, meaning you’ll win $7 for every $6 you wager. The easiest way to calculate your potential payouts on 7:6 odds is to bet in increments of $6—$6, $12, $18, $24, etc.

Ready to Place Craps Bets Online?

Craps betting is both simple and complex, depending on how deep into it you want to go. Line bets offer players low-risk, low-reward betting options that are easy to learn. Meanwhile, props like Any 7s and Hardways offer bigger winnings by covering more numbers on the board. However, these riskier wagers require a bit more know-how.

Using tried-and-true craps strategies can help improve your chances of success. You can try easy-to-learn tactics like Three-Point Molly or 6s and 8s. Or, if you’re feeling brave, you can try your hand at the Iron Cross.

If you’re ready to dive into craps betting, there are plenty of online casinos available with free demo modes to help you hone your skills. Happy playing!

Charlon

Muscat

Content Specialist

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All the way from the renowned iGaming hub of Malta, Charlon has been contributing to the gambling industry since 2019. He began his career at Paddy Power™, but the onset of the pandemic led him to swap his nine-to-five for a life of full-time travel.

Throughout his journey, Charlon developed a successful freelance career, leveraging his prior industry knowledge and focusing on analyzing online casinos, sportsbooks, slots, payment methods, and current trends and strategies through the lens of an actual player.

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