7 Best Craps Bets You Need to Know About – How to Find the Best Odds at the Table

Craps is the classic casino connoisseur’s game, played in gambling dens around the world and usually home to the most raucous action on the floor.

But what few understand about the game is the top wagers. To be more precise, the best craps bets you should be aiming for every time.

The betting board offers more than 100 wagers and related iterations in this game. Truth be told, craps is a decidedly more complex casino game than many believe it to be but it doesn’t have to confuse you.

Today, I will talk you through the seven best bets in craps, how they work, and why they should always be on your radar. Before diving into that, check out the sites below where you can play craps.

One of the best craps bets for beginners is wagering the Pass Line.

Also known as “right way” betting because you’ll be backing the shooter – along with most players at the table – to ultimately win.

For beginners, the Pass Line bet is an ante of sorts. Or the minimum wager you need to get into the game.

In any case, most craps players will be backing the Pass Line when you play – and for good reason. With a low house edge of just 1.41 percent, the Pass Line wager is one of the best craps bets on the table, or any table in the house, for that matter.

The other major motivation to bet on the Pass Line is simple enough: doing so aligns you with the shooter and fellow players, so when the table wins, you win.

As you’ll learn in the next entry, betting the “wrong” way at the craps table is definitely doable; it’s frowned upon, to put it lightly.

That is, you’ll be hoping to see one of two primary results occur: if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, you win; and if they roll a 2, 3, or 12, you lose. The payout on wins is even money as well, further simplifying the gameplay for beginners.

Of course, craps is a multifaceted game no matter how you carve it, so a third possibility exists for every Pass Line Bet. Should the shooter roll any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), that becomes the point number, and the “game within the game” commences.

Every time the shooter rolls that same point number again – before rolling a 7 to end the session – you’ll win even money on your Pass Line wager.

Therefore, sticking to the seemingly simple Pass Line bet offers both binary gameplay and the chance to ride the roller coaster of emotions that can occur during an extended roll.

Finally, as you’ll learn a little later down the road, placing a basic Pass Line bet to get the ball rolling also enables you to enjoy the rarest of all treats for casino players: neutral expectation proposition.

For all this talk of house edge rates, craps is one of the few games that invites players to back a wager with no house edge whatsoever – and one that pays out more than even money to boot.

Learning the basics of craps will help you identify the top bets. It’s a good idea to get some practice in by playing at craps online casinos.

Speaking of the best online casinos for craps, Ignition Casino is arguably the best choice. Craps isn’t too common across the top gambling sites, but you won’t have any issues finding it at Ignition Casino.

For starters, they welcome you to their site with a generous deposit bonus of 300% (up to $3,000). You can use this bonus to play craps for free instead of having to risk your own money, which might be the best way to bet in craps.

Their craps game has a simple design, which is great if you’re not looking for something flashy. They also have a brief description of craps and how to play on the left-hand side of the screen.

If you are always asking yourself, “What is the best bet in craps?” consider playing at Ignition Casino. They give you the details of each wager and your odds of winning.

Although this is widely considered one of the best bets in craps, there are some odd alternative names for the Don’t Pass wager.

Things like “The wrong way” or “The dark side.” Perhaps I would rather not repeat a few others in case someone gets slightly offended.

As the name suggests, betting on the Don’t Pass Line involves taking the opposite tack from the Pass Line dynamic.

That means you’ll win whenever the shooter rolls a 2 or 3 on their come-out roll (and push on a 12), lose when they roll a 7 or 11, and play the point numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) per usual – while hoping for a 7 to be rolled before the point to win.

This reversal of the win conditions slightly tweaks the house edge on Don’t Pass Line bets in the player’s favor, so you’ll be facing a 1.36 percent hill to climb rather than 1.41 percent.

Of course, over my years playing real money online craps and games at land-based casinos, I’ve come across my fair share of wrong way bettors.

I’ll let in on a little secret: I’ve been known to back the Don’t Pass Line on many occasions, knowing full well what that 0.05 percent savings truly means.

I wouldn’t advise betting the Don’t Pass Line until you’ve been around the proverbial block, learning the nuances of craps gameplay, and getting a good grasp on why wrong way bettors buck conventional wisdom.

Odds bets are made available to players backing the Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line bets, so in effect, anybody can get in on the action.

As you can see, this one comes in with a house edge of 0%, making it one of, if not the best, of the best craps bets you can play.

Odds bets can also be added to the Come and Don’t Come bets, making them an integral aspect of any good craps player’s arsenal. More on that later.

To place an Odds bet, you simply slide out an extra stack of chips behind your Pass Line (or Don’t Pass Line) bet after a point number has been set.

The 2-to-1 payout figure is taken straight from the “true odds” of landing a 4 before “evening out” on any single roll. By paying out according to the true odds against, the Odds bet in craps carries a house edge of exactly 0 percent – making it one of the only neutral expectation wagers in any casino.

Of course, you’ll have to put a Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line bet up beforehand, which serves to return the house’s precious edge on the combined wager.

Even so, the optimal strategy of betting the table minimum on the Pass Line or Don’t Pass Line bet before betting the maximum on Odds bets is a great way to avail of one of the best bets in craps.

Let’s take a look at some payout odds.

If you fancy yourself as a budding, wrong way bettor, note that the system for Odds bets plays out just as any other dark side bet does. That is to say; you’ll be hoping to see a 7 show up before the point number is rolled again.

This process is known as “laying the odds” in craps parlance instead of “taking the odds” for Pass Line bettors.

If you successfully lay the odds as a wrong way bettor and see the shooter seven out before landing the point number again, you’ll earn a payout on your Odds bet equal to the true odds.

One of the big reasons why beginners like the Pass Line bet is that you can turn $5 into $10 with an Odds bet on the 4 or 10. But as a wrong way bettor, you’ll need to risk $10 to win $5 to beat the same point number.

Overall, the Odds bet is the true economic engine for successful craps players, mainly because players can “turn off” the wager at any time they choose.

See for yourself why this is one of the best bets in craps by playing at Bovada!

As a craps player passively backing the Pass Line, you’ll soon find yourself yearning to see certain point numbers set by the shooter.

Specifically, when the shooter lands on a 6 or an 8 as the point number, you’ll be happier than in any other scenario – because 6s and 8s are the most likely totals to occur aside from 7.

Understanding dice probability is a central component of succeeding at and enjoying the game of craps. That includes identifying the best craps bets.

Check out the table below for a quick primer on the ways a pair of dice will shake out:

The most likely total produced by rolling a pair of dice is 7 – occurring on 16.67 percent of all rolls – which is why that number plays such a central role in craps.

But from there, following the pyramidical structure of the data, you can see that 6 and 8 totals occur with the next highest frequency at 13.89 percent each. Knowing this, craps players betting the Pass Line and Odds bets love to see the shooter roll a 6 or 8-point number.

This way, they’ll enjoy a greater chance of fading a seven out while repeating the point number – scooping up some major chips along the way.

Of course, sometimes the shooter isn’t cooperating, and 6 or 8-point numbers are few and far between.

Making a Place bet is often referred to as generating an “on demand” point number because it allows the bettor to back any point numbers (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) whenever they’d like. This is where the Place bet comes into play.

After seeing the point number set at 4, you can simply alert the dealer that you’d like to back the 6 and/or 8 with a Place bet. Something like “Twenty-four on six” or “Eighteen on the eight” should suffice. From there, you’ll be playing with your own personal point number.

You can put a Place bet on just the 6, just the 8, or both together. But I’d advise limiting your action on Place bets to the 6 and 8 grouping only.

That’s because these point numbers occur more often than the others and, thus, offer a lower house edge than the other groups, as shown by the table below:

The reasoning behind a Place bet on the 6 and/or 8 is easy enough to grasp: doing so gives you more than one point number to work with on subsequent rolls.

You can win even money on your Pass Line bet when the shooter re-rolls the original point number and win at slightly less than even money whenever your Place bet point number appears.

By taking the 6 and the 8 together with dual Place bets, savvy players are now backing three-point numbers – the shooter’s established point, plus the two most likely totals to occur (aside from the dreaded seven).

Considering the low house edge of 1.50 percent (on 6 and/or 8 Place bets only), taking the on-demand point number is a great way to balance out unfavorable point numbers as a Pass Line bettor.

Remember this. Also, make sure to check out the following piece that deals with the unwritten craps rules that go over many a player’s head.

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Wagers like the Come bet are where craps gained its reputation for complexity. However, some believe it is still a contender for the best bet in craps.

When backing the Come bet, you’re simply playing an on-demand Pass Line, similar to the way Place bets work. In other words, at any point after the come-out roll, you can place a Come bet to create your own personal Pass Line bet.

Here’s how it works:

• After the shooter has rolled the come-out roll and established a point number – any point number – you can then put out a Come bet.
• On the next roll, you’re essentially playing out your own Pass Line bet separately from the rest of the table.
• If that next roll is a 7 or 11, you’d win even money on your Come bet.
• On the other hand, if that next roll shows a 2, 3, or 12, your Come bet is lost to the house.
• Any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10) will establish the new point number going forward, but one that only you care about.

From there, you’re essentially playing two games of craps at once. But again, I see it as one of the best craps bets you’ll find anywhere.

You’ll be hoping to fade a seven out and land the original point number to win even money payouts on your Pass Line bet. In addition, anytime that new “come bet point” number turns up, you’ll earn an even money payout on the Come bet.

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe it to be one of the best bets on craps. This is because it perfectly matches the house edge offered by the basic Pass Line bet, which is easier to grasp.

If you need more advice, I recommend these casino tips for beginners.

As it goes, if the Don’t Pass Line bet is the mirror opposite of the Pass Line, the Don’t Come bet offsets the Come bet in the exact same way.

Essentially, making a Don’t Come bet allows players to create their own personal Don’t Pass Line after any come out roll.

By now, you should have a clearer idea about how these basic craps bets function, but just in case, I’ll run through the “need to know.”

If you bet on the Don’t Come, you’re becoming a wrong way bettor on the subsequent rolls. That is to say; you’ll be hoping to see a 2 or 3 to win (or a 12 to push) on the new come out roll established by your Don’t Come bet.

When a new “don’t come point” number is established, the same dark side gameplay dynamic is in place, so you’ll be hoping to see a seven show up before your personal don’t come point reappears.

I don’t care if you’re craps legend Patricia Demauro. Playing that too often will see your butt bitten.

Players backing the Don’t Come bet can also sweeten the pot by laying odds on their new point number. Once again, this bet works exactly as the Come bet described above – only in reverse.

The Don’t Come bet carries the same etiquette caveats as betting the Don’t Pass Line, so be warned that you’ll be celebrating when other players lose.

Also, betting on the Don’t Come offers the same slight reduction in house edge, shifting downward from 1.41 percent to 1.36 percent.

If you’ve come here having searched for “What are the best bets in craps,” you’ll have plenty of information to digest.

But let’s move things forward with one of the more controversial bets on the board. At least among self-described craps experts.

The object is easy: you will be hoping that the next roll of the dice produces any of the following totals: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12.

That specific set of numbers is enticing to many craps novices simply because it contains six different winners on any given roll. However, as revealed by the table shared in Section 4 earlier, those six numbers are the six worst you can back:

Suffice to say, even when these six numbers are combined into a single wager, the Field bet is rightfully considered a longshot.

When offering only even money payouts, the Field bet carries a house edge of 5.56 percent. This makes it one of the craps bets to avoid, as it is simply too high to be considered playable in a game with so many better options on the board.

It is worth pointing out that you’ll find many craps tables that offer a 2 to 1 payout when you win a Field bet on a 2 total. Similarly, these houses tend to up the ante to 3 to 1 when you land a 12 to win a Field bet.

When you can find craps tables offering this 2x and 3x pay scheme for 2 and 12 totals, the Field bet actually becomes a 2.78 house edge proposition. This isn’t great by any means, but it’s not all that bad, either.

Be mindful as a Field bet is a one-off affair, meaning it will be settled on the next roll.

So, what is the best bet in craps? Most consider the Odds Bet the best craps bet because it comes with a 0% house edge.

Although that may be the case, the Don’t Pass/Don’t Come wager is probably the one you should be playing. At least as a beginner.

In truth, the seven top craps bets you should know about all have merit. As I explained earlier, there are mathematical probabilities to consider when you pick up the dice.

This means you’re relying on Lady Luck working her magic rather than a skill sheet or strategy table. Good fortune is more important in this game, but a knowledge of the craps best bets is essential if you want to minimize your chances of losing.

You can read more about the odds bet and why it’s the best way to bet in craps in the post below!

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Footnote:

• Reference to the legendary Gambling Grandma is courtesy of Time Magazine.