Guide
Craps house edge, bet by bet.
Every bet on a craps table pays a little less than the true odds. That gap is the house edge, and it is the real price of each wager. Here is what every standard bet costs.
What the house edge means
The house edge is the share of each bet the casino keeps over the long run. A bet with a 1.41% edge loses about $1.41 for every $100 you put on it. A bet with a 16.67% edge loses about $16.67. Any single roll can go either way. Over hundreds of rolls, the edge decides where your bankroll ends up.
Every standard bet
| Bet | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Odds (behind the line) | True odds | 0.00% |
| Don't Pass / Don't Come | 1 to 1 | 1.36% |
| Pass Line / Come | 1 to 1 | 1.41% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 7 to 6 | 1.52% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 7 to 5 | 4.00% |
| Field | 1 to 1, 2 to 1 on 2 and 12 | 5.56% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 9 to 5 | 6.67% |
| Big 6 / Big 8 | 1 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Hard 6 / Hard 8 | 9 to 1 | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 / Hard 10 | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Any Craps | 7 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Yo (11) / Ace-Deuce (3) | 15 to 1 | 11.11% |
| Aces (2) / Twelve | 30 to 1 | 13.89% |
| Any Seven | 4 to 1 | 16.67% |
The bets worth making
- Pass Line and Come. The foundation of the game, at 1.41%.
- Odds. Once a point is set, you can back your Pass Line bet with odds. The casino pays them at true odds, so they carry no house edge. The more of your action that sits in odds, the lower your overall cost.
- Place 6 and 8. 1.52%, provided you bet in multiples of $6 so the 7 to 6 payout is clean.
- Don't Pass and Don't Come. Slightly cheaper than the Pass Line at 1.36%, if you don't mind betting against the shooter.
The bets to skip
- Big 6 and Big 8. They win on the same numbers as Place 6 and 8 but pay even money, which makes them about six times as expensive.
- Hardways and one-roll bets. The payouts look generous. The edges run from 9% to almost 17%.
- Any Seven. The most expensive bet on the table.
Practice it without paying for it
unCraps puts these numbers on every cell of a full Vegas table, so you learn the cost of each bet while you play. No real money changes hands.