Online Casino Craps

Often acknowledged as the most exciting game in any casino, online craps is a dice game that can yield the very best odds of any game around. The craps layout looks intimidating, but savvy players should overcome their apprehension and and learn the path towards maximizing their betting dollar.

Follow these easy steps to become a successful craps bettor:

Familiarize yourself with the layout.
Identify which bets are bad and which are good.
Get playing using the basics and go from there.

ONLINE CRAPS EXPLAINED

The Pass Line
The most frequent bet in craps. Before a new round of craps begin, players bet the pass line. Pass Line bets in craps win automatically if the shooter rolls 7 or 11, and loses (‘craps out’) on a 2, 3, or 12. Any other number signifies “the point” – the number the shooter aims to roll before hitting a 7. Should the shooter roll the point again successfully, you win. Should the shooter roll a 7 before the point, your pass line bet is lost.

The Don’t Pass Line
Betting the “Don’t” is just the opposite of the Pass Line bet in craps. Most players at real-life tables look on Don’t bettors as bad luck, but in the online universe you may bet Don’t Pass without a chorus of onlookers thinking that you’ll jinx their more popular Pass Line bets. If the shooter rolls 3 or 12 on the come out roll, a don’t pass line bet wins immediately.

Come
Placed after the point has been established on the come out roll, these bets win automatically if the shooter’s next roll is 7 or 11, and lose if the roll is 2, 3, or 12. If the shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes “the come point.” If the shooter rolls the come point again before rolling a 7, the come bet wins.

Don’t Come
Don’t Come bets in craps is in essence the opposite of a Come bet.

Odds
Odds bets are auxiliary bets placed on the original pass, don’t pass, come or don’t come wager. Each casino may offer different odds at their craps table, check and see before you try it.

Field
Betting that the next roll of the dice will be either 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 is known as a ‘field’ bet.

Big Six and Big Eight
Craps bets where you wager that a 6 or an 8, respectively, will be rolled before a 7.

Place Win
A craps bet that 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will be rolled before a seven.

Place Lose
Opposite of the above, a bet that 7 will be rolled before a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10.

Buy
A 5% vigorish, or ‘vig’ is charged on this bet. A buy wager bets that a 4, 6, 8, 9, or 10 will be rolled before 7.

Lay
A 5% vigorish, or ‘vig’ is charged on this bet. A lay wager bets that a 7 will be rolled before 4, 6, 8, 9, or 10.

Any 7
This bet holds that the next roll will yield a 7.

Any 11
This bet holds that the next roll will yield an 11.

Any Craps
This bet holds that the next roll will yield any of 2, 3 or 12.

Horn
This bet holds that the next roll will yield any of 2, 3, 11 or 12.

Hardway
Doubles anyone? When a shooter rolls a double (i.e. 2+2, 3+3, 4+4, or 5+5) it’s called rolling a number the ‘hard way’ – yielding 4, 6, 8 or 10. Hardway bets wager on this occurring before the roll of a 7.

GOOD VS. BAD BETTING IN CRAPS

This wide variety of bets offers a lot of options for the first-time craps player. But since you probably want to know how to play craps with the best possible wagers, you need to concentrate on those with the lowest house advantage. The following are the best craps bets: Pass line, don’t pass line, come, don’t come.

Refer to the chart below for the payoff odds for each type of bet:

Type of Craps Bet	Typical Casino Payoff Odds
Pass Line	1 to 1
Don’t Pass Line	1 to 1
Come	1 to 1
Don’t Come	1 to 1
Pass Line, Come Odds	2 to 1 on 4 or 10 3 to 2 on 5 or 9 6 to 5 on 6 or 8
Don’t Pass Line, Don’t Come Odds	1 to 2 on 4 or 10 2 to 3 on 5 or 9 5 to 6 on 6 or 8
Field	1 to 1 on 3,4,9,10, or 11 2 to 1 on 2 or 12
Big 6, Big 8	1 to 1
Place Win	9 to 5 on 4 or 10 7 to 5 on 5 or 9 7 to 6 on 6 or 8
Place Lose	5 to 11 on 4 or 10 5 to 8 on 5 or 9 4 to 5 on 6 or 8
Buy	2 to 1 on 4 or 10 3 to 2 on 5 or 9 6 to 5 on 6 or 8
Lay	1 to 2 on 4 or 10 2 to 3 on 5 or 9 5 to 6 on 6 or 8
Any 7	4 to 1
Any 11	15 to 1
Any Craps	7 to 1
Horn	30 to 1 on 2 or 12 15 to 1 on 3 or 11
Hardway	7 to 1 on 4 or 10 9 to 1 on 6 or 8

Beginner Craps Strategies

This is intended as a guide — there is no perfect strategy in craps !

The Pass Line is a Good Place to Start.
For your first time, try a minimum pass line bet with single odds. This will get you into the flow of a craps game and is a good wager. If it succeeds, try another with double the odds. If it works again, go with triple odds where available. Remember to keep your original bet the same each time, just increase the odds.

Add a Come Bet
Now that you’ve tried that technique, add a come bet with single odds. If you win, follow the same progression as the Pass Line betting by increasing your odds. Remember that if at any time you lose, start from your original minimum bet.

Don’t Pass Line and Don’t Come Bets
Once you are used to the Pass Line and Come bets, feel free to try their opposites and you’ll be in good shape. After a win, you might try to increase your next flat bet by 50%. After a loss, you can wager a minimum flat bet.

Taking Odds vs. Laying Odds
Craps bettors “take” odds on a pass line or come bet, but “lay” odds on a don’t pass line or don’t come bet. If you lay odds on don’t bet, you’ll have to wager more to win less since don’t betters have an advantage once the point has been established.

Place Win on 6 or 8
For a twist, you can try this bet once you’ve mastered the above betting techniques. Remember that 6 or 8 may already be covered by your bets depending on what you’ve wagered.