I only play the dark side on the bubble craps machines and when I do, I just make a larger base bet. I know it isn't the best odds and you can certainly lose more on the come out, but I like the 1:1 pay off when the 7 hits. I hate betting more, say $20, to win less, say $10 (i.e. Laying odds on the 4/10 ). Lay bets (sometimes called no bets) are the mirror opposite of buy bets. They pay true odds when the shooter rolls a seven before the number. That makes a lay bet essentially the same as laying odds, except a five-percent vig is charged on the amount to be won. I’ve been playing larger stakes craps $25 PL with maxed out 3-4-5x or 10x odds depending where I play. I place 6 and 8 but for minimal amounts until I full press. There must be a calculation that takes into consideration your PL bet and Odds to determine optimal session bankroll.
Craps Playing The Odds
The thing about craps betting is that there are so many bets available, and if you’ve never played before, the game can be confusing.
In fact, it’s confusing enough that a single blog post probably doesn’t have the space to cover everything you should really understand about betting at the craps table.
Still, it’s not as complicated as you first might think. After all, it’s a casino game, and casino games that are too complicated scare off players. And no one at the casino wants that.
Before jumping into the basics of craps, feel free to take some time to grasp common craps terms to understand some of the language used in this article. With that being said, let’s get started.
The Pass Line Bet
If craps were physics, the pass line bet would be the nucleus at the center of the atom. It’s the most basic bet on the list of bets, and it’s a wager on the most basic outcome in the game.
Playing craps begins when a shooter makes a roll called a “come-out roll.” He rolls two dice, and he gets one of the following results:
- A success
- A failure
- A point
If the shooter rolls a total of 7 or a total of 11 on the come-out roll, he’s succeeded. A bet on the pass line wins even money immediately. If the shooter rolls a total of 2, 3, or 12, he’s failed. A bet on the pass line loses immediately.
If the shooter rolls any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10), he’s set a point. The pass line bet stays in action, and the shooter rolls again. At this point, the shooter keeps rolling until he either rolls the point total again or rolls a 7.
If he rolls the point total again, he succeeds, and the pass line bet pays even money. If he rolls a 7, he fails, and the pass line bet loses.
If he rolls any other number, the pass line bet stays on the table until it’s resolved.
Once you understand the pass line bet and the shooter’s goals, you can start to expand your thinking about the other bets on the craps table.
The Odds Bet
The odds bet is one of the only bets on the craps table that isn’t labeled. It’s a bet you can only place after the shooter has made a point. It’s placed on the table directly behind your pass line bet.
The odds bet is interesting because it’s the only bet in the casino that doesn’t have a mathematical edge for the house. It pays out at the same odds as you have of winning it.
Instead of paying even money, the odds bet has a payout based on how hard it is to roll the point again before rolling a 7.
If the point is 4 or 10, the odds bet pays off at 2 to 1 odds. If the point is 5 or 9, the odds bet pays off at 3 to 2 odds. If the point is 6 or 8, the odds bet pays off at 6 to 5 odds.
Since the odds bet puts more money into action on the same outcome and has no casino house edge, you can think of it as a way of reducing the total house edge on the total amount of action you have in place.
The casino thinks of it that way, too. That’s one of the reasons why they have limits to how much you can wager when you make the odds bet.
In some casinos, you can bet 100X the pass line bet you just made on the odds. For example, if you bet $5 on the pass line and the shooter made a point, you could put $500 on the odds bet.
Most casinos don’t have limits that high, though. 10X is more common, but you’ll also find casinos that limit you to 1, 2, or 3 times your pass line bet.
One common betting limit in place today is 3x4x5x, which means the amounts you can wager on the odds bet is 3X if the point is 4 or 10, 4X if the point is 5 or 9, and 5X if the point is 6 or 10.
This is done to make the payouts easier for the staff to handle. Assuming you’re always making the maximum odds bet (and you should be), the payout for the odds bet and the pass line bet combined is the same.
For example, if you bet $10 on the pass line and the point was 4, then you bet $30 on the free odds bet, you’d win $10 on the pass line bet and $60 on the free odds bet, for $70 in total winnings. That’s 7 times your original bet.
If you bet $10 on pass and the point was 5, you could bet $40 on the free odds bet. The payoff would be $60 on the odds bet and $10 on the pass bet, giving you the same total winnings of $70.
That was the whole point to creating those limits – to make the payouts easier to manage.
The Wrong Bettor
Someone who bets on the pass line is called a “right bettor.” But that’s not your only option.
If you bet on “don’t pass”, you’ll win even money if the shooter rolls a 2 or a 3 on the come-out roll. A 12 is treated as a push. You’ll lose immediately if the shooter rolls a 7 or an 11.
If a point is set, you win if the shooter rolls a 7 before the point. The don’t pass bet, like the pass bet, always pays even money. And like the pass line bet, you have an odds bet available to you.
Laying the Odds
If you bet on don’t pass and the shooter makes a point, you can lay the odds. In this case, you have the same betting limits as the pass line bettor does when he takes the odds bet.
But your payoffs are the opposite. Instead of getting 6 to 5 odds, you get 5 to 6 odds when you win. Instead of getting 2 to 1 odds, you get 1 to 2 odds.
This means if you lay $10 on the odds, and the point is a 4, you only win $5. This is so counter-intuitive to most gamblers that they just stick with right betting and the odds bet there.
Something about winning less than the amount you staked is a huge turnoff to gamblers, even when they understand that the bet has no house edge. Go figure.
Come Betting
That’s most of the big stuff, but you can’t cover the basics of craps betting without getting into come and don’t come bets.
The come bet pays off with the same odds as the pass line—even money. You can take the odds bet with a come bet, too, and it pays off with the same odds as if you’d placed a pass line bet.
The don’t come bet works just like the don’t pass bet, but with the same difference. It treats this new roll as if it were a new come-out roll.
Conclusion
That about covers the basics of craps betting. Of course, most of this will make a lot more sense once you play craps in a live casino.
You can, though, play free craps at an online casino and get a better understanding than you would just reading a blog post.
How to Take Craps Odds and why you should.
Explaining craps odds isn’t one of the easiest things to do. I’ve seen a hundred pages try to do it, and most aren’t very successful. It’s not because they are incorrect, but there are usually one of two problems (if not both). First of all, they all seem to assume the reader knows everything else there is to know about craps already. Second, they don’t explain the math very well.
I can say this, because I’ve been that reader before. I’ve been the person trying desperately to learn how to play craps; the one that was too intimidated to approach the table or ask for help. I did a great deal of reading on the subject, and the one thing that took me the longest to grasp was the concept of Taking Odds and Laying Odds in craps.
So, today I will try to explain it in a way that makes as much sense as possible. I’m not going to teach you to play the entire game—that would be too much info all at once. But I will start with the most basic of bets in which odds can be taken on, and go from there.
How to Take Craps Odds – 3x, 4x and 5x
Every new game of craps starts with a Come Out roll. This is the shooter’s first roll, meant to establish a Point. At this time, you should place a wager on the Pass Line. It pays even money, and has a house edge of 1.41%. Here’s what happens next, based on the shooter’s roll:
– Shooter rolls a 7 or 11: Player wins
– Shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12: Player loses
– Shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: A Point is established. The number rolled becomes the Point.
– Once a Point is established, your Pass Line wager becomes a new bet that the Point will roll again before a 7. Now you have the option Take Odds.
Taking Odds in Craps
The amount you bet to take odds will depend on the Point. This is where the 3x, 4x and 5x labels come in.
Point is 6 or 8: Bet 5x Odds
Point is 5 or 9: Bet 4x Odds
Point is 4 or 10: Bet 3x Odds
That multiplier tells you what multiple of your original Pass Line wager to bet. If you wagered $5 on the Pass Line, and the Point is 6, you would bet 5x that amount (5 x $5 = $25) to take odds. The bet is placed on the table behind your Pass Line bet (between the Pass Line and wall).
The reason the amount varies is because the odds of each Point rolling again before a 7 varies. For example, a 6 (or 8) has a 13.89% chance of rolling. A 7 has a 16.67% chance of rolling. All other possible numbers have a combined 69.44% chance of rolling. We can eliminate all those other numbers, because they don’t matter. Nothing happens if we roll them. Which leaves us with…
5 ways to roll a 6, and 6 ways to roll a 7. Breaking that down, we get…
Odds of 6 rolling is 5 out of 11 (45.55%)
Odds of 7 rolling 6 out of 11 (54.55%)
Thus, by paying 6-to-5, the player is getting what’s known as “Fair Odds”; meaning there is no house edge on the bet. The same goes for the 4x and 3x bets, where the odds of winning match the payoff for taking odds on 5 or 9, and 4 or 10.
So, to answer the question, why you should always take odds, it’s because this is the only time you’ll ever get fair odds in a casino. Every other game—every other wager—comes with a house edge. Take the odds! Or, lay them…
Laying Odds in Craps
Craps Odds Sheet
Now that you know how to take craps odds, you need to know how to lay craps odds as well. Laying odds is the exact opposite of taking odds.
Above, we covered the traditional, opening Pass Line bet. Some players chose the dark side, betting against the shooter with a Don’t Pass Bet.
In contrast to a Pass Line bet, the Don’t Pass bet has the following effects:
– Shooter rolls a 7 or 11: Player loses
– Shooter rolls 2, 3 or 12: Player wins
– Shooter rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10: A Point is established. The number rolled becomes the Point.
– Once a Point is established, your Don’t Pass wager becomes a bet that a 7 will roll before the Point comes again. Now you have the option Lay Odds.
It works the same as taking odds in craps, except this time you’re betting against the point, in hopes that a 7 will roll first. To keep it fair, the odds are reversed. 7 against a point of 6 or 8 pays 5 to 6, 5 or 9 pays 2 to 3, and 4 or 10 pays 1 to 2.
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Taking Odds Vs Laying Odds
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