Winning Craps Strategy
Winning ‘Pass’ bets are paid off at even money and have a low house edge of 1.41%. So you start this strategy by placing a ‘Pass’ bet on the ‘come out’ roll. If the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 you win even money. If he rolls a 2,3 or 12 you lose. If he rolls a 4,5,6,8,9 or 10 that number becomes the ‘point’ and he keeps rolling. Another good craps strategy is the parlay betting strategy popularly known as ‘pyramid betting’. It is a type of bet that combines the original bet with the winnings. This strategy depends on subsequent wins to be successful. So, if an independent bet wins, the entire bet wins. Craps gives you one of the best chances to win in the casino if you know the right strategy. But it’s also one of the worst games in terms of house edge when you place the wrong bets. In order to win consistently, this makes the goal to place the best bets and avoid the worst ones.
- What Is The Best Craps Strategy
- Winning Craps Strategy
- Winning Craps Strategy Free
- Winning Craps Strategy Videos
Craps is my favorite game in the casino, and if you learn how to play, it will be one of your favorites, too. I’ve written multiple posts explaining how to play.
In this post, I want to do something a little different.
I want to offer you the best tips for playing craps WELL.
If you want to do well at the craps table, these are the only 11 tips you’ll ever need.
1 – Stick With the Pass, Come, and Free Odds Bets
The pass line bet is the basic bet when playing craps for real money. It’s a bet that the shooter will roll a 7 or an 11 on his come-out roll, or that the shooter will roll a point number and subsequently hit that point number again before rolling a 7. The pass line bet loses if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12 on the come-out roll.
The come bet is just like the pass bet, but it treats a roll after the come-out roll as if it were a new come-out roll.
And the free odds bet is only available if you’ve made a pass or come bet, and the shooter has set a point. The odds bet pays off at the true odds of rolling the point again before rolling a 7.
If you stick with those bets, you’ll be playing the most exciting game in the casino and facing terrific odds. These bets make craps almost as attractive a game as blackjack.
2 – Most of the Bets at the Craps Table Offer Lousy Odds
One of the great things about craps is that it’s easy to learn how to make the best bets and avoid the lousy ones. That’s because the only good bets at the table are these:
- Pass
- Don’t pass
- Come
- Don’t come
- Free odds
- Place 6
- Place 8
You literally have dozens of bets to choose from at the craps table, but the house edge on the bets listed above are all less than 1.5%.
3 – Here’s What You Should Do If You’re a Beginner
If you’re a beginner craps player, stick with the pass line bet. Don’t start making a lot of come bets until you’re comfortable with what’s happening with the pass line bet.
It might be a good idea to take one of the free casino game classes where they’ll teach you how to play.
Once you’re comfortable with the pass line bet, expand your repertoire by making occasional come bets, too.
Try not to have more than two or three numbers working at one time. Any more than that, and you might be devastated by a big loss you’re not expecting.
4 – Understand the House Edge in Craps
The house edge represents the difference between the odds of winning and the payout odds for the game. Craps, like every other casino game, pays out less than the odds of winning. The difference is where the casino makes its profit.
The house edge is expressed as a percentage, and it’s an estimate of how much you should expect to lose in the long run on a game.
In the case of craps, the house edge for the pass and come bets is the same – 1.41%.
The house edge for the don’t pass and don’t come bets is 1.36%.
The great thing is the house edge for the free odds bet. It’s called “free” odds because it carries no house edge. The payout for this bet is the same as the odds of winning it.
By taking or laying odds on top of your pass, don’t pass, come, or don’t come bets, you’re effectively reducing the house edge for the game even further.
5 – Pick Your Wins Up From the Table
It’s your responsibility to pick up any money you win from the table. If you just leave those chips on the table, they’re considered new bets, and they stay in action.
If you’re on a winning streak, that’s cool. You’ll just win that much more money. In fact, win three or four times in a row by letting your winnings ride can net you a lot of cash fast.
But if you’re a more conservative player, pick the chips you’ve won up off the table after you win.
6 – Ignore Dealers at the Craps Table That Recommend a Bet
One of the dealers at the craps table is comparable to the ringmaster in a circus. He’s the stickman, and part of his job is to sell you on the idea of making bets in the middle of the table.
The house edge on those bets is terrible, and when I say terrible, I mean over 9%.
Would you rather lose an average of 9% on each bet or an average of 1.5% on each bet?
It’s the difference between losing $15/hour and losing $90/hour.
7 – Don’t Use Betting Systems at the Craps Table
Any game with bets that offer even money payouts is ripe for betting system players. Craps is no exception. In fact, you’ll have no trouble finding a Martingale or Paroli system player at the craps table.
These two systems work in precisely the opposite way, but both systems also don’t do anything to help you win the game. A negative expectation bet is a negative expectation, no matter what.
The Martingale System and the Paroli System are examples of positive and negative progression systems. You raise and lower the size of your bets based on whether you won or lose previous bets.
Here’s an example of the Martingale in action at the craps table:
You bet $5 on the pass line, and you lose when the shooter 7s out. Now you bet $10 on the pass line, and if you win, you’ve won back your $5 loss along with a $5 profit.
But if you lose, you have to bet $20 on your next bet, and so on.
Eventually, you’ll run into a losing streak that’s so long that it will be impossible to place the next bet in your progression.
With the Paroli System, you’ll let your winnings ride until you’ve had a specific, arbitrary number of wins in a row.
For example, you might set a goal of winning 3 times in a row. You bet $5 on pass, win, and bet $10 on the 2nd round, and win again. Now you bet $20. If you win all 3 bets, you’ve won $35 over 3 rounds of the game.
But this approach doesn’t work, either, in the long run.
8 – Don’t Try to Become a Craps Professional
Contrary to what you might read and what some people might tell you, it’s not possible to get an edge at craps in the long run. Without being able to get a mathematical edge, you can’t possibly play craps for a living.
Even the odds bets, which have no house edge, can only be made when you’ve made an initial bet with a negative expectation.
On top of the negative expectation, you have a highly volatile game. Just because the house edge on the odds bets is 0% doesn’t mean those bets pay off often. They still lose most of the time.
It’s just that, theoretically, in the long run, you’ll win as much money as you lose on such bets.
If you want to be a professional gambler, learn to count cards in blackjack, or handicap sports with a high degree of accuracy, or play poker at a pro-level.
But stay away from craps if you want to gamble professionally.
9 – Skip Don’t Pass and Don’t Come Bets If You’re New
You might think that don’t pass and don’t come are the best bets at the craps table. And since the house edge for these bets is 1.36% instead of 1.41%, that’s true.
But that doesn’t mean you should place these bets.
In fact, if you’re new, I suggest avoiding them.
Here’s why:
Most of the other players are betting with the shooter. It’s fun to root for a shooter to win, and it’s fun to have a sense of teamwork and camaraderie at the craps table.
If you’re betting against everyone at the table, you’ll probably have less fun.
Unless you just have one of those personalities.
10 – Take as Big an Odds Bet as Possible While Still Being Comfortable
Let’s say you’re at a craps table where the minimum bet is $5 and the maximum bet is $500. And the maximum amount of odds this casino will let you take is 2X your bet.
Don’t bet $15 on the pass line and ignore the odds bet.
And don’t bet $15 on the pass line and then put $30 on the odds bet.
In one case, you’re letting the house have a more significant edge than you need to.
In the other case, you’re putting more money into action on a single roll of the dice than you’re comfortable with.
Neither of these situations is good.
11 – Free Casino Classes Are Great – Except for the Strategy Advice
Craps, more than most casino games, is a good one to learn via the free casino classes that most gambling halls offer during their slow periods. You can get an excellent feel for how the game plays and how the betting works. Most real money online casinos will also allow you to play for free and practice before you’re ready for the real thing.
Just ignore any strategy advice that live casino dealers offer. Sometimes the dealers don’t know anything about the math behind the game and give what they think is good advice. Other times, the dealers are just rooting for you to lose.
Conclusion
With a basic understanding of how to play craps, you can have more fun in the casino than most. And you’ll stand a good chance of having some big winning sessions.
It’s just as important to play smart at the craps table as it is at any other casino game.
Thinking about these 11 craps tips will keep you on the side of the gambling angels.
Once you get the hang of the craps table, this fast-paced dice game is one of the most rewarding in the casino. We’re going to show you how to win craps more often and some pro-level craps tips to help you avoid costly mistakes and pocket more chips.
Before you understand how to win at craps, you need to know how to play it properly. If you’re a total beginner, we recommend reading our guide on how to play craps first.
How to Win Craps – Tips and Tricks
The truth is, you don’t need complex charts and number systems to win craps. These tips for playing craps are all based on common sense, and they’ll certainly help you win more often.
Understand Every Craps Bet
At first, craps appears to be a highly complex dice game. It’s really not. Once you get used to it, the game of craps is remarkably easy.
However, you need to understand every possible bet on the craps table, their odds, and their potential payouts. There are some bets you should never make, some bets you should always make, and the rest of them fall somewhere in between. Knowing when to make these bets is just as important as knowing whether or not you should.
Check out our complete guide to craps bets for more information on the specific bets you can make and what you could win if you do so. You need to commit these to memory as soon as possible to avoid costly mistakes. That’s half the battle in any casino game.
Make the Pass and Come Bets
We get into a lot more detail about craps bets in our detailed guide. However, we can briefly touch on two of the best bets you can make here.
The pass bet is the first bet you’ll make. Place your chips on the pass line to make it. You can make the come bet by placing your chips on “come” on the table. Both of these bets have a house edge of just 1.41%. That’s a very small statistical advantage of the casino. Since both of these bets pay 1:1, you have a good chance of making some money here.
You should also spice it up from time to time and bet against the table by making the don’t pass and don’t come bets. Both of these have a house edge of 1.40%, which is even smaller, and they both pay 1:1 as well.
If you win several even money bets like this in a row, you should consider taking some of what you have won and making some of the riskier bets to increase your chip stack fast. For example, some of the hard way bets pay 35:1. That’s worth a wager if you’re on a winning streak.
Use Progressive Betting Systems on Winning Streaks
What Is The Best Craps Strategy
Craps is a game of chance, but every experienced player will tell you that winning and losing streaks are a real thing in this game. You don’t even have to be the shooter to take advantage of these streaks. In craps, most of the time, you’ll be betting while other players are rolling the dice.
When there are lots of mixed wins and losses, bet conservatively. However, when the tables turn and a winning streak is developing, you should aim to take maximum advantage of it. After three wins in a row, you should be paying attention, but you shouldn’t push your luck too hard; take your money off the table after seven or eight wins in a row.
The best way to play craps during winning streaks is to double your bets after every win. If you start with a £5 wager and win, make the next one £10, the one after that £20, and so on. You don’t have to ride the streak for seven or eight bets. You can take your money off the table or reduce your wager when you’re ready. That’s a decision you’ll have to make for yourself. You should be totally comfortable with any craps strategy you implement. Only start betting like this when you sense a winning streak.
Don’t Fall For the Gambler’s Fallacy
We’ve seen several other websites offering tips for playing craps that we really do not recommend. One of them is to look for the player with the most chips and copy him or her.
This advice is based on the gambler’s fallacy. It looks at past results and tries to predict the future based on that. If you believe in luck, OK, there’s nothing wrong with copying the winning player. However, you’ll have much greater success if you base your craps betting strategy on statistics.
What has already happened in a casino game has no impact on what will happen in the future. That’s why looking at historical results, copying winning players, and other such methods don’t work. It’s pointless. There’s nothing to say that the player with the biggest pile of chips hasn’t just experienced a large winning streak, or that it won’t be all downhill from here.
Focus on learning craps properly, understanding the odds and probabilities of every bet, and forget about what has already happened. Once again, the past has no impact on the future in casino games. Any craps betting strategy tips that tell you otherwise should be ignored.
Practice Craps Bankroll Management
Winning Craps Strategy
If you’ve read any of our other casino strategy articles, you’ll know that we preach bankroll management in almost every one of them. Why so? Because it’s one of the only strategies that consistently works across all games of chance.
Bankroll management is about surviving for long enough for the improbable to happen. For example, if you have a £100 bankroll, don’t blow it all on 10x £10 bets. Instead, split your £100 into 100x £1 bets. This gives you more rolls of the dice, and more chances to hit a winning streak. Of course, you should be making these £1 wagers on craps bets that you have a good chance of winning. We’ve mentioned several of them already above.
Winning Craps Strategy Free
When you do sense a winning streak, that’s the time to bet more aggressively. Whereas we’d normally say to never bet more than 1% of your bankroll on any roll of the dice, if you’ve won three times in a row, we’d say it’s OK to risk what you have won on the previous three rolls all on the next bet. That way, if your winning streak has come to an end, you’ll only lose what you have won, but if your winning streak is destined to continue, you can start growing your wins exponentially.
Smart bankroll management is casino gaming 101. You’d be amazed at how many players don’t use it or even think about it. Yet, across all casino games, it’s the one thing you can always control.
How to Win at Craps – Conclusion
Forget about craps cheats, complicated systems, and trying to manipulate the game. None of this will work. What you need is good bankroll management, an awareness of the best craps bets to make (and which ones to avoid), and knowledge on how to take advantage of winning streaks and avoid common pitfalls.
Winning Craps Strategy Videos
If you read this article in full, you now have those things. Implement these tips for craps, and you’ll be better off than most players. Now all you need is an honest online casino to play at, and you’re set!