Craps Odds and Payouts
Every bet on the craps layout with its true odds, its payout, and its exact house edge — from 0% on the free odds bet to 16.67% on any seven.
Craps has the widest range of house edges of any casino game — from exactly zero to 16.67%, on the same felt, resolved by the same dice.
The line bets
| Bet | Pays | Win probability | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass line | 1:1 | 49.29% | 1.41% |
| Don’t pass | 1:1 (12 pushes) | 47.93% | 1.36% |
| Come | 1:1 | 49.29% | 1.41% |
| Don’t come | 1:1 (12 pushes) | 47.93% | 1.36% |
Don’t pass is marginally cheaper than pass. It is also socially awkward, since you win when the table loses — which is the entire reason the 1.41% bet is more popular than the 1.36% one.
Free odds — the only zero-edge bet in the casino
Once a point is established you may place an additional bet behind the line. It pays true odds, with no house margin at all.
| Point | True odds | Odds bet pays | Probability of making it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or 10 | 2:1 | 2:1 | 33.33% |
| 5 or 9 | 3:2 | 3:2 | 40.00% |
| 6 or 8 | 6:5 | 6:5 | 45.45% |
Because the odds bet is free, adding it dilutes the edge on the flat bet across a larger total wager:
| Odds allowed | Combined edge, pass + odds |
|---|---|
| No odds | 1.41% |
| 1× | 0.85% |
| 2× | 0.61% |
| 3-4-5× (most common) | 0.37% |
| 5× | 0.33% |
| 10× | 0.18% |
| 100× | 0.02% |
A pass line bet with 3-4-5× odds is, at 0.37%, the cheapest wager available in a casino outside of a positive-count blackjack shoe or a full-pay video poker machine.
Place and buy bets
Made at any time, on any point number, by handing chips to the dealer.
| Bet | Pays | True odds | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place 6 or 8 | 7:6 | 6:5 | 1.52% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 7:5 | 3:2 | 4.00% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 9:5 | 2:1 | 6.67% |
| Buy 4 or 10 (5% commission upfront) | 2:1 | 2:1 | 4.76% |
| Buy 4 or 10 (commission on win only) | 2:1 | 2:1 | 1.67% |
| Lay 4 or 10 (commission on win) | 1:2 | 1:2 | 2.44% |
| Lay 5 or 9 (commission on win) | 2:3 | 2:3 | 3.23% |
| Lay 6 or 8 (commission on win) | 5:6 | 5:6 | 4.00% |
Place 6 and 8 at 1.52% are respectable. Place 4 and 10 at 6.67% are worse than double-zero roulette. Whether the house takes the buy commission upfront or only on a win is worth 3.09% — ask, because tables differ and nobody volunteers it.
The field
A one-roll bet on 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12. Sixteen of thirty-six combinations win, which looks like a good deal until you notice that the twenty losing combinations include the four most common totals.
| Field pay table | House edge |
|---|---|
| 2 pays 2:1, 12 pays 2:1 | 5.56% |
| 2 pays 2:1, 12 pays 3:1 (or vice versa) | 2.78% |
Check which version is printed in the box. The difference is a factor of two.
Big 6 and Big 8
| Bet | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Big 6 / Big 8 | 1:1 | 9.09% |
| Place 6 / Place 8 (same event) | 7:6 | 1.52% |
Identical wager, six times the cost, because one pays even money and the other pays 7:6. The Big 6/8 boxes exist for players who do not know they can hand the same chips to the dealer and say “place the eight”. There is no situation in which this bet is correct.
Hardways
A hardway wins if the number comes as a pair before it comes any other way, and before a 7.
| Bet | Pays | True odds | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard 6 or Hard 8 | 9:1 | 10:1 | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 or Hard 10 | 7:1 | 8:1 | 11.11% |
One-roll proposition bets
Resolved on the very next roll. The centre of the table, and the most expensive real estate in the casino.
| Bet | Pays | Probability | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any craps (2, 3, 12) | 7:1 | 11.11% | 11.11% |
| Yo (11) | 15:1 | 5.56% | 11.11% |
| Ace deuce (3) | 15:1 | 5.56% | 11.11% |
| Snake eyes (2) | 30:1 | 2.78% | 13.89% |
| Boxcars (12) | 30:1 | 2.78% | 13.89% |
| Horn (2, 3, 11, 12) | varies | 22.22% | 12.50% |
| C&E (craps and eleven) | varies | 16.67% | 11.11% |
| Any seven | 4:1 | 16.67% | 16.67% |
Any seven is the worst bet on a standard craps layout and one of the worst in the building. It wins one time in six and pays four. To break even it would need to pay 5:1.
Everything, ranked
| Bet | House edge |
|---|---|
| Free odds | 0.00% |
| Pass/come + 3-4-5× odds | 0.37% |
| Don’t pass/don’t come | 1.36% |
| Pass line / come | 1.41% |
| Place 6 or 8 | 1.52% |
| Buy 4/10, commission on win | 1.67% |
| Lay 4 or 10 | 2.44% |
| Field (12 pays 3:1) | 2.78% |
| Place 5 or 9 | 4.00% |
| Buy 4/10, commission upfront | 4.76% |
| Field (12 pays 2:1) | 5.56% |
| Place 4 or 10 | 6.67% |
| Hard 6 or 8 | 9.09% |
| Big 6 / Big 8 | 9.09% |
| Hard 4 or 10 | 11.11% |
| Any craps / Yo / Ace deuce | 11.11% |
| Horn | 12.50% |
| Snake eyes / Boxcars | 13.89% |
| Any seven | 16.67% |
The distance from top to bottom is a factor of about forty-five. No other casino game asks the player to make that choice.