One of the biggest turn-offs, and often times the factor that causes many players to give up in their quest to learn how to play Craps, is how complicated and intimidating the Craps table layout seems to be. Each part of the layout consists of a different bet that a player can make or lets players know the odds of a certain roll; both of which might as well be in a foreign language.
However, once a player dedicates a few minutes to understanding the layout and odds of Craps, they will realize that the game is quite simple and there is nothing complicated or intimidating about the table layout or the odds associated with the bets at all.
Before We Break it All Down
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Craps Table Layout & Odds
When a player first looks at a Craps table, their mouth drops and they quickly tell themselves that there is just too much going on at once and that they cannot soak up all this information.
What we have done below to help with that is provide a picture of a Craps table and place numbers by all the most common bets that a player will make, explain what these bets mean, and tell you the odds and house edge that is associated with them.
Craps Table Layout
- 1. Pass Line: The Pass Line bet is the first bet that newcomers should learn and is the easiest to grasp. When a player places a Pass Line bet, they are making a ‘contract’ bet which means that the bet stays until it wins or loses. On the ‘come out’ roll, if a 7 or 11 is rolled the player will win their wager back including a match from the casino. For example, a $5 bet would return $10 if won. If a point is established then a player will only win the Pass Line bet if the point is rolled before a 7.
- As we mentioned above, the Pass Line bet pays true odds and has the least house advantage at 1.4%.
- 2. Don’t Pass: The Don’t Pass bet is basically the opposite of the Pass Line bet. Players who bet this are betting against the shooter and will win on the ‘come out’ roll if the shooter rolls a 2, 3 and will push (tie) if a 12 is rolled. If a point is established, then a Don’t Pass bet will win if a 7 is rolled before the point is repeated.
- Don’t Pass bets are not ‘contract’ bets which means that players can pick these up at any time. These bets also pay true odds and have a house advantage of 1.4%.
- 3. Come: A ‘come’ bet is a bet that can only be made after the ‘come out’ roll. It is much easier to think of the ‘come’ bet as a bet waiting in queue as it become a wager for whatever number is rolled next. For example, if a player were to make a ‘come’ bet and the shooter rolled a 2-3 (5), then the ‘come’ bet would then become a wager for a 5 to be rolled. Once the dice has been rolled, the ‘come’ bet becomes a wager and it is up to the player to make another ‘come’ bet if they so wish.
- The ‘come’ bet will pay even money if a 7 is rolled but will lose to Craps, 2, 3, 12, and the odds and house advantage will be based on the number that is rolled.
- 4. Don’t Come: The Don’t Come bet is similar to the Don’t Pass bet or it can be looked at as the opposite of a ‘come’ bet. This bet will lose on the first roll if it is a 7 or 11 and will win if it is a 2, 3, or 12. Once a point has been established, the Don’t Come bet will win if a 7 is rolled before the number that the Don’t Come bet is behind.
- 5. Points/Place: This is where players can place bets on the number of their choice. When a bet is placed, it will only lose if a 7 is rolled and is not affected by any other rolls. Place bets also do not work, meaning they have no plus or negative effect, on the ‘come out’ roll and can also be turned on or off at any time during play.
- It is important to know that when placing points bet that it will pay ‘house’ odds as opposed to ‘true’ odds.
- 6. Field: The Field bet is a one time bet that pays even money when a 3, 4, 9, 10, or a 11 is rolled and double money if a 2 or 12 is rolled. As lucrative as this bet may seem, the math will tell you that this is a losing be in the long run as the odds are against you 5 to 1.
- 7. 6 or 8: This is just what it looks like; players can place a bet on 6 or 8. However, the difference between placing a bet here verses a place bet on a 6 or 8 is that the odds are much worse at over 9% in comparison to a little over 1.5% on a place bet.
- 8. Hardway Bets: When a player places a Hardway bet they are wagering on a pair of 2’s, 3’s, 4, or 5’s being rolled. Odds will vary, but commonly a pair of 2’s and 5’s will pay 7 to 1 and 3’s and 4’s will pay 9 to 1. These bets will stay up until a 7 is rolled, which will happen more often than rolling any ‘hard’ number.
- 9. Proposition Bets: Proposition bets are similar to Hardway bets except that proposition bets are a one-roll bet only. These bets have the highest odds of anything else at the table which of course attracts many gamblers. Players can make a proposition bet on a pair of 6’s, a 5-6, snake eyes (1-1), and a 1-2.
A Brief Explanation of Odds
It is very important to have a good understanding of odds while playing Craps since odds determine the likelihood that your desired number is rolled. Not only that, but odds will also determine what you are investing in comparison to what you will get in return should your wager win.
For example, if you were tossing a quarter with a friend and you made a bet that it would land on ‘heads’ next, you would be facing odds of 1:1. What this would mean is that in the long run for every 2 times that the quarter was flipped (1 +1) you would win 1 time out of 2, or 50%.
In terms of Craps, if someone were paying you true odds on this wager, you would be given odds of 1:1.
Now, if the odds are say, 6 to 5 in favor of the house, this would mean that every 11 times (6+5) that a specific number was attempted, the house would win 6 times and the player would win 5 times. If broken down, this would actually look like this: 1.2 to 1. Since that is too much to write, many places will make it as close to a whole number (common denominators) as possible. This also shows that the house edge is minimal at best.
In the case above, if the house were paying true odds at a minimum of a $5 bet, they would actually win $6 in return for a $1 profit.
House odds are used in the same way but are inflated versions of the ‘true’ odds and will vary from casino to casino. These odds normally require players to gamble since these odds often pay less and require the same amount of gambling which in the end, gives the house a bigger edge.
A player can gain a bigger edge if they take the time to understand odds and how it affects them so they can place bets in such a manner that decreases the house’s edge as much as possible so that the player’s can be profitable at Craps.
Craps Layout & Odds
It should be obvious to see that the Craps table and Craps odds are not as difficult as it may initially seem. Each part of ‘real estate,’ as each piece of the table is referred to, allows players to make different kinds of bets that will either allow them to have a bit of an advantage against the house, slight disadvantage, or allow them to gamble a little bit if they wish. When a player takes the time to understand the layout of a Craps table and the odds of the bets that they are placing, they are ensuring that the first time that they go to play Craps that they are successful.
