Placing your bet in Craps is the most difficult part of the game. With so many options, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and bet the wrong way. Although some will argue there’s no such thing as betting the wrong way, there is such a thing as optimizing your betting strategy. Put simply, this means that with all the options available to you, one option at any given moment is more likely to have a better result for you than the others. Once you are familiar with the rules of Craps, familiarizing yourself with the wagers available to you is your next step.

Pass & Don’t Pass

The most common bets are the pass and don’t pass bets. These two types of bets are the easiest to know and understand because they are so similar that if you know one, you know the other. The pass bet is generally a bet “for” the shooter as the ultimate goal is for the shooter to make his point before shooting 7. This is considered the right bet and wins if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11. Rolling a 2, 3, or 12 is a loss for the shooter and anyone else who bet the pass line.

Don’t pass bets are considered to be a bet against the shooter’s efforts to roll his point. Exactly the opposite of the pass bet, a “don’t pass” bet is lost if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 and it’s won if a 2, 3, or 12 is rolled. Although often considered a bad bet, odds on don’t pass bets are favorable enough to garner a few wins.

Come & Don’t Come

These bets are similar to pass and don’t pass bets except they are designed for players that join a game already in progress. The come bet is just like the pass bet, the only exception is that the come bet can only be made after the come out roll. The come bet wins if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, and loses if they roll a 2, 3, or 12, just like the pass bet. The “don’t come” bet is like the “don’t pass” bet; the odds and bets are the same. When you place a “don’t come” bet, you’re essentially betting that a 7 or 11 doesn’t come and that the shooter will throw Craps (2, 3, or 12). Again, these bets can only be placed if you’ve missed the come out roll.

Additional side bets can be placed in conjunction with a pass/don’t pass bet as well as a come/don’t come bet. Odds bets can be placed as side bets, and many players take advantage of this because you can bet up to three times the original and get paid for actual odds. Another bonus to odds bets is that the house advantage doesn’t change and your payoff resembles the actual odds of the dice rolling in your favor. Each of these bets requires practice and patience to master.