Craps Strategy

Craps can seem very chaotic at land casinos since players are always yelling at the Shooter to roll the dice combinations they need to win their bets, while constantly placing and taking back bets at a frenetic pace. But look beyond this supposed chaos and you’ll notice that many players use carefully thought out strategies to increase their chances of winning.

Using a Craps strategy can help you reduce the house edge and thus improve your chances of winning more often, with a greater consistency. Understanding the house edge is the key to any successful Craps strategy, and depends greatly on the type of Craps bets you make, of which there are many. Bets have different house edges, but the lowest are the best.

In other words, picking the best Craps bets is an extremely vital Craps strategy, as is learning and understanding the rules of Craps. As one of the most complex casino games, Craps can seem very confusing to first time players. In fact, many end up placing their chips anywhere, hoping they’ll be lucky enough to win. This is a poor strategy and many lose their stacks.

So, on this page you’ll learn about what makes is a winning Craps strategy as well as find a list of top Craps tips designed to help you to win more than you lose, regardless of whether you play this game at a top African land casinos or any fine African online casino. That said you must accept that luck – as with all gambling games – plays a role in Craps games.

There are many aspects to what makes a winning Craps strategy that can help you win more than you lose, which is the whole objective. Below are some important components of a Craps strategy that you can use to maximise your Craps profitability in the long-term:

Unlike a casino game like slots where you just load your credits, select your line bet and spin the reels, there is much more to Craps. Click on our link to our Craps rules page (insert link to rules page) to learn how every round of Craps starts, how the Shooter is chosen, what their role is, how the various Craps bets work and what their respective pay-outs are.

The great news about learning how to play Craps is that the game is played virtually the same whether you play it online or at your favourite African bricks and mortar casino. The only real difference is that in land casinos players rotate in the Shooter role whereas playing online you always act as the Shooter as it’s up to you to click to roll the dice.

The most important thing you should know about the popular game of Craps is that not all bets are created equal. The trick is to know which bets have a low enough house edge to make them worthwhile and those with a high house edge that they should be avoided.

Below is a list of the best Craps bets you should make. In other words bets with the lowest house edge and thus your best option to pay you out. You should avoid any Craps bets not listed below if you want the greatest opportunity to maintain and grow your chip stack:

Odds Bet (0% House Edge)

Odds bets are a great low house edge option in Craps because they’re available to players who make Don’t Pass Line and Pass Line bets, as well as Don’t Come and Come bets. They’re placed just behind the above bets, and can be placed once the Point is established.

The amount of an Odds bet will depend on the casino, but typically ranges from 2x up to 5x. Although these are 0% House Edge bets, they must be linked to Don’t Pass Line, Pass Line, Don’t Come or Come bets which also have low house edges, although not as low.

Don’t Pass Line Bet (1.36% House Edge)

This is a very low house bet, which is often frowned upon in land casinos because you are betting against the Shooter, and thus the table and the other players. However, thanks to the privacy of online casinos, this is not a problem and is thus a good bet to make.

You win this bet if the Shooter rolls a 2 or 3 on their come out roll (i.e. they Crap out) and lose if they roll a 7 or 11 (12 results in a push). Thereafter, if the Shooter rolls a 7 before they roll the set Point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10), you’ll win your Don’t Pass Line Bet.

Don’t Come Bet (1.36% House Edge)

A Don’t Come bet lets you create your own Don’t Pass Line after any come out roll. To win this bet you need the Shooter to roll a 2 or 3 (or a 12 to tie) on the new come out roll set by your Don’t Come bet. A rolled 7, however, on a new come out roll will lose this bet.

Pass Line Bet (1.41% House Edge)

This is arguably one of the most common, easiest and lowest house edge bets in Craps, and thus a bet you should embrace. With this bet when the Shooter wins, so do you. That’s why it’s called a ‘right way’ bet, because you bet with the table and not against it.

You win this bet if the Shooter rolls a 7 or 11 on their come out roll, but lose if they roll a 2, 3 or 12. Thereafter, if the Shooter rolls the established Point number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) before a 7 is rolled (which acts to end the round), will win this Pass Line Bet.

Come Bet (1.41% House Edge)

A Come bet lets you create your own Pass Line after any come out roll. As such, to win this bet you need the Shooter to roll a 7 or 11. However, if they roll a 2, 3, or 12, you’ll lose this bet. Any other number rolled (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) is set as the new Point.

6 or 8 Place Bet (1.50% House Edge)

As simple and effective as Don’t Pass Line, Pass Line, Don’t Come and Come bets are, the longer you play Craps, the more you’ll become tempted to bet on specific Point numbers which is where the low edge on a 6 or 8 Place Bet really comes into its own.

In Craps 6 and 8 are mathematically inclined to come up the most often after 7, and are thus a good betting option. This is because there are 6 ways for a 7 to be rolled (16, 25, 34, 43, 52 and 61) and 5 each for a 6 (15, 24, 33, 42 and 51) and 8 (26, 35, 44, 53 or 62).

Field Bet (2.78% House Edge)

With this bet you get to bet on 7 particular numbers (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12) demarcated on the Field area of the Craps table. Take note that although these bets can be highly attractive to inexperienced players, they are the most unlikely numbers to be rolled.

For instance, there is only a 2.78% chance of a 2 or 12 being rolled, a 5.56% chance of a 3 or 11 being rolled, an 8.33% chance of a 4 or 10 being rolled, and an 11.11% chance of a 9 being rolled. To put this in perspective, a 7 has a 16.67% chance of being rolled.

Craps is both an entertaining and complicated game, but one you can capitalise on as long as you understand its rules and stick to placing low house edge bets. However, here are some more effective craps tips to help increase your chances of racking up winnings:

Set a Daily Budget and Stick to It

No matter how good a Craps player you are, as with all forms of gambling you’ll experience both winning and losing streaks. Hence you should always play with a daily budget and stick to it come rain or shine. Don’t be tempted to cover your day’s losses with another deposit.

Choose Your Bet Size Wisely

As tempted as you may be to splash high denomination chips around a Craps table (within the table limits) this is a sure fire way to rapidly diminish your stack, unless you are 100% reliant on luck. Pick your chip and bet sizes in relation to your daily budget, and in this way you can play for longer and thus give yourself a more effective chance of winning.

Start with a Don’t Pass Line Bet

The Don’t Pass Line Bet is a wise betting option on the Come-Out Roll because of its low house edge (1.36%). This means there is a better than good chance that the Shooter will roll a 2, 3 or 12 before he rolls a 7 or 11, which will win you the bet.

Place Odds Bet if Applicable

This is a no brainer on account of the fact odds bets each have a 0% house edge. That said, you can only place these bets you’ve made their respective Pass Line, Don’t Pass Line, Come or Don’t Come bets, but that’s a small price to pay for a chance of a good pay-out.

Place Come and Don’t Come Bets

These bets have a low 1.41% house edge, but unlike Pass Line bets you can only place Come Line bets once the Point has been set. That said, you win this bet if a 7 or 11 is rolled before a 2, 3 or 12 which makes it more than worthwhile.

Stay Away from Proposition Bets

Propositions bets or single roll bets are akin to betting on a single number in roulette – the pay-out may be high but the odds of winning are against you. In fact, Craps proposition bets have house edges ranging from 5.56% to 16.67%. In other words, these are truly ‘gambling bets’ that should be avoided if your aim is to build your chip stack effectively.