Craps for beginners: how to play and the best bets

Craps looks complicated, with a big table covered in boxes, but the core game is simple. Two dice are rolled and you bet on what comes up. Learn one bet, the Pass Line, and you can play.

The come-out roll

Every round starts with a come-out roll. On the Pass Line:

• 7 or 11 wins straight away.
• 2, 3 or 12 ("craps") loses straight away.
• Any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) becomes the point.

Rolling for the point

Once a point is set, the dice keep rolling. If the point comes up again before a 7, Pass Line bets win. If a 7 comes first, they lose and a new come-out roll starts.

Don't Pass: betting the other way

Don't Pass is the opposite of Pass. It wins on 2 or 3 on the come-out, loses on 7 or 11, and 12 is a tie. Once a point is set, it wins if a 7 comes before the point.

The Odds bet

After a point is set you can add an Odds bet behind your Pass Line bet. It pays at true odds, so it is the fairest bet in the casino. On All In you can take odds up to 3 times your Pass bet.

Which bets are best?

The lower the house edge, the longer your coins last. Pass Line plus Odds is the classic way to play. One-roll bets like Any 7 pay well but lose most of the time.

Quick tips

• Start with the Pass Line only until the rhythm makes sense.
• Add Odds once a point is set; it has no house edge.
• Treat Any 7 and Any craps as occasional fun bets, not a strategy.

Practise free

Craps on All In uses the same rules and payouts, decided on our server, with virtual coins only. It is the easiest way to learn without risking a cent.