Craps Strategy Tip #8: ignore dealer appeals for 'high house' advantage bets and choose odds wagers. Craps Strategy Tip #9: back up any pass/don't pass and come/don't come bets with odds bets. This decreases the house edge to maximize your luck. Craps Strategy Tip #10: collect your winnings before the next round, or they will go into play.
I'm writing a series of blog posts about casino games and the good and bad strategies for playing those games.
Craps is one of my favorite casino games, so I've been looking forward to writing this one.
And the beautiful thing about craps is that it's a game of pure chance. The best strategy is just to choose the bets with the lowest edge for the house and have fun.
- Drop The Hardways Bomb. We're going to end this discussion of how to win at craps with a little.
- The truth is, you don't need complex charts and number systems to win craps. These tips for playing craps are all based on common sense, and they'll certainly help you win more often. Understand Every Craps Bet. At first, craps appears to be a highly complex dice game. It's really not. Once you get used to it, the game of craps is.
But I'll have some things to say about some of the strategies and systems that other writers promote, too.
They're mostly bad craps strategies.
Here's the Only Craps Strategy You Need
When you're dealing with an entirely random game – like craps – the only strategy that matters is choosing the bets with the lowest house edge and having fun.
I'll have something to say about shooters and whether they have control over the outcomes later in this post, but for now, let's just agree that games like craps are purely chance.
In other games that are entirely random, like slot machines, you don't even really need to decide which bet to place. It's chosen for you before you sit down.
When playing craps for real money, you have a handful of good bets you can make, but most of the bets on the table are bad. Just skip the bad bets, and you're all set.
The Bests Bets at the Craps Table
The best bets at the craps table are the pass line bet and the don't pass bet.
The come and don't come bets are also great wagers.
I always advise casino gamblers to try to limit their gambling to games where the house edge is lower than 2% — preferably 1.5% or lower.
The house edge for the pass and come bets is the same, 1.41%, which means they qualify.
The house edge for the don't pass and don't come bets is even lower, 1.36%, but the 0.05% isn't worth worrying about. Most people prefer to root for the shooter to succeed.
The other bet to think about at the craps table is the odds bet. This is a bet you can only place after making one of the 4 bets I already mentioned and when the shooter has set a point.
This is one of the only bets in the casino that has no house edge. It's a break-even bet, but it can be expensive.
It can also drive the effective house edge on the money you have in action down to almost nothing.
Here's how that works.
How the Odds Bet Changes the House Edge for the Better
If you're betting on the pass line and the shooter sets a point, you can expect to lose $1.41 for every $100 you bet. That's on average and in the long run.
If you're playing at a casino that only allows you to place an odds bet at 1X the size of your pass line bet, you can put another $100 into action.
Your expected loss remains $1.41, though, which effectively cuts the house edge in half, from 1.41% to 0.71%.
If you're able to bet 2X your original bet on the odds bet, you can lower that even further to 0.36%. (You have $300 in action, but your expected loss is still only $1.41.)
The more you're able to bet on the odds bet, the lower the house edge for all the money you have in action becomes.
It's clear why betting on the pass line and taking the most odds that you can is an effective strategy. With the odds bet, you can get the house edge in craps lower than 0.5% at least some of the time at the table, making it an even better game than blackjack.
And what's more, you don't have to memorize basic strategy to get the low house edge at craps.
You just need a big enough casino bankroll to make the right bets, and you need enough sense to avoid the bad bets at the table – of which there are many.
Any Strategy that Involves Placing ANY Other Bets at the Craps Table Is a BAD Craps Strategy
There's a reason gambling experts measure bets according to their house edge. That's because it's the single best indicator of how good or bad a bet is.
The house edge is a statistical estimate of how much money you'll lose as a percentage of your original bet over the long run.
If the house edge is 1.41%, the casino expects to win an average of $1.41 every time you bet $100.
If the house edge is 16.66%, the casino expects to win an average of $16.66 every time you bet $100.
Which bet looks like the better bet for the casino?
And which one looks like the better bet for the gambler?
It shouldn't be hard to make the distinction.
Even the best of the bad bets on the craps table are inferior to the 1.41% or 1.36% you can get from the pass, don't pass, come, and don't come bets.
And trust me on this:
You can have PLENTY of fun sticking with the basic bets at the craps table.
Betting Systems Where You Raise and Lower the Size of Your Bets Are Bad Strategies
The classic example of this kind of betting system is the Martingale System, where you double the size of your bets after each loss. When you do this repeatedly, you eventually win back the money you've lost along with a profit of one unit.
The problem with a system like the Martingale is that you'll eventually run into a big enough losing streak that it will wipe out all those small profits and then some.
Most people underestimate how quickly a bet's size gets when doubling after every loss.
They also overestimate how likely they are to avoid long losing streaks.
If you double a $5 bet once, that's $10.
But if you run into a losing streak of 8 bets in a row, you're looking at having to bet $640 to make up for your losses.
Also, every roll of the dice is an independent event. The odds don't change based on how many times you've won or lost in a row.
You might think the probability of losing that 8th bet is lower than the likelihood of losing the first one, but the truth is that the dice have no memory. They have the same 6 sides, no matter how many times you've lost in a row.
Each bet in craps is an independent event, and any betting system will assume that the odds are changing based on how many times in a row you've won or lost.
Money Management Strategies Don't Hurt Anything, but They Won't Improve Your Odds of Winning, Either
Money management strategies involve having strict gambling discipline about how much of your bankroll you're willing to risk before quitting the game. They also require you to stop when you've won an arbitrary amount of money.
Money management techniques are often used in conjunction with betting systems.
Here's an example of a money management strategy in craps:
You decide your bankroll for the session is $250, and you're playing for $5 per roll of the dice.
Your stop-loss limit is $100, so, if your bankroll drops to $150, you must quit the craps session and go do something else.
Your win goal is $250, so once your bankroll gets up to $500, you must quit the game and go do something else.
This kind of strategy might increase your chances of walking away from the game a winner.
But that's only because a lot of gamblers will just keep playing until they've lost their entire stake. They just don't generally have a lot of sense about that sort of thing.
The Jury's Out on Dice Setting or Dice Control
I've seen multiple reputable gambling writers express interest and some belief that some craps shooters can influence the probability of specific outcomes. I'm skeptical – in the extreme – but I'll give it an appropriate amount of credence.
The idea is that you hold the dice a specific way – 'setting' the dice – then throw with a minimum amount of force – just enough to hit the back wall and eliminate most of the rolling action.
A controlled shooting expert doesn't have to be perfect. Instead, they're trying to be like someone who's playing darts. They improve the probability enough to change the negative expectation on a bet to a positive expectation.
You can buy books and videos explaining how to get an edge at craps this way, but I can't imagine the amount of practice and record-keeping required to have any confidence in your ability to change the odds.
Imagine if you spent 1000 hours trying to learn how to control the dice and coming up short. Maybe you just don't have the knack for it.
That doesn't sound like a good deal to me.
I'd rather learn to count cards in blackjack.
Vegas Craps Tips
Conclusion
Those are the best and the worst of the strategies I know of for playing craps in the casino. I know plenty of people who would disagree with every recommendation I've made, but the math behind the game doesn't lie.
The best strategy is to stick with the bets with the lowest house edge and have as much fun as you can.
Once you get the hang of the craps table, this fast-paced dice game is one of the most rewarding in the casino. We're going to show you how to win craps more often and some pro-level craps tips to help you avoid costly mistakes and pocket more chips.
Before you understand how to win at craps, you need to know how to play it properly. If you're a total beginner, we recommend reading our guide on how to play craps first.
How to Win Craps – Tips and Tricks
The truth is, you don't need complex charts and number systems to win craps. These tips for playing craps are all based on common sense, and they'll certainly help you win more often.
Understand Every Craps Bet
At first, craps appears to be a highly complex dice game. It's really not. Once you get used to it, the game of craps is remarkably easy.
However, you need to understand every possible bet on the craps table, their odds, and their potential payouts. There are some bets you should never make, some bets you should always make, and the rest of them fall somewhere in between. Knowing when to make these bets is just as important as knowing whether or not you should.
General Craps Tips
Check out our complete guide to craps bets for more information on the specific bets you can make and what you could win if you do so. You need to commit these to memory as soon as possible to avoid costly mistakes. That's half the battle in any casino game.
Make the Pass and Come Bets
We get into a lot more detail about craps bets in our detailed guide. However, we can briefly touch on two of the best bets you can make here.
The pass bet is the first bet you'll make. Place your chips on the pass line to make it. You can make the come bet by placing your chips on 'come' on the table. Both of these bets have a house edge of just 1.41%. That's a very small statistical advantage of the casino. Since both of these bets pay 1:1, you have a good chance of making some money here.
You should also spice it up from time to time and bet against the table by making the don't pass and don't come bets. Both of these have a house edge of 1.40%, which is even smaller, and they both pay 1:1 as well.
If you win several even money bets like this in a row, you should consider taking some of what you have won and making some of the riskier bets to increase your chip stack fast. For example, some of the hard way bets pay 35:1. That's worth a wager if you're on a winning streak.
Use Progressive Betting Systems on Winning Streaks
Craps is a game of chance, but every experienced player will tell you that winning and losing streaks are a real thing in this game. You don't even have to be the shooter to take advantage of these streaks. In craps, most of the time, you'll be betting while other players are rolling the dice.
When there are lots of mixed wins and losses, bet conservatively. However, when the tables turn and a winning streak is developing, you should aim to take maximum advantage of it. After three wins in a row, you should be paying attention, but you shouldn't push your luck too hard; take your money off the table after seven or eight wins in a row.
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If you're playing at a casino that only allows you to place an odds bet at 1X the size of your pass line bet, you can put another $100 into action.
Your expected loss remains $1.41, though, which effectively cuts the house edge in half, from 1.41% to 0.71%.
If you're able to bet 2X your original bet on the odds bet, you can lower that even further to 0.36%. (You have $300 in action, but your expected loss is still only $1.41.)
The more you're able to bet on the odds bet, the lower the house edge for all the money you have in action becomes.
It's clear why betting on the pass line and taking the most odds that you can is an effective strategy. With the odds bet, you can get the house edge in craps lower than 0.5% at least some of the time at the table, making it an even better game than blackjack.
And what's more, you don't have to memorize basic strategy to get the low house edge at craps.
You just need a big enough casino bankroll to make the right bets, and you need enough sense to avoid the bad bets at the table – of which there are many.
Any Strategy that Involves Placing ANY Other Bets at the Craps Table Is a BAD Craps Strategy
There's a reason gambling experts measure bets according to their house edge. That's because it's the single best indicator of how good or bad a bet is.
The house edge is a statistical estimate of how much money you'll lose as a percentage of your original bet over the long run.
If the house edge is 1.41%, the casino expects to win an average of $1.41 every time you bet $100.
If the house edge is 16.66%, the casino expects to win an average of $16.66 every time you bet $100.
Which bet looks like the better bet for the casino?
And which one looks like the better bet for the gambler?
It shouldn't be hard to make the distinction.
Even the best of the bad bets on the craps table are inferior to the 1.41% or 1.36% you can get from the pass, don't pass, come, and don't come bets.
And trust me on this:
You can have PLENTY of fun sticking with the basic bets at the craps table.
Betting Systems Where You Raise and Lower the Size of Your Bets Are Bad Strategies
The classic example of this kind of betting system is the Martingale System, where you double the size of your bets after each loss. When you do this repeatedly, you eventually win back the money you've lost along with a profit of one unit.
The problem with a system like the Martingale is that you'll eventually run into a big enough losing streak that it will wipe out all those small profits and then some.
Most people underestimate how quickly a bet's size gets when doubling after every loss.
They also overestimate how likely they are to avoid long losing streaks.
If you double a $5 bet once, that's $10.
But if you run into a losing streak of 8 bets in a row, you're looking at having to bet $640 to make up for your losses.
Also, every roll of the dice is an independent event. The odds don't change based on how many times you've won or lost in a row.
You might think the probability of losing that 8th bet is lower than the likelihood of losing the first one, but the truth is that the dice have no memory. They have the same 6 sides, no matter how many times you've lost in a row.
Each bet in craps is an independent event, and any betting system will assume that the odds are changing based on how many times in a row you've won or lost.
Money Management Strategies Don't Hurt Anything, but They Won't Improve Your Odds of Winning, Either
Money management strategies involve having strict gambling discipline about how much of your bankroll you're willing to risk before quitting the game. They also require you to stop when you've won an arbitrary amount of money.
Money management techniques are often used in conjunction with betting systems.
Here's an example of a money management strategy in craps:
You decide your bankroll for the session is $250, and you're playing for $5 per roll of the dice.
Your stop-loss limit is $100, so, if your bankroll drops to $150, you must quit the craps session and go do something else.
Your win goal is $250, so once your bankroll gets up to $500, you must quit the game and go do something else.
This kind of strategy might increase your chances of walking away from the game a winner.
But that's only because a lot of gamblers will just keep playing until they've lost their entire stake. They just don't generally have a lot of sense about that sort of thing.
The Jury's Out on Dice Setting or Dice Control
I've seen multiple reputable gambling writers express interest and some belief that some craps shooters can influence the probability of specific outcomes. I'm skeptical – in the extreme – but I'll give it an appropriate amount of credence.
The idea is that you hold the dice a specific way – 'setting' the dice – then throw with a minimum amount of force – just enough to hit the back wall and eliminate most of the rolling action.
A controlled shooting expert doesn't have to be perfect. Instead, they're trying to be like someone who's playing darts. They improve the probability enough to change the negative expectation on a bet to a positive expectation.
You can buy books and videos explaining how to get an edge at craps this way, but I can't imagine the amount of practice and record-keeping required to have any confidence in your ability to change the odds.
Imagine if you spent 1000 hours trying to learn how to control the dice and coming up short. Maybe you just don't have the knack for it.
That doesn't sound like a good deal to me.
I'd rather learn to count cards in blackjack.
Vegas Craps Tips
Conclusion
Those are the best and the worst of the strategies I know of for playing craps in the casino. I know plenty of people who would disagree with every recommendation I've made, but the math behind the game doesn't lie.
The best strategy is to stick with the bets with the lowest house edge and have as much fun as you can.
Once you get the hang of the craps table, this fast-paced dice game is one of the most rewarding in the casino. We're going to show you how to win craps more often and some pro-level craps tips to help you avoid costly mistakes and pocket more chips.
Before you understand how to win at craps, you need to know how to play it properly. If you're a total beginner, we recommend reading our guide on how to play craps first.
How to Win Craps – Tips and Tricks
The truth is, you don't need complex charts and number systems to win craps. These tips for playing craps are all based on common sense, and they'll certainly help you win more often.
Understand Every Craps Bet
At first, craps appears to be a highly complex dice game. It's really not. Once you get used to it, the game of craps is remarkably easy.
However, you need to understand every possible bet on the craps table, their odds, and their potential payouts. There are some bets you should never make, some bets you should always make, and the rest of them fall somewhere in between. Knowing when to make these bets is just as important as knowing whether or not you should.
General Craps Tips
Check out our complete guide to craps bets for more information on the specific bets you can make and what you could win if you do so. You need to commit these to memory as soon as possible to avoid costly mistakes. That's half the battle in any casino game.
Make the Pass and Come Bets
We get into a lot more detail about craps bets in our detailed guide. However, we can briefly touch on two of the best bets you can make here.
The pass bet is the first bet you'll make. Place your chips on the pass line to make it. You can make the come bet by placing your chips on 'come' on the table. Both of these bets have a house edge of just 1.41%. That's a very small statistical advantage of the casino. Since both of these bets pay 1:1, you have a good chance of making some money here.
You should also spice it up from time to time and bet against the table by making the don't pass and don't come bets. Both of these have a house edge of 1.40%, which is even smaller, and they both pay 1:1 as well.
If you win several even money bets like this in a row, you should consider taking some of what you have won and making some of the riskier bets to increase your chip stack fast. For example, some of the hard way bets pay 35:1. That's worth a wager if you're on a winning streak.
Use Progressive Betting Systems on Winning Streaks
Craps is a game of chance, but every experienced player will tell you that winning and losing streaks are a real thing in this game. You don't even have to be the shooter to take advantage of these streaks. In craps, most of the time, you'll be betting while other players are rolling the dice.
When there are lots of mixed wins and losses, bet conservatively. However, when the tables turn and a winning streak is developing, you should aim to take maximum advantage of it. After three wins in a row, you should be paying attention, but you shouldn't push your luck too hard; take your money off the table after seven or eight wins in a row.
The best way to play craps during winning streaks is to double your bets after every win. If you start with a £5 wager and win, make the next one £10, the one after that £20, and so on. You don't have to ride the streak for seven or eight bets. You can take your money off the table or reduce your wager when you're ready. That's a decision you'll have to make for yourself. You should be totally comfortable with any craps strategy you implement. Only start betting like this when you sense a winning streak.
Don't Fall For the Gambler's Fallacy
We've seen several other websites offering tips for playing craps that we really do not recommend. One of them is to look for the player with the most chips and copy him or her.
This advice is based on the gambler's fallacy. It looks at past results and tries to predict the future based on that. If you believe in luck, OK, there's nothing wrong with copying the winning player. However, you'll have much greater success if you base your craps betting strategy on statistics.
What has already happened in a casino game has no impact on what will happen in the future. That's why looking at historical results, copying winning players, and other such methods don't work. It's pointless. There's nothing to say that the player with the biggest pile of chips hasn't just experienced a large winning streak, or that it won't be all downhill from here.
Focus on learning craps properly, understanding the odds and probabilities of every bet, and forget about what has already happened. Once again, the past has no impact on the future in casino games. Any craps betting strategy tips that tell you otherwise should be ignored.
Practice Craps Bankroll Management
If you've read any of our other casino strategy articles, you'll know that we preach bankroll management in almost every one of them. Why so? Because it's one of the only strategies that consistently works across all games of chance.
Bankroll management is about surviving for long enough for the improbable to happen. For example, if you have a £100 bankroll, don't blow it all on 10x £10 bets. Instead, split your £100 into 100x £1 bets. This gives you more rolls of the dice, and more chances to hit a winning streak. Of course, you should be making these £1 wagers on craps bets that you have a good chance of winning. We've mentioned several of them already above.
When you do sense a winning streak, that's the time to bet more aggressively. Whereas we'd normally say to never bet more than 1% of your bankroll on any roll of the dice, if you've won three times in a row, we'd say it's OK to risk what you have won on the previous three rolls all on the next bet. That way, if your winning streak has come to an end, you'll only lose what you have won, but if your winning streak is destined to continue, you can start growing your wins exponentially.
Smart bankroll management is casino gaming 101. You'd be amazed at how many players don't use it or even think about it. Yet, across all casino games, it's the one thing you can always control.
How to Win at Craps – Conclusion
Best Way To Play Craps
Forget about craps cheats, complicated systems, and trying to manipulate the game. None of this will work. What you need is good bankroll management, an awareness of the best craps bets to make (and which ones to avoid), and knowledge on how to take advantage of winning streaks and avoid common pitfalls.
If you read this article in full, you now have those things. Implement these tips for craps, and you'll be better off than most players. Now all you need is an honest online casino to play at, and you're set!
Craps Tips And Strategy
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