Every craps bet: payouts and house edges
The house edge of a bet is the share of your stake you should expect to lose on average, over many bets. A bet with a 1.4% edge costs you about 1.4 chips for every 100 chips you put on it, in the long run; a single session can go either way. Here is every bet in the game, grouped by type.
| Bet | What it pays | House edge | Exact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass Line | 1:1 | 1.414% | 7/495 |
| Don't Pass | 1:1 | 1.364% | 3/220 |
| Come | 1:1 | 1.414% | 7/495 |
| Don't Come | 1:1 | 1.364% | 3/220 |
| Free odds behind Pass / Come / Don't | true odds | 0.000% | 0 |
| Place 6 or 8 | 7:6 | 1.515% | 1/66 |
| Place 5 or 9 | 7:5 | 4.000% | 1/25 |
| Place 4 or 10 | 9:5 | 6.667% | 1/15 |
| Buy 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 | true odds, 5% commission paid when the bet is made | 5.000% | 1/20 |
| Lay 4 or 10 | 1:2, 5% commission on the win paid when made | 2.500% | 1/40 |
| Lay 5 or 9 | 2:3, 5% commission on the win paid when made | 3.333% | 1/30 |
| Lay 6 or 8 | 5:6, 5% commission on the win paid when made | 4.167% | 1/24 |
| Field | 1:1, 2:1 on a 2, 3:1 on a 12 | 2.778% | 1/36 |
| Big 6 or Big 8 | 1:1 | 9.091% | 1/11 |
| Hard 6 or Hard 8 | 9:1 | 9.091% | 1/11 |
| Hard 4 or Hard 10 | 7:1 | 11.111% | 1/9 |
| Any Seven | 4:1 | 16.667% | 1/6 |
| Any Craps | 7:1 | 11.111% | 1/9 |
| Ace-Deuce (3) | 15:1 | 11.111% | 1/9 |
| Yo (11) | 15:1 | 11.111% | 1/9 |
| Aces (2) or Boxcars (12) | 30:1 | 13.889% | 5/36 |
| Horn | 27:4 on a 2 or 12, 3:1 on a 3 or 11 | 12.500% | 1/8 |
| C & E | 3:1 on craps, 7:1 on an 11 | 11.111% | 1/9 |
The percentages are exact, not estimates: they are computed by running the game's own rules over all 36 dice outcomes and solving the point cycle as a chain of probabilities in fractions, and the game's automated tests compare every payout with the textbook value. Buy and Lay edges are shown with the commission paid when the bet is made, which is how this table charges it.
The line bets
The Pass Line (1.414%) and Don't Pass (1.364%) are the foundation of the game and the cheapest bets that exist before odds. Come and Don't Come carry the same edges because they are the same bets started later. See how to play for exactly when each wins.
Free odds
Odds can only be added behind a line or Come bet that already has a number. They pay at the true odds: 2:1 on a 4 or 10, 3:2 on a 5 or 9, 6:5 on a 6 or 8. Because the payout equals the real chance, the house edge on the odds part is exactly zero, and the more you place behind the line, the lower the average cost of your whole bet. A 10 chip Pass Line bet with 50 chips of odds on a 6 (5x) costs an average of 0.14 chips per round-trip of the bet against 60 chips at risk, so the blended edge is about 0.24%.
Place, Buy and Lay
A Place bet is a bet that a chosen number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) will come before a 7. Place 6 and 8 are fair value at 1.515%; Place 4 and 10 at 6.667% are not. Buy bets pay true odds minus a 5% commission, and Lay bets are the reverse: you bet the 7 will come before the number. Lay costs less on the 4 and 10 (2.5%) than on the 6 and 8 (4.167%). The game does not let one player hold a Lay and a Place or Buy on the same number at once, as they would cancel each other out.
Field
The Field is a one-roll bet that the next total is 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 or 12. It pays 1:1, with 2:1 on a 2 and 3:1 on a 12 in this game. At 2.778% it is a popular one-roll bet for new players, though the Pass Line with odds is cheaper.
Hardways and Big 6 / Big 8
A hardway bet wins if the number is rolled as a pair (a "hard 8" is 4-4) before it is rolled any other way ("easy") and before a 7. The 6 and 8 pay 9:1 at 9.091%, the 4 and 10 pay 7:1 at 11.111%. Big 6 and Big 8 pay only 1:1 for the same job that Place 6 and 8 do at 7:6, which makes them worse than Place on the same numbers (9.091% against 1.515%).
Proposition bets
The centre of the table holds one-roll bets: Any Seven (the worst bet in the game at 16.667%), Any Craps (2, 3 or 12), the single numbers Aces (2), Ace-Deuce (3), Yo (11) and Boxcars (12), and the combination bets Horn and C & E. They are exciting because they pay big and settle in one roll, and they cost the most for the same reason.
Lucky Roller
Smart Craps also offers an optional side bet with its own rules. Lucky Roller bets that a group of totals (2 to 6, 8 to 12, or all of them) is rolled before a 7, and can be placed only right after a 7. Its house edge is 7.761% for Low Rolls, 5.126% for High Rolls and 10.093% for Roll 'Em All. The full rules are in the project's rules document.
The lesson in the numbers
Every bet at the table has a house edge except odds, so no bet is a "winning" bet in the long run. But the edges range from 0% to almost 17%, and the choice of bets decides how fast, on average, the chips drain away. The next pages show where those numbers come from and how to use them sensibly.