Craps strategy: bankroll sense
No strategy can turn craps into a winning game, because every bet except free odds has a built-in house edge. What a good approach does is keep the cost of playing low and make a session last, so you get more of the fun for the same chips.
1. Make the cheapest bets
The house edges differ by a factor of more than ten between bets. The lowest-cost way to play is usually:
- A Pass Line (1.414%) or Don't Pass (1.364%) bet.
- The maximum free odds you are comfortable with behind it (0% edge).
- If you want more action, Place 6 and 8 (1.515%).
Treat everything else as paying for entertainment. A Hard 8 or the Field is fun on a roll or two; Any Seven at 16.667% is the most expensive bet on the table.
2. Decide the size of the session first
Pick a session bankroll before you start, an amount you would be happy to spend on the evening, and a base bet of roughly one-fortieth of it. With a 400 chip bankroll, that is a 10 chip line bet, leaving room for odds and a few bad rounds. Large bets against a small bankroll can end a session on one seven out.
3. Betting systems do not change the edge
Martingale (double after each loss), Paroli (double after each win), the "iron cross" and the many named patterns all place a sequence of bets, and each bet in the sequence has the same negative expectation. A sum of negative-expectation bets is still negative. Systems change how wins and losses are shaped, for example many small wins and a rare large loss, not what you can expect on average. Martingale in particular runs into table limits and your bankroll after a few losses in a row.
4. Streaks and "hot tables" are not information
The dice have no memory. A shooter who has rolled for twenty minutes without a seven out has not changed the odds of the next roll, and neither has a long cold spell. Enjoy the streak; do not bet bigger because of it. See the dice odds for why.
5. Set a stopping rule
Choose in advance both a loss limit and a point at which you will take your winnings and step away. Winning sessions are made of the moments you stop. In Smart Craps this is easy to practice, because your chips are play chips and you can stop whenever you like.
6. Use free play to learn
The strategy lab lets you test a plan on the real game engine before you try it at the table, and its "My play" view compares your own results with the odds. The best use of a practice table is to learn the layout, learn what each bet pays and see for yourself how fast a high-edge bet drains a stack of chips compared with the Pass Line and odds. Everything you learn here carries over to a real table, but remember that practice results say nothing about how a real-money session will go.
A note on gambling
Smart Craps has no real-money play and no cash prizes. If you do gamble for real money elsewhere, play only with money you can afford to lose, set limits before you start and never chase losses. If gambling stops being fun, a national helpline in your country can give confidential support.