Craps Online Play Rules – How to Place Bets at the Table
The craps table looks a bit complex when you first take a glance at it. There are many different bets in craps, and the table is marked up with all the different betting possibilities. The table looks the same online as it does in a regular casino and the game play is the same. All players (also called ‘shooters’ in craps lingo) place bets on the final number which is rolled on the two dice. The gameplay is as follows:
- Choose which bet you want to make, and place your chips on the bet you want. The shooter must place at least the minimum bet on the pass line, or the don’t pass line. Other players at the table can also make a bet.
- The players take turns in rolling the two dice. The shooters first roll is a ‘come out roll’.
- The shooter keeps rolling the dice until they get a losing combination: a. If the come out roll is a 7 or 11 the pass line bet wins, and those who bet the don’t pass bets lose, and then round ends. b. If the come out roll is a 2,3, or 12 (called ‘craps’). Then the don’t pass line wins, the pass line loses, and the round also ends.
- If the shooter rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 on the come out roll then the number rolled becomes the point number.
- The shooter continues to roll the dice until he or she rolls the point number or a 7.
- If the point number is rolled, then pass line bettors win and don't pass bettors lose. If a 7 is rolled, pass line bets lose and don't pass bets win.
- Once a shooter loses out then players change and a new shooter takes his/her turn at the table to roll the come out roll. Then all players once again place at least a minimum bet.
There are a number of bets available that you can place after the come out roll. If you want to know all the different Craps bets read through the Craps rules guide in order to learn how and when to place all the individual bets.
Facts about Craps:
- Craps is an exciting game using dice and a craps table;
- This casino game possesses unique rules;
- There are a lot of different craps strategies to choose from;
- The casinos presented on our top list offer the best experience to play online craps.
Craps Strategy- How to Win at Craps Online
Online craps game is a game of chance - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The edge is built in into the game to benefit the casino. It's a game where the player has to rely on luck, play for excitement and enjoy a good time. That said, online craps is one of the better casino games from a player's perspective. If you make good bets (there are also a number of bets with huge house advantage) you'll have a decent chance walking away from the craps table with a profit.
Unfortunately, there are no craps strategies that can give you the edge against the house. What you can do, however, is to reduce the house edge to a minimum to maximize the chance of winning. Among all the bets that are available in craps, some offer worse odds than others, some much worse. On the other hand, some bets give you odds that make you more or less even money against the house. If you can find these bets and stick to them in the midst of chaotic craps action, your money will last longer, and you may very well leave the casino a winner.
Bad Bets in Craps Online
Field Bet
The field bets are placed on the very large sections in the middle of the table. This is a one-roll bet and you win if the next roll is a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12. You win 1 to 1 if a 3, 4, 9, 10, or 11 is rolled, and more for the 2 or 12. You lose your bet if a 5, 6, 7 or 8 is rolled.
Big 6/Big 8
The Big 6 & 8 Bets are paid even money, yet they are the same as the place bets just with worse odds so it’s better to play the place bets.
Horn/Horn High
The horn bet is a proposition bet which works as four bets in one, and you bet one unit on each number. However the horn high is played more often and with five units instead of four. If you are betting $5 for example, one unit would go towards the 2,3,11 and 12, and the fifth unit would be an additional unit on one of these numbers. The pay-out is 4 to 1 for the 3 or 11, or 7.5 to 1 for the 2 or 12, and you lose with any other number.
Aces/2 or Boxcars/12
Both these bets pay 30 to 1. Aces wins if a 2 is rolled, and Boxcars wins if a 12 is rolled. You lose when any other number is rolled.
Any 7
You win if you roll a 7 and lose with any other number, and the payout is typically 5 to 1.
Good Bets in Craps Online
The best bets to make in Craps are luckily also the easiest ones to remember, and also the most popular ones to make. They are safe and easy bets to make with a low house edge, and are marked on the table (as shown below) making it easy for the player to place the bet, as opposed to some of the more obscure bets which involve knowing the game etiquette.
Pass Bet
This is the most common and important bet in the game. With a house edge of only 1.41% it’s also one of the best bets in all casino games. The pass bet is made on the come out roll, and are made on the area of the table marked Pass Line. You win the bet if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11, you lose if the shooter rolls a 2, 3, or 12, and if a 4,5,6,8,9 or 10 is rolled the point number is established and the round continues. If the point number is rolled before a 7, the pass bet wins, if a 7 is rolled before the point number, the pass bet loses.
Don’t Pass
The don’t pass bet is the exact opposite of the pass bet. Instead of betting that the shooter will win, you’re betting that the shooter will lose. At a live casino this is called betting against the table, and you’re normally betting against the other players. You place your chips in the sections marked with the 2 in the image above. You win the bet if the shooter rolls a 2 or 3, it’s a standoff if the shooter rolls a 12 and nobody wins, and you lose if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11. With any other number, the point number is made, and the shooter needs to roll a 7 before the point number to win the bet. If the point number is rolled before the 7, you lose.
Come Bet
A come bet works in a very similar way to the pass bet, but it’s made when the round is in progress and after the pass bet point number has been made. You place your bet in the come section on the table, the next roll after you place your bet then becomes your individual ‘come out roll’ where you can win or lose, or a point number for the come bet is established. If the shooter rolls a 7 or an 11 with the come out roll, the bet wins. If the shooter rolls a 2,3, or 12, you lose the bet. If any other number is rolled the point number is set. This point number is completely independent of the pass bet point number and pass line bets. If the shooter rolls the come bet point number before the 7, the bet wins. The payout for the bet depends on the point number which is rolled.
Don’t Come Bet
Just like they don’t pass bet works in the opposite way of the pass bet, the don’t come bet also works in the direct opposite way of the come bet. It’s made while the round is in progress after the pass line point number has been made. After you place your don’t come bet, you win, lose, or the point number is made with the next roll, the come out roll. You win if the shooter rolls a 2 or a 3, you lose if the shooter rolls a 7 or an 11, and the bet is tied if a 12 is rolled. With any other number, the point number for the bet is made and if a 7 is rolled before this number then you win the bet.
Combining Good Bets with Better Bets
The house edge of the simple craps bets is already very decent for a casino game. But don't run off to the table just yet, you can actually do even better than that. There is a bet that you won't even find indicated on the table: the odds bet.
Odds Bet
The odds bet is a side bet you can make in addition to your original bet at any time once the point number has been made. You can ‘take odds’ when you have already placed a pass, or come bet, and ‘lay odds’ when you have placed a don’t pass or don’t come bet. The bet is placed behind the pass, don’t pass, come, or don’t come bet, and you are placing your money on whether the point number or a 7 will be rolled first, depending on your original bet. You win if the original bet wins. You can increase, remove, or lower the odds bet at any moment in the game.
Odds pays 2 to 1 on points of 4 and 10, 3 to 2 on a 5 and 9, and 6 to 5 on a 6 and 8. Usually, odds bets are limited to two or three times your original bet. For example, if you have made a $10 pass bet, you could bet another $20 as a 2X Odds Bet. This reduces the house edge to 0.6%.
Best House Edge
A craps online strategy that will reduce the house edge to an absolute minimum is to play simple pass or don't pass bets and always follow up with as high odds bets as possible. There are many kinds of craps players out there - those who enjoy to play it safe and slow, the high-rollers, and players who like to place risky bets for the thrill and excitement. If you would like to learn about every possible craps bet you can make at the table, read our in-depth craps strategy article.
Craps Betting Strategies
If you prefer to adopt a betting strategy when you play craps online, there are various options for you to choose from which can be applied when placing your bets at the craps table. Knowing the best and worst craps bets and how to play them makes a big difference or using specific online craps strategies such as the 5-count craps strategy which was developed specifically for this game. To read more about craps betting strategies take a look at our craps betting strategies guide which outlines the best strategies to play successfully. It's well worth your time!
Craps Money Management
You won’t have much time to think about which bets you want to make as this game moves incredibly fast – you may get ahead of yourself and place bets you don’t really want to make, or forget your bets that are still active on the table simply because you get caught up in the moment. It’s important to establish before you start playing how much you are willing to risk. If you are a regular player there are also different ways to build a craps bankroll, such as playing with particular bonuses and practising playing free online craps first. Read through our craps money management tips below in order to increase the amount in your account.
Craps Money Management Tips
- Buy chips in small batches: If you want to play for a few hours don’t buy all your chips in one massive lump. Decide how much you want to spend, and then buy a smaller amount of chips every hour or so. This way you won’t spend all your craps money in the first fifteen minutes of playing!
- Set a limit for losses: Decide how much you are willing to lose overall and stop playing once you reach this figure.
- Have a pre-determined amount of lost bets: Have a pre-determined amount of lost bets and stop playing if you reach this amount of bets.
- Take a break! Don’t get hypnotised by the action as you’re more likely to wager all your money too quickly. Get up, have a stretch, and re-assess your monetary situation.
- Determine after how many wins you will stop playing: It’s quite obvious that after a certain amount of losses you need to control yourself and stop playing in attempt to win back the money you lost. But you also need to stop yourself from not only losing all your winnings, but then betting even more, to try to win more, and end up losing your winnings and all your craps bankroll. Establish beforehand at what point you’ll be happy to collect your earnings and buy yourself a drink and enjoy the rest of the day or night.
- Avoid all proposition bets: Simply don’t put down any money on the any craps, any seven, any eleven, any 12, or any other proposition bets.
- Take or lay odds on the place/come/don’t pass/don’t come bets: These are the best bets in all casino games with a house edge of roughly 1.41% between them, which is reduced even further when you take or lay odds on them.
- Stay alert and concentrate: Not only does the action in craps moves incredibly quickly, but you can have multiple bets active on the table at once. Make sure you have all your bets under your watchful eye and remove the bet from the table if you don’t want it active anymore. If you forget about an active bet you could lose a lot more than you bargained for!
- Follow a betting strategy: Although not for everyone, for some players it helps a lot to follow a strategy such as paroli, martingale, or 5-count craps in order to determine when to bet. We have explained all the different betting strategies for you so you can choose which one works best for you.
The History of Craps Online
Craps is essentially a simplified version of the old English dice game called Hazard, which dates back to the 14th century and was referred to in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It became popular in France throughout the middle ages and was brought to the USA by a French aristocrat in the 19th century. At this stage the game was known as crapaud ("toad" in French) and became extremely popular in the African-American community. Now known as craps, it grew in popularity further with the advent of casinos throughout the 21st century. Today, craps online is loved by a whole new generation and it is now played at craps online casino sites by millions around the world.