Craps is a dice game that is played around a Craps table. Just like with other popular casino games, it is useful to have a strategy when playing the game.
Each player rolls the two dice at their turn. In the meantime, all players place bets on the outcome of the roll. In each turn, the player who rolls the dice is referred to as the shooter, and the first roll of the dice is called the Come-Out roll.
Playing Online Craps – Types of Craps Bets
At online Craps casinos, you can meet different types of bets – simple for beginners, as well as more complicated for advanced players.
Pass Line Bets
Before the shooter casts the Come-Out roll, the remaining players have a chance to make a Pass line bet on this roll. A Pass line bet is one of the Craps’ bets that pays 1:1. If the Come-Out roll reveals number 7 or 11 (referred to as “natural”), it doubles the value of placed Pass line bets. However, if it reveals numbers 2, 3, or 12 (referred to as “craps”), all Pass line bets are lost.
All other possible outcomes (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10) are known as “point numbers,” which will need to be rolled again before a 7 in order to win. If the dice reveals the number 7 before the point number, all Pass line bets lose, and the dice is handed to the next shooter in a clockwise manner.
Don’t Pass Line Bets
The Don’t Pass line bet is simply the opposite wager of a Pass line bet. Here all players bet on a 2, 3 or 12, and if it is a Come-Out roll, the Don’t Pass line bet wins and pays out double the wager. If there is any other outcome, it becomes a point number, however, in this case, you want a 7 to come up before the point number. If 7 comes up, the Don’t Pass line bet wins.
As the Don’t Pass line bet is basically a bet “against” the dice, Craps players often refer to it as “betting wrong,” which is the opposite of the Pass line bet, referred to as “betting right”.
Other Craps Bets
Some versions of Craps offer advanced types of bets that are available to be placed on various outcomes. These are, for example, Place bets, Field bets, Hardways bets, Proposition bets, Big 8 bets, and more.
Some of the common multi-roll and one-roll bets include:
- Lay Odds – Players bet against the point. This bet also goes with no house edge.
- Place Bets – These types of bets can be placed or removed at any moment; the bets go on numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10, and if the chosen number appears before a 7, you win.
- Buy Bets – These bets are similar to Place bets, but in this case, you pay a 5% commission and select only one potential point.
- Hardaways – You predict the sum of two numbers of the dice being rolled out.
- Hop Bets – Similarly to Hardaways, you predict a certain sum, but in this case, you bet on the numbers of the dice.
- The Field – You predict the number of the next roll’s outcome to be either 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12.
Although experienced Craps players tend to implement various types of bets into their game strategies, it is recommended for beginner players to learn and practice Pass line and Don’t Pass line bets first.